January 2016, when director Pete Docter sought new creative directions during the announcement of the 88th Academy Awards. He pondered the origins of human personalities with the concept of determinism. In his first meeting with co-writer Mike Jones, Docter pitched an idea set in spacetime involving souls with personalities. The film spent four years in production, with an approximate $150 million budget. Docter and Jones worked on the development of the main character for about two years. Initial ideas included portraying Joe as a scientist, which did not feel "so naturally pure". Pixar eventually settled on portraying the film's main character as a musician because they wanted an appealing profession for the audience. According to Docter, once the creative team decided the main character played jazz music, the filmmakers chose to make him African-American due to the race being tied to jazz history. With co-writer Kemp Powers's help, Docter wrote Joe during the film's early development. Powers's initial contract was 12-weeks long, but was later extended. After making extensive contributions to the film, Powers became a co-director, making him Pixar's first African-American co-director. Powers based several elements of Joe on his personal life, but wanted the character to "transcend [his] own experience" in order to make him more accessible. Powers also placed additional emphasis on authentically depicting Joe's relationships within the black community. In order to portray accurately African-American culture within the film, Pixar worked closely with an internal "Cultural Trust" composed of black Pixar employees, and hired several consultants. These consultants included musicians Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Quincy Jones, and Jon Batiste; educator Johnnetta Cole; and stars Questlove and Diggs. The idea of Joe's soul entering the body of a therapy cat came from Jones. Docter and Powers appreciated the idea, as it allowed Joe to "be able to look at his own life from a different perspective" and appreciate it. According to Murray, the filmmakers were undecided on Soul ending before the last screening. Some test versions of the film ended featuring Joe pondering whether to pass on to the Great Beyond; returning to Earth a year later; or staying in the Great Before as a mentor. Initial storyboards featured several brief scenes showing 22's life on Earth after her new birth, including one of her reuniting with Joe in New York. These scenes were ultimately discarded. Casting In August 2019, Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia