Disney Announces ‘Soul,’ The Next Pixar Film Directed by Pete Docter

We won’t have to wait long to see another new Pixar movie after Onward premieres next March. Disney just revealed that their “untitled Pixar movie” slated for June 19, 2020 (just a little over three months after Onward) will be called Soul, directed by Pete Docter (Monsters Inc., Up, Inside Out) and produced by Dana Murray (Lou).

Pixar hasn’t updated their “coming soon” section with information about Soul, but we have received a synopsis, starting with this Tweet from the D23 Twitter account:

Additionally, Disney released this tagline:

Ever wonder where your passion, your dreams and your interests come from? What is it that makes you … you?”

While reading these descriptions, my first thought was Doctor Strange, the Marvel movie that partially takes place in New York and features inter-dimensional realms that could be referred to as “cosmic.” I also wondered if this might be like Neverwhere, the novel by Neil Gaiman, where a mystical world exists underneath London. But after giving this some more thought, I’m pretty sure the journey they’re talking about simply begins in New York, then takes the characters “into” cosmic realms, as in space.

If that’s the case, I’m extremely curious how the cosmos might explain the idea of what makes someone who they “are.” We all have souls, but an explanation for what the soul literally is tends to be a more introspective, perhaps meditative process, not something external. In other words, how would we be able to explain human existence — presumably answering “life’s most important questions” — by going out into space? Think Interstellar, but perhaps with the whole “love is truth” thing toned down slightly.

I love the idea of Pixar returning to space, which they haven’t really done since WALL-E. There are so many stories they can tell around the universe, especially if alien creatures get involved, and if the whole “cosmic realms” definition is as fantastical as it sounds. I’m especially happy to see something so seemingly ambitious coming from Pete Docter, whose original drafts for Up were like something out of a swashbuckling cloud city fantasy.

As for the title poster, there’s not much to speculate on, yet. The color scheme is basic blue, with some orange and yellow flair. The “o” in the middle looks like it might be some sort of eye or pupil, but it would be a stretch to call this pattern anything “galactic” or “cosmic.” If anything, the font here suggests the film is quite playful, not as heady or operatic as the description might imply.

It’s also worth mentioning that Soul coming out so soon after Onward delivers its own set of challenges. Pixar has only tried to do two original movies in the same year once before, and it led to box office disaster. Inside Out was a huge hit, but audiences didn’t really bother with The Good Dinosaur, despite the film receiving a prime November/holiday release spot.

The gap between Onward and Soul is even smaller, which will make it difficult for Pixar and Disney to effectively market both movies within the same time frame. I get the intention, of course. Disney’s release schedule has morphed into positioning event movies that dominate every month of the year. So to them, it’s like releasing two Marvel Cinematic Universe movies within just a few months of each other. It works because the brand name is so strong.

But that assumes the Pixar brand name is strong enough to overcome both these films being non-sequels, and therefore new properties that will require more persuasive, noise-breaking advertising to get the word out. This is why Cars 3 releasing the same year as Coco wasn’t much of an issue (though to be fair, neither film was a major box office success by Pixar standards).

I worry about this because I don’t want to see original Pixar films fail at the box office. That affects how many resources get devoted to these films down the road, and if you’re sick of Pixar sequels coming out more often than originals, than you should be paying very close attention to the next few years, which will see several original films vying for attention in a crowded theatrical marketplace. That said, Pixar has one advantage that can’t be discounted. They have the Disney machine.

Get updates on my theories, books, and giveaways by joining my Mailing List.

Or just say hey on Twitter: @JonNegroni


2 thoughts on “Disney Announces ‘Soul,’ The Next Pixar Film Directed by Pete Docter

  1. Can someone explain why I’m SO excited for a film that literally has a logo released?? 😍 And Pete Doctor’s directing so I’m only expecting greatness

  2. Disney soul pixar was just awesome and mind blowing.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: