Pixar’s Newly Announced Movie SOUL Hints at Spiritual Themes
By Tess Farrand, Staff Writer
The creative team who brought audiences movies like INSIDE OUT and UP announced their latest feature movie this morning; SOUL, set to release in 2020. The title and description of the Pixar animated movie hints at possible spiritual themes. SOUL’s tagline reads, “ever wonder where your passion, your dreams and your interests come from? What is it that makes you… YOU?”
Are you intrigued? Skeptical? As of now, details concerning the movie’s plot are under wraps. What Movieguide® does know is that the movie will be helmed by a filmmaker who’s a Christian.
Pete Docter serves as the director for the upcoming project and is a practicing Christian. In a radio interview several years ago, Docter openly talked about the role his faith plays in his profession and how it’s changed. He said, “I definitely see things differently. There are things I would find kind of quirky or weird, that might have a tinge of violence to it, but as a single guy, or even as a married guy, I’d think, ‘it’s funny.’” As a parent, Docter goes about storytelling in a different light. He stated, “but then when you have a kid, you think, ‘Oh, he’ll be watching this. I don’t know how I’d feel about that.’” He continued, “as a Christian, having my son has made me even more amazed by the whole Creation when I watch him grow and start to connect things in his brain. It leaves me speechless.”
Previously Movieguide® noted, “when asked if Docter would consider making a more explicitly Christian movie, Docter said he probably wouldn’t, preferring to tell stories that have more implicit messages than explicit.” Docter expanded, “to me art is about expressing something that can’t be said in [a] literal term. You can say it in words, but it’s always just beyond the reach of actual words, and you’re doing whatever you can to communicate a sense of something that is beyond you.”
Although we don’t know for sure if Christian themes will be in SOUL, we can pray that if there are, that audiences would resonate with the message.
For more updates about SOUL and other movies, keep checking back to Movieguide®.