Pixar’s newest film, Soul , is one to watch.
It stars Jamie Foxx and follows the story of a middle-aged music teacher who follows his passion for jazz music.
Like most Pixar films, the creators snuck in easter eggs. But some are so tiny, you might have missed them on the first watch.
Keep reading to go hunting for them!
1. Code 2319
This Monsters Inc contamination code has been shown many times throughout Pixar’s collection.
If you look closely, you’ll see the number 2319 slabbed on the side of a subway cart as Joe Gardner is listening to a street musician.
2. The shaping of Joe Gardner.
Get this: Joe Gardner was originally intended to be an actor or scientist.
But director Pete Doctor knew he had to make Gardner the first African-American lead Pixar character to represent the great Jazz culture.
He told Attraction Magazine that this realization hit once one of their consultants called jazz “Black improvisational music.”
“He has to be from that culture that brought us this great American art form,” Doctor said.
3. The Pizza Planet truck
It returns! Fans have seen it in every Pixar film from The Axiom to Up to Wall-E .
This frequented delivery truck must have quite the miles on it as we see it rolling by in the background in Soul .
4. The reference to COVID-19
Like many other films, Soul’s release was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the end, it was released exclusively on Disney+. But because of this fact, it made the credit’s reference to Covid-19 quite confusing.
After acknowledging the remote team who worked on the film, it said, “and in homes at least six feet away from each other throughout the Bay Area.”
Then, it said, “Oi! Movie’s over, go home!”
Thing is, people were watching it from home…
5. The significance behind 22’s name
This cute character was voiced by none other than Tina Fey. But fans had a lot of questions as to why she was named 22.
Well, some believe that Pixar has compiled 22 movies previously! This makes Soul the 23rd film.
6. The movie made history
No theatre? No problem.
Soul was the first full-length Pixar film to be exclusively released on Disney+ without “premiere access.” This was unlike Mulan , which had fans paying an additional price to watch the film.
7. The rarity of Mr. Mittens
Mr. Mittens, the calico therapy kitten is rare in more ways than one. First, with his healing abilities and then the fact that most calico colored cats are female .
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8. The viral pizza rat
If you know, you know!
In 2015, a video of a rat dragging a pizza slice through the subway went viral. Production must have had a chuckle over it, as they slipped in the reference.
9. Jamie Foxx’s nod to Ray Charles
The iconic Jamie Foxx voices the main character, Joe Gardner.
If you remember, he starred as the iconic Ray Charles in Ray . This made it a sweet callback to his time playing the jazz musician.
10. The callback to *Inside Out*
Pixar is all about connecting their films.
In this case, we see ads of “Brang come up on the subway. This is the company that Riley’s dad from Inside Out moved to San Francisco for.
11. The nod to Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney
Hidden in the ‘Hall of You,’ we see the magical reference to Walt Disney and Mickey with a statue of the two holding hands.
It’s quite the nod to the two iconic staples in animation.
12. The reference to the Pixar movie *Luca*
As Joe Gardner is walking down the sidewalk, you can see a teaser of Pixar’s upcoming film Luca in one of the windows.
The poster reads “Visit Portorossa”, which hints at the main character Luca Portorossa!
13. The infamous Chinese takeout box
This is a recurring easter egg , which originally appeared in A Bug’s Life , and has since frequented movies such as Toy Story 2 , Ratatouille , and Inside Out .
Anyone else hungry for Chinese now?
14. Another callback to *Inside Out*
The broccoli pizza from Inside Out made another appearance in the background of the “Hall of Everything” in Soul .
Riley wouldn’t be too happy knowing The Hall of Everything ruined pizza like San Francisco.
15. A113 makes an appearance
For a moment, we see a glimpse of A113 on a street sign in the Hall of Everything.
This is a reference to the California Institute of Arts classroom where Disney artists have frequented often in school.
16. John Ratzenberger’s cameo
Since John Ratzenberger has been in every Pixar film, fans were worried when they didn’t see him in Soul .
But the director confirmed that he’s there! People believe he’s the Hall of You voice who says “we are looking for something different.”
17. The names of late Disney legends
In the scene where it showed names like Albert Einstein, Picasso, and Anne Frank, we see some other familiar names .
This was the late Joe Ranft and Joe Grant, two legendary Disney artists and writers.
