Soul: D23 Expo 2019 Exclusive Sticker & Concept Art Lithograph

It's been over a week since the 2019 D23 Expo and I still feel so "jazzed" to have learned a bit more about Disney·Pixar's mysterious film Soul; including getting to be among some of the first few to see actual footage (about a 3-4 minute clip) from the movie! While we still don't know a ton about the actual plot, we at least know a bit more than we did back in June when the title was revealed.

What we know so far:

• The film is directed by Pixar's Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter (Monsters Inc., Up, Inside Out; one of my personal favorite directors), co-directed by Kemp Powers and produced by Dana Murray.
• The first Pixar film to have an African-American lead and supporting cast.
• The film will tackle high concept questions like “Why am I here?” and “Where did I come from?”.
• Joe Gardner is the main character (a middle-school band teacher who has a passion for playing jazz and dreams of playing music full time at the Half Note Jazz Club).
• After an unexpected step into a NYC sewer opening (following his excitement for landing a big gig), Joe's soul form is separated from his body.
• Joe is transported to the "cosmic realms" and the "YOU Seminar"—a place where souls learn their personality traits before coming to earth. You essentially learn, well, how to be you.

Joe Gardner

22

• Joe meets a soul named 86 billion, 783 million, 123 thousand, five hundred and 22—or just 22 for short. 22 is not fond of the idea of coming to earth, which seems to be why her number is so large. She's been in the soul realm for a long time, seemingly not wanting to gain a body based on her perceptions of earth life.
• Joe Gardner is voiced by Jamie Foxx, Libba (Joe's mom) is voiced by Phylicia Rashad, Paul (Joe's neighbor) is voiced by Daveed Diggs, Curly (a drummer character; maybe a friend of Joe's?) is voiced by Ahmir "Quest Love" Thompson and 22 is voiced by Tina Fey.
• Jon Batiste will be writing original jazz music for the film, while Oscar-winning composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network) will be scoring the film. 
• Release date is June 19th, 2020.

There you go! For the most part, that's just about everything we know. Based on the footage I saw, I could not be more excited.

Now we have to talk about the film's beautiful logo, designed by the talented Josh Holtsclaw (a graphic artist at Pixar). As seen above, a light-up 3D version was actually featured on one of the walls at the D23 Expo Pixar booth. I just think it's gorgeous and captivating and had to give it a shout-out!

I also felt very lucky to have brought home a few free D23 Expo exclusive goodies I picked up: a Soul logo sticker (seen above) and a Soul lithograph featuring stunning concept art (seen below)—which I think I might have to frame! I already love the color palette, which is very different from any other Pixar film thus far. I really dig the pastel pinks, blues, greens and purples. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the litho signed by any of the filmmakers, but it's a beautiful piece regardless.

By the way, if you zoom in (look to the right), you can spot Joe in soul form standing next to 22. See them? I know it's hard to see, but they're there. The print is 9" x 17".

What are your thoughts on Soul? Are you as intrigued and as fascinated as I am? Let me know your thoughts on the film, the logo, the sicker and the lithograph/concept art in the comment section below.