Soul is a 2020 American animated film written and directed by Pete Docter. It features the voice of Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher who seeks to reunite his soul and his body after he unexpectedly dies before his big break as a jazz musician. Tina Fey also stars as the voice of 22, a soul with a pessimistic view of life that Gardner tries to inspire to go to Earth.
The film premiered at the London Film Festival on October 11, 2020, and was scheduled to be theatrically released on November 20. However, the feature was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Soul being released direct-to-streaming on Disney+ on December 25, 2020, and in theaters in countries without the streaming service. , Soul has grossed $116.2 million at the worldwide box office. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, surveyed reviews and judged of them to be positive.
Soul garnered awards and nominations in various categories with particular recognition for its sound effects, musical score, and acting. It received three nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards, including Best Sound. The film won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. Soul won seven of ten nominations at the 48th Annie Awards. At the 74th British Academy Film Awards, it was nominated for Best Sound, and won Best Animated Film and Best Original Music. The film won three awards at the 1st Critics' Choice Super Awards, before garnering the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score at the 26th ceremony. Soul won Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Score at the 78th Golden Globe Awards. Various critic circles also picked Soul as the best animated feature film of the year. In addition, both the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review selected Soul as one of the top-ten films of 2020.
Accolades
+ Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result AACTA International Awards March 5, 2021 Best Direction Pete Docter Academy Awards April 25, 2021 Best Animated Feature Pete Docter and Dana MurrayWon Best Original Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Best Sound Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott, and David Parker Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards January 4, 2021 Best Animated Feature Film SoulWon Best Animated Female Tina FeyWon American Cinema Editors Awards April 17, 2021 Best Edited Animated Feature Film Kevin NoltingWon American Film Institute Awards February 26, 2021 Top 10 Films of the Year SoulWon Annie Awards April 16, 2021 Best Animated Feature SoulWon Best FX – Feature Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, and Kylie WijsmullerWon Best Character Animation – Feature Michal MakarewiczWon Best Character Design – Feature Daniel López Muñoz Best Direction – Feature Pete Docter and Kemp Powers Best Music – Feature Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Best Production Design – Feature Steve Pilcher, Albert Lozano, Paul Abadilla, and Bryn Imagire Best Storyboarding – Feature Trevor JimenezWon Best Writing – Feature Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp PowersWon Best Editorial – Feature Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, and Amera RizkWon Art Directors Guild Awards April 10, 2021 Excellence in Production Design for an Animated Film Steve PilcherWon Artios Awards April 15, 2021 Film Animation Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon, and Kate Hansen-BirnbaumWon Austin Film Critics Association Awards March 19, 2021 Best Animated Film Soul Best Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Black Reel Awards April 11, 2021 Outstanding Film Dana Murray Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers Outstanding Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Outstanding Voice Performance Angela Bassett Jamie FoxxWon Phylicia Rashad British Academy Film Awards April 11, 2021 Best Animated Film Pete Docter and Dana MurrayWon Best Original Music Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus RossWon Best Sound Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, and David Parker Chicago Film Critics Association December 21, 2020 Best Animated Film Pete Docter and Dana Murray Best Original Screenplay Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers Best Original Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Cinema Audio Society Awards April 17, 2021 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Animated Vincent Caro, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Atticus Ross, David Boucher, Bobby Johanson, and Scott CurtisWon Critics' Choice Movie Awards March 7, 2021 Best Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Critics' Choice Super Awards January 10, 2021 Best Animated Movie SoulWon Best Voice Actor in an Animated Movie Jamie FoxxWon Best Voice Actress in an Animated Movie Tina FeyWon Florida Film Critics Circle Awards December 21, 2020 Best Original Screenplay Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers Best Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Best Animated Film SoulWon Golden Globe Awards February 28, 2021 Best Animated Feature Film Pete Docter, Kemp Powers and Dana MurrayWon Best Original Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Golden Reel Awards April 16, 2021 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Animation Coya Elliott, Cheryl Nardi, Ren Klyce, Steve Orlando, Kimberly Patrick, Jonathan Stevens, Thom Brennan, Shelley Roden, John Roesch, and Dee SelbyWon Golden Trailer Awards July 22, 2021 Best Animation/Family "Chicken Soup" (The Hive)Won "Live" (Rogue Planet) Best Animation/Family TV Spot "In It" (Ignition Creative) Best Home Ent Animation/Family "Target Wall" (Tiny Hero) Best Motion Poster "Virtual Jazz Show" (ZEALOT)Won Best Animation TrailerByte for a Feature Film "Virtual Jazz Show" (ZEALOT)Won Best BTS/EPK for a Feature Film (Under 2 Minutes) "Live Soulfully — Passions" (ZEALOT) Grammy Awards April 3, 2022 Best Improvised Jazz Solo Jon Batiste for "Bigger Than Us" Best Jazz Instrumental Album Jon Batiste for Jazz Selections: Music from and Inspired by Soul Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross for Soul: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackWon Hollywood Critics Association Awards March 5, 2021 Best Picture Soul Best Animated or VFX Performance Jamie Foxx Tina Fey Best Animated Film Soul Best Score Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus RossWon Hollywood Music in Media Awards January 27, 2021 Best Original Score – Animated Film Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Outstanding Music Supervision – Film Tom MacDougall Best Soundtrack Album Soul: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Houston Film Critics Society Awards January 18, 2021 Best Picture Soul Best Animated Feature Film SoulWon Best Original Score Trent Reznor and Atticus RossWon Hugo Awards December 18, 2021 Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers, and Dana Murray International Film Music Critics Association Awards February 18, 2021 Best Original Score for an Animated Film Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste London Critics Circle Film Awards February 7, 2021 Technical Achievement Award Pete Docter Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards December 20, 2020 Best Animated Film Soul Best Music Trent Reznor and Atticus RossWon MTV Movie & TV Awards May 16, 2021 Best Movie Soul NAACP Image Awards March 27, 2021 Outstanding Animated Motion Picture SoulWon Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture Pete Docter, Kemp Powers, and Mike Jones Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture Soul Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album Soul: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackWon Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental Music From and Inspired by SoulWon Outstanding Character Voice Performance – Motion Picture Ahmir-Khalib Thompson Angela Bassett Jamie FoxxWon Phylicia Rashad National Board of Review January 26, 2021 Best Animated Film Pete DocterWon Top 10 Films SoulWon Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards March 13, 2021 Favorite Animated Movie SoulWon Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie Tina Fey Jamie Foxx Online Film Critics Society Awards January 25, 2021 Best Picture Soul Best Animated Film SoulWon Best Original Score Trent Reznor and Atticus RossWon Producers Guild of America Awards March 24, 2021 Best Animated Motion Picture Dana MurrayWon San Diego Film Critics Society Awards January 11, 2021 Best Animated Film Soul San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle January 18, 2021 Best Animated Feature SoulWon Best Original Score Trent Reznor and Atticus RossWon Satellite Awards February 15, 2021 Best Animated or Mixed Media Film Soul Best Original Screenplay Pete Docter, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards January 17, 2021 Best Animated Feature SoulWon Best Music Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Toronto Film Critics Association Awards February 7, 2021 Best Animated Film Soul Visual Effects Society Awards April 6, 2021 Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Pete Docter, Dana Murray, Michael Fong, and Bill WatralWon Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Jonathan Hoffman, Jonathan Page, Peter Tieryas, and Ron Zorman for "Terry"Won Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Hosuk Chang, Sungyeon Joh, Peter Roe, and Frank Tai for "You Seminar"Won Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project Matt Aspbury and Ian MegibbenWon Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature Alexis Angelidis, Keith Daniel Klohn, Aimei Kutt, and Melissa TsengWon Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards February 8, 2021 Best Animated Feature SoulWon Best Score Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon BatisteWon Best Voice Performance Jamie FoxxWon Tina Fey
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