Soul (Pixar)
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48 free Soul (Pixar) trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Soul is the Pixar film that went straight to Disney+ on Christmas Day 2020 and still won two Oscars. Pete Docter spent four years on it, Kemp Powers became the studio's first Black co-director, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross wrote, by Reznor's count, six films' worth of music for the Great Before. These 48 questions cover the story of Joe Gardner and 22, the voice cast from Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey to Graham Norton and Questlove, the design choices behind the Jerrys and the You Seminar, Jon Batiste's jazz, the pandemic release that sent it to streaming, and the shorts that followed, Burrow and 22 vs. Earth. Every answer is sourced from the film's Wikipedia coverage, so you can check anything that surprises you. Play through in sets of 10 and find out whether you really know your spark from your purpose.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed Pixar's Soul?
Pete Docter
Pete Docter finished Soul while running the whole studio: he was promoted to Pixar's chief creative officer in 2018, partway through its production.
Q 02Who voices Joe Gardner in Soul?
Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx was the obvious choice, the director said, for his humour and his music-school training; Foxx said he related to Joe because he too 'came out singing and telling jokes'.
Q 03Who voices the cynical soul 22 in Soul?
Tina Fey
Tina Fey also helped write 22's lines. The director wanted the ancient soul to sound like a snarky teenager who thinks she knows it all already.
Q 04What instrument does Joe Gardner play in Soul?
Piano
Piano scenes are note-accurate: camera footage and MIDI data from real recording sessions showed the animators exactly which key went down for every note.
Q 05How does Joe Gardner end up separated from his body in Soul?
He falls down an open manhole
He falls down an open manhole seconds after dodging traffic and other hazards without noticing, still on the phone celebrating the best news of his life.
Q 06What is the name of the realm where new souls are prepared for Earth in Soul?
The Great Before
The Great Before is where new souls pick up their personalities and quirks. A counselor tells Joe it now goes by the You Seminar, and explains why in one word: 'Rebranding.'
Q 07In Soul, the otherworldly soul counselors all share which name?
Jerry
Jerry is the name each offers after explaining that they are 'the coming together of all quantized fields of the universe', in a form Joe's 'feeble human brain' can grasp.
Q 08Which animal's body does Joe's soul occupy when he returns to Earth?
A therapy cat
A therapy cat called Mr. Mittens was lying on Joe's hospital bed. In the rush back to Earth, 22 wakes up in Joe's body and Joe finds himself inside the cat.
Q 09What is the name of the soul counter who tracks Joe down in Soul?
Terry
Terry counts every soul bound for the Great Beyond, notices the tally is off and tracks Joe to New York. After the credits, Terry pops up again to tell viewers to go home.
Q 10Who voices Moonwind, the sign-twirling mystic in Soul?
Graham Norton
Graham Norton's Moonwind spins advertising signs on a New York street corner while his soul captains a ship of fellow mystics who rescue lost souls.
Q 11Which jazz saxophonist's quartet does Joe audition for in Soul?
Dorothea Williams
Dorothea Williams tests Joe by launching into a tune without a word. He loses himself in a solo, and she hires him with an order: 'Get a suit, Teach. A good suit.'
Q 12Which musician voices the drummer Curley in Soul?
Questlove
Questlove's Curley is the former pupil whose phone call lands Joe his audition. The Roots drummer was also among the musicians the filmmakers consulted.
Q 13Who voices Joe's mother Libba in Soul?
Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad's Libba, a seamstress, wants Joe to take the steady teaching job. She comes round in the end and has her shop alter his late father's suit for the big night.
Q 21Soul was the first Pixar film to feature what?
A Black lead character
A Black lead character was not the starting point: Joe became African American once the team made him a jazz musician. Pixar then formed a 'Cultural Trust' of Black employees to check the details.
Q 22Who became Pixar's first African-American co-director through his work on Soul?
Kemp Powers
Kemp Powers was hired as a writer for just 12 weeks; his contract was extended, and he contributed so much that he was promoted to co-director.
Q 23Soul's co-director wrote which play that became an Oscar-nominated 2020 film?
One Night in Miami
Q 14Who composed the ambient score for Soul's metaphysical scenes?
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, of Nine Inch Nails, were hired on the sound designer's advice: their ambient score sets the soul world apart from the acoustic jazz of New York.
Q 15Who wrote the original jazz music for Soul's New York scenes?
Jon Batiste
Jon Batiste also lent the film his hands: cameras filmed his recording sessions so that animators could copy his fingers note for note.
Q 16Soul opens with the Disney castle fanfare performed badly by whom?
A middle-school band
A middle-school band, Joe's own class, murders 'When You Wish Upon a Star' over the studio logo, then the film cuts to Joe in the classroom trying to keep them on the beat.
Q 17Which short film accompanied Soul on its streaming release?
Burrow
Burrow, about a rabbit who keeps digging into her neighbours' homes by mistake, was made to play before Soul in cinemas and went to streaming with it instead.
Q 18At which festival did Soul hold its premiere?
BFI London
BFI London Film Festival gave Soul its first public screening in October 2020. Cannes had picked it for that year's selection, but by then the cinema release had been called off.
Q 19Soul reached US cinemas only in 2024, followed by Luca and which other Pixar film first sent straight to streaming?
Turning Red
Turning Red followed Soul into US cinemas in February 2024, with Luca in March. All three had gone straight to streaming during the pandemic.
Q 20Soul won two Oscars: Best Animated Feature and which other award?
Best Original Score
Best Original Score was its second win, with a third nomination for Best Sound. Soul was eligible only because the Academy let films meant for cinemas qualify by streaming that year.
One Night in Miami imagines four Black icons sharing a hotel room in 1964. Regina King filmed it, and its writer was up for a screenplay Oscar at the ceremony where Soul won.
Q 24Soul's director says the film began with wondering why which family member seemed born with a personality?
His son
His son was grown and getting married when the director thought back to the day he was born: he already seemed to be somebody, and Soul grew from asking where that comes from.
Q 25In Soul, 22 claims to have spent decades messing with which New York sports team?
The Knicks
The Knicks suffer on screen: from the astral plane, 22 pelts a player's soul as he goes up to dunk, and back on Earth he misses and the team loses again.
Q 26Which cinematographer of Arrival and Selma advised Pixar on lighting Soul's characters?
Bradford Young
Bradford Young was brought in because Pixar wanted to capture how light plays on different skin tones, part of its effort to steer clear of animation's old caricatures.
Q 27Which of 22's former mentors claims compassion for every soul except 22?
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa is one of a long line of great names 22 has worn out as mentors, and 22 is proud of it, crowing: 'I made her cry!'
Q 28Soul's brief astral-plane sequence took months to make, like which film moment its effects chief cited?
The shower scene in Psycho
The shower scene in Psycho lasts under a minute but took seven days to film. Effects supervisor Bill Watral said both teams got there by finding new ways to use tools they already had.
Q 29Who originally recorded 'It's All Right', the song covered over Soul's end credits?
The Impressions
The Impressions had shrunk to a trio after two founding members left. The trio's next hit, written by lead singer Curtis Mayfield, became the biggest pop single of their career.
Q 30Moonwind admits in Soul that he was once a lost soul himself, hooked on which game?
Tetris
Tetris, he says, in a single word. It bears out his own warning to Joe: when a joy turns into an obsession, it leaves a person cut off from life.