Pixar’s latest animated feature Soul hit Disney+ just last week. But the filmmakers are already giving us the scoop on how the movie could have ended differently.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, co-director Pete Doctor and producer Dana Murray revealed details about how Soul’s other endings.

Note: spoilers ahead! (We can’t talk about alternate endings without spoiling the real one.)

Soul tells the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher with a passion for jazz music. When Joe accidentally falls down a manhole and winds up in The Great Before, he becomes an unwitting mentor to 22, a new soul trying to find meaning in life.

Joe Gardner in Soul

Though the premise of the film involves Joe’s death, at the end of Soul he’s ultimately awarded the chance to return to Earth for a second chance at life.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, this means the main alternate ending for Soul involved the opposite happening.

“For a long time, Joe did go to The Great Beyond. There was a lot of debating back and forth, but I think the more we saw him live his life and just thinking about his mother, Libba, and all these different factors, it felt like the right ending, that he needed to be able to go enjoy his life in the way he wanted to, because he’d learned so much throughout the film,” said Murray.

Apparently, Joe heading into The Great Beyond instead of back to Earth was actually planned as the original ending. After a lot of consideration – and division among the creatives – the filmmakers landed on the current ending.

“There were definitely camps [for each ending]. Because I think people felt like it’s cheating to let him go back,” explained Doctor. “On the other hand, story-wise, you can’t teach this guy to enjoy life the right way and then rob him of that. So, it just didn’t seem like the right way to go.”

So, what did you think of Soul? Do you think they made the right choice to change the ending to give Joe a second chance at life? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Entertainment Tonight