Pixar's Soul is about a jazz pianist who finds out there's a lot more to existence than he
ever imagined. And there's a lot more to Soul than viewers probably noticed at first glance.
Whether they're referencing Pixar films or real-life heroes, here are the Easter eggs
you may have missed in Soul.
When Joe meets 22, we're treated to flashbacks of some of the mentors who tried and failed
to get them ready to take their place on Earth. We learn that a diverse group of departed
souls — including those of Mother Theresa, Muhammad Ali, and Copernicus — tried and
failed to mentor 22. Later, when 22 brings Joe to their home, Joe stops to check out
a wall covered with name tags displayed like trophies of all the mentors who failed to
bring 22 to heel.
It will take the pause button and some patience to read a good percentage of the names displayed,
but they include writers, revolutionaries, painters, and baseball legends among others.
Joe clearly isn't the first person in the music world that 22 has met since tags for
Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, and Johnny Cash are on the wall. Albert Einstein and Stephen
Hawking are up there, too, as are Amelia Earhart, Babe Ruth, Pablo Picasso, Martin Luther King
Jr., and Harriet Tubman.
There are also some names that wouldn't be as recognizable. For one, the game-changing
Marvel Comics artist Jack Kirby was apparently one of 22's mentors. Two late Disney greats
also make the grade. Joe Ranft co-wrote Toy Story and was an actor with voice-acting credits
in A Bug's Life, Cars, The Incredibles, and more. His name is on 22's wall along with
that of Joe Grant, a writer and artist who worked on numerous animated films, including
Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, and Mulan.
"What did you Brang?"
Internet startups don't always have the best track records, but there's at least one fictional
startup that's doing pretty well. In 2015's Inside Out — a Pixar film that was co-directed
by Soul's Pete Docter — Riley's father works for the company Brang, and he proudly wears
their T-shirts. In one of Soul's subway scenes, advertisements for Brang are among many lining
the inside of the subway car. You never get a complete shot of the entire ad, but you
see bits and pieces of it, including its achingly corny slogan, "What did you Brang?"
"Hang on, hang on. What are y'all laughing at?"
The Brang ad isn't the only Pixar-ific Easter egg in the subway tunnels. While 22 is mesmerized
by the music of a street performer, the number "2319" is visible behind and above the singer's
shoulder on the side of the subway car. Fans of 2001's Monsters, Inc. – Docter's feature
film directorial debut — may remember 2319 as the code that's used to signal when a human
contaminant is found in the world of monsters.
"George and I are like brothers."
"2319! We have a 2319!"
One of the many wonders that Joe sees in the Great Before is the Hall of Everything, a
place meant to help new souls find their spark. Hall of Everything is also chock-full of fun
Easter eggs.
It's practically a law that you can't release a Pixar film without adding the Pizza Planet
delivery truck that made its first appearance in 1995's Toy Story. For example, it's just
barely visible outside the dentist's office in Finding Nemo, it's in the speedway parking
lot in Cars, and it even shows up in the distant future of WALL-E.
And yeah, it also makes an appearance in Soul. The truck is in the first scene featuring
the Hall of Everything, and it isn't the only WALL-E veteran in the place, either. You can
spot the Starliner spacecraft Axiom in the distance, and the Spirit of Adventure blimp
from 2009's Up has taken to the air, as well.
You can also spot the Ferris wheel from Toy Story 4, an Aztec building from Coco, and
there's doubtless even more goodies than we were able to catch. And a couple of shots
later, you can even see the iconic desk lamp from the short film Luxo Jr. standing next
to a grand piano.
It isn't easy to spot, but the Hall of Everything includes another classic Pixar Easter egg.
On a street sign below the Ferris wheel from Toy Story 4, eagle-eyed viewers will spot
"A113," something you can find in almost every Pixar film. A113 is a code that comes up a
lot in WALL-E, it's Andy's mom's license plate number in the Toy Story flicks, and it shows
up on a diver's camera in Finding Nemo.
So what does it mean? At California Institute of the Arts, "A1-13" was the room number of
the animation classroom. Filmmakers like John Lasseter, Tim Burton, and Brad Bird were in
the school's animation program. Bird, in fact, is credited as the first to introduce the
A113 Easter egg, using it as a license plate in the 1985 NBC anthology series Amazing Stories,
which was created by Steven Spielberg. It's since appeared in a long list of television
shows, films, and video games.
In September 2015, the internet went nuts over the viral video of a rat dragging an
entire slice of pizza down the stairs of a Manhattan subway. Filmed by comedian Matt
Little, the video shows the legendary rat ultimately running away and leaving the pizza
behind. Proving they can honor more than their own animated films, the folks at Pixar decided
to include a tribute to the mighty Pizza Rat in Soul.
Shortly after Joe and 22 get to Earth — with 22 in Joe's body and Joe's own soul inhabiting
the form of a therapy cat — they escape the hospital and make their way to the streets
of New York City. The metropolis is too much for 22 at first. The crowds, the cars, and
all the other stimuli of city life overwhelm the inexperienced soul. As a result, 22 tries
to lose Joe, but he finds them hiding in a corner, totally shaken. Hoping to calm them
down, Joe creeps over to a nearby pizzeria and swipes a hot slice for 22.
But Joe isn't the first one with the idea. As he brings the slice back to 22, a rodent
who can only be the mighty Pizza Rat shows up coming from the other direction, dragging
his own slice across the concrete. Apparently, Pizza Rat has learned some courage since the
2015 video. He's understandably spooked when he spots Joe, but this time, he keeps his
jaws on the prized pizza as he inches away from the cat.
In their hideout in the Great Before, 22 has amassed a small collection of stuff, presumably
swiped from the Hall of Everything. When they show Joe their place, we see an alarm clock,
a jukebox, and a sofa. But among all the items stashed away in 22's place, there's a toy
ball that should be very familiar to Pixar fans and animation historians.
This is the ball from John Lasseter's 1986 short film Luxo Jr. – the source of the
iconic desk lamp that takes the place of the "i" in Pixar's animated logo. The short animation
features two desk lamps — an elder lamp and a smaller, baby lamp. The baby lamp plays
with a bright ball that's decorated with a red star, eventually jumping on the ball and
deflating it. The film ends as the baby lamp finds a much bigger ball to play with. It's
the smaller ball 22 keeps in her hideout.
While it's likely not meant to have any extensive backstory behind its presence in Soul, it
is kind of funny the ball not only shows up, but it's been re-inflated. Maybe, like Joe,
it was on its way to the Great Beyond but somehow found itself to the Great Before.
In the wondrous land of the Great Before, the new souls aren't left completely to their
own devices. Along with their mentors, the young souls are guided by their large, caring,
shapeshifting counselors. The counselors are voiced by five different actors, but they're
all named Jerry.
The spelling is different, but this is likely a nod to Pixar's 1997 short film Geri's Game,
considering that Soul director Pete Docter was an animator on the short. Noteworthy for
being Pixar's first film in which a human is the lead character, Geri's Game features
an elderly man playing a game of chess against himself in a park. Geri's Game was also pretty
successful in its own right, winning the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1998.
The Great Before's vetting process clearly needs a little work, because Joe is able to
pass himself off as eminent child psychologist Dr. Borgensson just by swiping the good doctor's
name tag. When 22 still believes Joe is lying about not being Borgensson, they call up the
doctor's history in the Hall of You — a place which displays meaningful slices of
any person's life. Among the pieces of Dr. Borgensson's life is a statue depicting the
doctor holding the hand of a young child and motioning toward the distance.
This is a pretty blatant reference to Partners, a statue appearing in a number of Disney's
theme parks. First erected in 1993, the copper statue looks very similar to Borgensson's,
except that in the doctor's place is Walt Disney and in the child's place is Disney's
most iconic creation — Mickey Mouse.
It does make you wonder, considering how important this Borgensson guy appears to be, what exactly
happened to him. We never hear from him once Joe grabs his name tag. It seems likely he's
at an information kiosk somewhere in the Great Before, filing a complaint with one of the
many Counselor Jerrys.
Right after Joe finds himself heading to the Great Beyond, there's a line of dialogue that
absolutely screams "Easter egg!" However, its origin isn't completely clear. When Joe
runs into a trio of souls likewise heading to their eternal reward, one of them says,
"This beats my dream about the walrus." So yeah, what's up with that?
It seems the most likely possibility is this is a reference to "The Walrus and the Carpenter,"
a song from Disney's 1951 film Alice in Wonderland. The song tells the story of a walrus and a
carpenter who lure a group of oysters to their doom at a dinner table. While both walrus
and carpenter are both hoping to partake, the walrus devours all the oysters before
his companion gets a bite. So, going back to Pixar, it could be that the newly departed
soul had a dream in which she was one of the selfish walrus' oysters.
It's possible it could also reach back to the source material — Lewis Carroll's 1871
novel, Through the Looking-Glass. Some interpret the walrus and carpenter as religious figures,
which would be exactly the type of people you might expect to meet in the afterlife.
It's also worth noting that Lewis Carroll's' trippy tale is one of the inspirations for
the Beatles' 1967 song "I Am the Walrus." Asked about what the walrus represented in
the song, John Lennon answered, "Walrus is just saying a dream."
Along with its other memorable recurring Easter eggs, Pixar is known for adding references
not only to its past movies but its upcoming ones, as well. Soul proves to be no exception.
When Joe and 22 pass by a travel agency in New York City, one of the posters in the agency's
window encourages you to "visit Porto Rosso."
Anyone who's been keeping up with upcoming Pixar features knows this is most likely a
reference to the 2021 film Luca, which is reportedly set in a seaside town on the Italian
Riviera that resembles the fictional "Porto Rosso." The title's namesake is a young boy
living in Italy whose best friend is a sea monster in human form. Luca is set to release
June 18th, 2021.
According to a member of the Pixar Post forums, Disney in 2020 also filed several public copyrights
that included the words "Luca Portorosso."
If true, it wouldn't be the first time that Pixar foreshadowed a future movie in an easter
egg. Soul, in fact, had its own pre-release Easter egg in Onward. The family's vinyl collection
features a record by Dorothea Williams, the same famous jazz artist Joe is so desperate
to play with in Soul.
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