The Original Ending Was Too Dark for Pixar's Soul, No Wonder It Was Scrapped
Joe Gardner's fate in Soul could have been very different.
The public reception of a project often depends on its ending. If the final moments are right, the movie can stay with viewers for a long time and be remembered with warmth. Especially when it comes to animated children's films like Pixar's Soul. Because Soul deals with the atypical subject of death and the meaning of life, it was important for the creators not to go too deep and make it too dark.
This intention led to a happy ending for the film's protagonists, Joe Gardner and a young soul named 22. In their search for the meaning of life, both characters had important insights and made good choices that were ultimately rewarded with life on Earth.
Although viewers never see 22 in her human form, they are left with the feeling that she will live a good life. And Gardner is given another chance in his earthly body and commits to enjoying life every day.
But that was not the only way to end the movie. According to an interview with ET, the Pixar team had passionate discussions about several endings, some of which were quite dark, including one that left Joe dead instead of returning to Earth.
Director Pete Docter revealed that many of the crew members were actually rooting for Joe to go peacefully to The Great Beyond, because it would have felt unfair to let him return to his body.
"At the time, I was thinking, 'The most selfless act you could do is to pass on,'" Docter recalled.
Joe was supposed to selflessly pass on his chance at Earth life to 22 and stay on as a You Seminar mentor, according to Powers. He would become the best of the best, revolutionizing the development and personality growth of young souls. But his whole arc seemed to be against such a conclusion. After learning the new ways of living, the character simply had to go out and put them to the test.
"Story-wise, you can't teach this guy to enjoy life the right way and then rob him of that," Docter explained.
Well, sometimes a story writes itself. And the creators definitely made the right choice. As thought-provoking as it is, Soul definitely didn't need to go deeper and darker at the end.