[Trailer] ‘Soul’: Pixar’s First Film With Black Lead Stars Jamie Foxx, Phylicia Rashad

Disney and Pixar have dropped the first trailer for the upcoming animated film, ‘Soul’. The film stars Pixar’s first black protagonist and ensemble featuring an all-star voice cast of Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey alongside Questlove, Phylicia Rashad, and Daveed Diggs. The latest movie from Pixar promises to be a bold companion piece to the Oscar-winning ‘Inside Out‘ traveling from the adolescent mind to the adult soul.

In ‘Soul’, everyone has their soul trained before they become a person. Middle-school music teacher Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) dreams of becoming a jazz pianist for a band, and, after landing his first gig, he excitedly walks on down a retro-looking New York street and falls into a manhole to another world, where he encounters 22 (Tina Fey), a celestial teenage slacker from You Seminar, who helps him find his way back to Earth.

The timing couldn’t be better, of course, with Pete Docter succeeding John Lasseter as Pixar’s new chief creative officer, mentoring a new generation of filmmakers and artists at the studio, and encouraging greater inclusion and diversity among women and minorities.

‘Soul’ is about achieving balance in life. Docter consulted with an array of religious and cultural experts about defining the soul so that the animators could visually depict an ethereal quality for the ghostly characters and world of You Seminar. At the same time, jazz music offered the best artistic expression of individuality and collaboration.

Musician Jon Batiste writes the jazz music and the score is from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Dana Murray (“Lou” short) produces and Kemp Powers serves as co-director and co-screenwriter.

‘Soul’ will hit theaters on June 19, 2020. If that date sounds familiar, June 19th is the date that Juneteenth is celebrated in the United States.

Watch ‘Soul’  trailer below: