In a sense, Pixar’s upcoming film Soul is one all about inspiration and purpose. The film follows a music teacher named Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who longs for his big break as a jazz musician and finally gets it thanks to Dorothea Williams, a respected jazz musician who invites Joe to come play with her band. While Soul is Joe’s story, Dorothea is a commanding character and Bassett explained that she took much of her inspiration for the character from real-life jazz legends Dorothy Donegan and Betty Carter.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I remember going to jazz clubs here in L.A. and in New York and seeing women who were ahead of their own combo, Dorothy Donegan — amazing on the piano — or seeing Betty Carter work those young ones, she always had like young guys in her band and she would take them to task right there, you know, just like drive them, drive them to perfection right there and that could be part of the show, but it was part of her ethic, you know?” Bassett told ComicBook.com. “And so, I was just remembering that and so impressed by that to meet these incredible, dynamic, accomplished, accomplished women who are doing it at a time and a place here that was difficult, but they did it in spite of it. You know, that’s life. You know, this journey of life in spite of difficult, in spite of.”
And Bassett wasn’t alone in finding real-life inspiration. Foxx also shared some of his personal inspirations and mentors who help encouraged his own real-life passion for music that he got to draw on to play Joe.
“You know, my grandmother. Right after that Estelle Talley, Marie Talley, they taught me classical piano and I eventually went on and did classical piano in college,” Foxx said in a previous interview. “My best friend, Gilbert who’s my best friend now, you know, all these years. And I would say, ‘Hey man, attack it like you attack Terrell Tigers.’ Like, you know, when we was back in the football field. And so always having people in my corner, my daughter both of my daughters. So, it’s always people in my corner. I’ve been very very fortunate to have people like that. Steve Harden, the guy who taught me how to sing, say hey man, get out there and do that, you know, do your thing. So, it’s like it’s a blessing to be able to have those types of people in your life.”
You can check out the synopsis of Soul below.
Soul follows Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks, and interests before they go to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what’s great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life’s most important questions.
Soul debuts on Disney+ on December 25th.
