Christmas Day is here and so is Pixar’s latest film, Soul, which is already shaping up to be one of the most highly rated movies of the year — and it just became available for streaming exclusively on Disney+. That makes now a great time to sign up for Disney+ (or the Disney+ Bundle, which is an even better value) if you haven’t already. If you’re curious to find out more about Pixar’s new film first, or if you just want to know more about what you get with Disney+, then read on.
Directed By: Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Angela Bassett, Daveed Diggs
Runtime: 100 minutes
Disney+ is the go-to streaming service for all things in the House of Mouse. That doesn’t just mean Disney movies — it also includes other properties owned by Disney, such as Marvel and Star Wars. Disney has even secured broadcasting rights to other productions such as the award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton and the entire 30-year catalog of The Simpsons. Pixar movies naturally fall under that umbrella too, with Disney+ being the exclusive outlet for streaming the beloved animation studio’s latest production, Soul.
Soul tells the story of Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, a middle-school music teacher with a passion for jazz and dreams of becoming a performer. He almost realizes his dream when he performs impressively during an opening act at a local jazz club, but shortly after, an accident separates his soul from his body. Instead of going to the Great Beyond, however, Gardner’s soul manages to escape to the Great Before — a place where spirits grow before being sent to Earth. There, Gardner meets other souls including the pessimistic 22 (voiced by Tina Fey), and tries to show her why life is worth living. In the process, Joe has to re-think what it means to truly have soul, all the while figuring out a way to get back to his body before it dies.
Soul was originally going to be a theatrical release, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused Disney to reschedule it for digital release exclusively on its own streaming platform on Christmas Day. If you want to watch Pixar’s latest film, then now’s the time tosign up for Disney+ or grab the Disney+ Bundle so you can see for yourself why Soul is already racking up accolades from critics. Disney+ alone costs just $7 per month or $70 per year, but you can also grab the Disney+ Bundle which gets you Disney’s streaming service along with Hulu (ad-supported) and ESPN+ for just $13 per month, saving you 25%.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.