GENERATING GREATNESS- SOUL- HOW TO WORK WITH TIME

2020’s animated feature Soul has been critically acclaimed and after a successful gross run has won the Oscar for best animated film. The Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers directed movie took the world by storm with its beautiful animation, inspiring message and enough family comedy elements to bring some positivity during these perilous times. In this month’s issue of Generating Greatness, we will be uncovering the secret ingredients that made this movie an instant blockbuster among fans of the genre. To do this, we will have to divide this post into 3 simple and comprehensive topics:

1. The timing of the movie

2. The characters of the film

3. The animation of the film.

BUILDING A RELATABLE PROTAGONIST

Soul’s greatest strength lies in its protagonist, Electro- I mean uh Ray Charles? Fuck um. Joe Gardner that’s right! He’s not a forgettable protagonist okay? I’m just forgetful. Anyways, the film follows Joe as he is seemingly killed off in the first act and has to find his way back to earth to live once again. Now, it is very easy to mess up a movie like this with a passive protagonist who has to be dragged around and explained to or you can make a passive aggressive protagonist who isn’t that well received by the general audience. This is where the factor of relatability comes in because in those first few minutes (and over the course of the movie) we are shown how much Joe is like the rest of us. A failed musician, following his passion but the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Even though he enjoys his work, he believes he is due for a big breakout performance and just as he gets that once in a millennium opportunity, it is all stripped away from him by his untimely demise. His desperation to return to Earth has an understandable and empathetic motivation which the audience can relate to which maintains the viewer’s curiosity and eventual support for Gardner as he goes on this crazy journey with a ticking clock because we all found a piece of ourselves within this character. This is by far one of the film’s standout features as it essentially casts us as the protagonist of this extraordinary adventure causing wide spread love and support for this character. A pretty simple move but immensely risky at the same time because if you make Gardner anything but an active protagonist, you will kill off the panic, the tension, the relatability and eventually the essence of the character.

A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS

One of my favourite animated movies of all time is Ratatouille. Why? Apart from the great character building and fantastic story, it is so because of one short scene where Remy’s experience of good food is picturised to the audience. This is from where I derived the idea that an animated film is only complete if the audience can pause it at any second and understand what the characters are going through regardless, much like art. Soul does something similar with its art style, particularly the scene where Joe visits the Great Beyond through the power of music. The scene is so beautifully animated that you can feel the music coursing through your veins as it is with Gardner. It is beautiful, it is fantastic but most of all, it encapsulates what makes animated films so remarkable. It conveys the emotions of the characters through pictures and that is shown in this movie is great detail. The sorrow and turmoil of 22, the desperation of Gardner, the suave and style of Dorothea and the beauty and importance of life is perfectly depicted through seemingly normal scenes with enough detailing to make you feel the characters and the world and compare it to our own. It is no short of an eye-opening experience and is the second strongest suit of this Oscar winning film.

WHEN THE TIME AMPLIFIES THE MESSAGE

Soul greatest strength is somehow fellow pandemic movie release, Wonder Woman 1984’s greatest flaw. While one of them was very “on the nose” with its hopeful message, the other didn’t rush it and allowed it to be communicated naturally. Soul’s hopeful, uplifting and naturally transitioning message is only helped by the time of its release amongst a global pandemic when the world NEEDS hopeful tales of glory and humanity. The world may need it but it doesn’t mean that you can allow the story to be a fairy tale. You need to make the story relatable and the characters humane otherwise your hopeful message will only make people wish to be in a hopeful world instead of finding the light at the end of the dark and gloomy tunnel. Soul is aware of that fact and doesn’t repeat that mistake, managing to relate with audiences worldwide and inspiring them instead of making them wish for a better world. It makes them want to be the change that they wish to see in the world and for that, Soul has been awarded a healthy amount a praise from the academy and is now featured as one of the best movies of 2021. Because of its simple and subtle message about humanity and finding the courage to be optimistic while not being a passive person at the same time. Soul is a necessary movie just like WW84, only difference is that one of them rides that positive message for nearly three hours while the other allows the spotlight to shine on the message while not being ignorant of the pain and struggles which contributed to this hopeful conclusion.

That concludes this month’s issue of Generating Greatness. I highly recommend watching Soul if you haven’t yet. Sure, it may seem a bit overrated but try to have an open mind and I’m sure that you’ll enjoy every bit of this wonderfully uplifting and wholesome story. I’ll see you guys next month……..or in a few minutes with Dissecting Disaster. Bye