Did You Know That Pixar’s ‘Soul’ Originally Had A Very Different Ending?

Although it was a very different type of Christmas than we are usually used to, that doesn’t mean that it was without its pockets of joy. One of those pockets for us was sitting down and immersing ourselves in the Pixar movie ‘Soul’.

If anyone knows how to tug on our heartstrings it’s Pixar, we’re barely recovered from the rollercoaster that was ‘Inside Out’ (Yes, we’re talking about that Bing Bong scene, if you know you know), and they’ve only gone and done it again with their story which follows a struggling Jazz musician who embarks on a journey to uncover the meaning of life after a serious accident.

But, for all those who are just as obsessed as we are, we’re certain you are, you might be interested to know that the ending wasn’t actually the original one.

Now, if you haven’t watched the film but intend to, click out now as we’re about to get into some spoilers.

So, as we know, at the end of the film both Joe and 22 head back down to earth, with Joe returning back to his original body, and 22 about to become a human. It was the ending we were hoping for from the get-go, but in a recent interview, the movie’s directors revealed that they originally had very different plans, ones that were much grimmer, let’s just say.

“We have versions of the ending where Joe does not go back to his body, where he actually stays dead,” Kemp Powers said.

“I think people felt like it’s cheating to let him go back,” Pete Docter continued.

“On the other hand, story-wise, you can’t teach this guy to enjoy life the right way and then rob him of that. So, it just didn’t seem like the right way to go. Although that was the original draft.”

 

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Admitting that the ending caused a lot of debate among cast and crew, the movie’s producer Dana Murray explained why they went with the ending we’re familiar with.

“We went back and forth on the ending up until the last screening.”

“For a long time, Joe did go to ‘The Great Beyond’. There was a lot of debating back and forth, but I think the more we saw him live his life and just thinking about his mother, Libba, and all these different factors, it felt like the right ending, that he needed to be able to go enjoy his life in the way he wanted to, because he’d learned so much throughout the film.”

And thank god for that! It could have been Bing Bong all over again *wipes away tear*.

 

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• Pixar
• Soul
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