[#SpecMagShorts] Tina Fey: All About Her Character ‘22’ In Pixar’s New Film “SOUL”

The film “Soul” stars Pixar’s first black protagonist and an ensemble featuring an all-star voice cast of Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey alongside Angela Bassett, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad, and Daveed Diggs. In this episode of #SpecMagShorts, Tina Fey (via a virtual press conference) talks about the “Soul” storyline and themes, her character 22, working with Jamie Foxx, and how she feels about the film’s holiday release. “Soul” will debut exclusively on Disney+ on December 25, 2020.

Pixar Animation Studios’ all-new feature film “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) – a middle-school band teacher who has a passion for jazz. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks, and interests before they go to Earth. Joe, however, doesn’t feel like he belongs in this land of new souls. Determined to return to his life, he teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience.

(Watch #SpecMagShorts) TINA FEY: All About ‘22’ In Pixar’s New Film “SOUL”

22 is a precocious soul who has spent hundreds of years at The You Seminar, where new souls must meet several requirements before going to Earth. Like every soul before her, 22 has been through the Personality Pavilions, which explains her endearing sarcasm, quick wit, and occasional moodiness. She’s met every requirement to go to Earth—except one. But no matter how many visits she makes to the Hall of Everything, no matter how many esteemed luminaries have mentored her, she can’t find the spark she needs to fulfill her requirements and make her way to Earth. That’s fine with 22; the truth is—she’s not interested in life on Earth at all. Can Joe convince her otherwise?

“22 has had an impressive list of mentors—from Archimedes to Gandhi,” says visionary filmmaker Pete Docter, the Academy Award®-winning director behind “Inside Out” and “Up”. “And Joe is just a regular guy from Queens. Instead of rolling out the usual list of amazing achievements, all he can show her a few miserable moments in the classroom and a lot of failed auditions. But 22 is intrigued. For every person who feels like they were born to do something, there’s someone who feels like they don’t really know what they’re supposed to do.”

According to producer Dana Murray, 22 struggles with more than she lets on. “Seeing all the other souls leaving her for Earth, I think deep down she thinks she’s broken,” says Murray. “She tries to be cynical and make fun of it, but she’s scared.

Tina Fey, who lends her voice to 22, thinks that fear is what makes 22 so appealing. “I think the ways in which she’s cynical and the things that she’s scared of are really relatable,” says Fey. “Life is scary at times, and life hurts. Everyone has those moments of ‘It’s too much!’”

All new souls, 22 included, look similar since their personalities are just being formed. To differentiate the main character, artists gave 22 half-lidded, unimpressed eyes, and two buckteeth.

Animators found fun and unique ways to showcase the character’s personality. Says animation supervisor Jude Brownbill, “New souls don’t have arms and legs—but we imagined that 22 has been there for so long that after so many years and so many mentors, she’s learned how to turn on legs or arms when she wants. She can have little mitten hands, or if she wants to point, she can create digits. But she’s also lazy and insecure, so when she doesn’t want those extra limbs, she brings them back and hides them.”

While the story is about Joe’s journey of self-discovery, executive producer Kiri Hart says 22’s journey to Earth might transform the cynical new soul, too. “One of the things that’s special about the movie is that 22 gets the opportunity through an unusual set of circumstances to temporarily live on Earth and get a sense of what that’s like,” Hart says. “She realizes it’s not at all like what she expected.”

Previously scheduled for theatrical release on November 20, 2020, “Soul” was named an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.