[Extended Trailer] Disney/Pixar First Black-Led Feature “Soul” New Release Date

Although the theatrical release of Pixar’s “Soul”  may have been pushed back from Juneteenth to November 20 due to the pandemic, that didn’t stop Disney from dropping a new trailer (see below), touting the original song, “Parting Ways” (written, produced, and performed by fusion specialist Cody ChesnuTT). 

Directed by two-time Academy Award®-winner Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers and produced by Academy Award®-nominee Dana Murray, “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher whose true passion is playing jazz.

The big-city backdrop proves the perfect place to set a story interwoven with jazz music. Globally renowned musician Jon Batiste composed the jazz score for the New York portion, while Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“The Social Network”) composed the ethereal score for The Great Before that drifts between the real and soul worlds.

In the film, just when Joe thinks his dream might be in reach, a single unexpected step sends him to a fantastical place where he’s is forced to think again about what it truly means to have ‘soul’. That’s where he meets and ultimately teams up with 22, a soul who doesn’t think life on Earth is all it’s cracked up to be. Jamie Foxx lends his voice to Joe, while Tina Fey voices 22. The predominantly Black cast also includes the voice work of Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett, Ahmir Questlove Thompson, and Daveed Diggs.

Pixar wanted to ensure cultural authenticity, so the studio hired Powers to

collaborate on the script with Docter, Fey, and Mike Jones (the studio’s senior story and creative artist, and former IndieWire executive editor). His contribution was so integral to shaping Gardner’s character (they are both in their mid-40s and hail from New York City), that he was promoted to co-director: “But I had to transcend his experience,” Powers said, “and so they invited a lot of other Black voices into the fold.”

Pixar not only formed the “internal culture test” comprised of Black employees, but also recruited a range of outside consultants, including Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young (“The Arrival”), and celebrated jazz musicians, Herbie Hancock and Terri Lyne Carrington. In addition, Batiste, Thompson, Diggs, and anthropologist Betsch Cole served on the consulting team.

Disney and Pixar will release “Soul” in theaters on November 20, 2020. Check out the new trailer: