San Antonio native part of team behind creating Pixar’s new movie ‘Soul’

‘Soul’ can be streamed on Disney+ on Christmas Day.

SAN ANTONIO – A graduate of Alamo Heights High School, Mike Jones has come a long way from watching movies at the old Broadway Theatre.

“It’s now a bank but I would always walk to Broadway Theatre and see movies every time I possibly could,” Jones said.

His career started in journalism but he ended up at Pixar and is now a head writer.

Jones’ past work includes “Toy Story 4″, “Incredibles 2″ and “Coco.” His latest work is Pixar’s newest film “Soul.”

“I’ve been working at Pixar for a few years and Pete Docter (director of the film) had just come off of doing ‘Inside Out’ and he was ready to do his next movie,” Jones said. “I met him and he said the only idea that I have is I want to set a place beyond space and time where our souls are given their personality.”

For the next four to five years, Jones and his team would write the story and after many rewrites and changes, it was finally done.

Pete Docter and Mike Jones during a Soul story meeting on June 25, 2018 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar) (Walt Disney Studios)

“To write a movie about what it means to live a fulfilled life is not an easy task, and we’re so happy that people are connecting with it,” Jones said.

So much so, the film is getting rave reviews and has a 97% rating on rottentomatoes.com.

The movie itself was supposed to be released in theaters earlier this year but because of COVID-19, it was delayed and finally, it was decided to be released on Disney Plus on Christmas Day.

Jones says now is the perfect time for families to watch the movie together and really enjoy the smaller moments that we live with each other.

“The film is coming out now when I think people need to see it the most,” Jones said.

Jones is not done yet with Pixar. His next movie is titled “Luca” and it is set to release next year.


About the Author:

Erica Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning journalist with 15 years of experience in the broadcast news business. Erica has covered a wide array of stories all over Central and South Texas. She's currently the court reporter and cohost of the podcast Texas Crime Stories.