Soul Page #13

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PAUL:

Joe ain’t getting no gig, Dez. You

know he’s Mr. Close-But-No-Cigar.

JOE:

Psh. This guy.

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--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 79.

DEZ:

Joe, ignore him. Now, let’s fix you

up.

DEZ:

You keeping that cat on your lap?

22

Is it okay that I do that?

Dez throws an apron around 22 and Joe. Joe quickly pushes out

of it, staying on 22’s lap.

DEZ:

Suit yourself. You're the boss.

22

I am?

DEZ:

When you’re in this chair, yeah,

you are.

22

So... can I have one of those?

22 points to a jar full of lollipops.

DEZ:

Uhhh, Sure, Joe.

Dez hands one to her. She quickly unwraps it and pops it into

her mouth, smiling.

22

Cool. I like being in the chair.

Everyone stares at 22. Joecat chides her.

JOE:

Hey, get your head in the game!

Dez fires up his hair clippers, startling 22.

22

Ah! Little chainsaw!

JOE:

You need to settle down! If you

keep this-

But FROM DEZ’S POV --he sees a car YOWLING at Joe. He puts a

hand on 22’s shoulder:

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--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 80.

DEZ:

Look, I can deal with some freaky

stuff, but if this cat don’t chill,

we’re gonna have to put it outside.

22

(smug)

Well, what’s it gonna be, kitty?

JOE:

Meow.

Dez regards 22’s reverse mohawk and gets to work.

DEZ:

Sometimes change is good. You have

been rocking that same style for a

while.

22

Well Dez, for hundreds of years,

I've had no style at all.

PAUL:

You can say that again!

The others start LAUGHING. 22 looks around, misreading it.

22

But then my life changed.

DEZ:

Oh yeah? What happened?

22

I was existing as a theoretical

construct in a hypothetical way-

station between life and death.

FEMALE BARBER:

I heard that.

DISSOLVE TO:

LATER.

22 is relaxed now, happily sucking on the lolly as Dez

finishes.

Everyone in the store has pulled up a chair, now listening

intently to 22’s story.

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--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 81.

22

And by the time I got to mentor

number 266, I was seriously asking

what is all the fuss about. Like is

all this living really worth dying

for? You know what I mean?

CUSTOMERS:

Word. Mhmmm.

DEZ:

I never knew you had such an

interesting education, Joe. I just

thought you went to music school.

22

And another thing... They say

you’re born to do something,

but how do you figure out what that

thing is? And what if you pick up

the wrong thing. Or somebody else’s

thing, you know? Then you’re stuck!

The others nod in agreement.

One of the customers motions to the lolly jar.

CUSTOMER:

(whispers)

I’ll take one of those.

DEZ:

(chuckles)

I wouldn’t call myself stuck but I

never planned on cuttin’ heads for

a living.

22

Wait, but... you were born to be a

barber. Weren’t you?

DEZ:

I wanted to be a veterinarian.

Joe looks at Dez, surprised by this.

22

So why didn’t you do that?

DEZ:

I was planning to. When I got out

of the Navy. And then my daughter

got sick, and...

(MORE)

(MORE)(MORE)

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--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 82.

DEZ (CONT'D)

DEZ (CONT'D)DEZ (CONT'D)

barber school is a lot cheaper than

veterinarian school.

22

That’s too bad. You’re stuck as a

barber and now you’re unhappy.

DEZ:

Whoah, whoa, slow your roll there,

Joe. I’m happy as a clam, my man.

Not everyone can be Charles Drew

inventing blood transfusions.

22

...or me, playing piano with

Dorothea Williams. I know.

PAUL guffaws sarcastically.

PAUL:

Haha. You are not all that. Anyone

could play in a band if they wanted

to.

JOE:

(to 22)

Don’t pay Paul any mind. People

like him just bring other people

down so they can make themselves

feel better.

22

Oh, I get it. He's just criticizing

me to cover up the pain of his own

failed dreams.

The others ERUPT with a collective “DANG!” Everyone in the

shop LAUGHS at 22’s inadvertent, razor-sharp comeback.

Humbled, Paul sniffs on his way out:

PAUL:

You cut deep, Joe...

22

I wonder why sitting in this chair

makes me want to tell you things,

Dez.

DEZ:

That’s the magic of the chair.

That’s why I love this job. I get

to meet interesting folks like you.

Make them happy...

©2020 DISNEY•PIXAR -

--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 83.

Dez picks up a small hand mirror and shows 22 his work.

DEZ:

And make them handsome.

22 looks at the excellent cut in the mirror and smiles. Joe

is impressed.

22

Wow! Am I crazy or do I look

younger?

DEZ:

I may not have invented blood

transfusions, but I am most

definitely saving lives.

EXT. BARBER SHOP. DAY.

Dez shows 22 and Joe out.

DEZ:

I don’t know about this crazy cat

guy thing man, but it is nice to

finally talk to you about something

other than jazz, Joe.

22

Huh. How come we, uh, never talked

about your life before?

DEZ:

You never asked. But I’m glad you

did this time.

The other customers call out:

CUSTOMERS:

Looking good, brother. Have a great

show!

Dez heads back inside. 22 pulls out a handful of lollipops,

showing them proudly to Joe.

22

I grabbed a couple road lollies.

22 pops one into her mouth and walks off. Joe follows,

impressed with how 22 handled it all.

©2020 DISNEY•PIXAR -

--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 84.

INT. HOSPITAL --JOE’S ROOM.

Inside Joe’s former hospital room, a HEART MONITOR beeps,

suddenly FLATLINES --then becomes Terry.

Terry leaps from the monitor and looks around the room for

clues.

Terry examines Joe’s empty hospital bed, ducking out of sight

just as a DOCTOR enters the room.

EXT. NEW YORK --DOOR STOOP. DAY.

Terry moves, snake-like, up to the sunken alcove where 22 had

been hiding earlier. Terry examines the spot where 22 had

been sitting.

INT. JOE’S APARTMENT.

Terry slithers among Joe’s things, over his album collection

and onto his piano, searching.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD BODEGA. DAY.

Paul comes out of the small grocery store near the barber

shop. He opens a bag of chips, still stung by 22’s insult:

PAUL:

(muttering to himself)

You know, Julia Child didn’t

succeed till she was 49.

22 and Joe approach. 22 holds out a lolly as a peace

offering:

22

Hey, Paul! Here, have a lolliipop.

PAUL:

Oh. Thanks, man.

ACROSS THE STREET --Terry spots 22 as she comes out of a

crosswalk light.

TERRY:

There you are!

Terry jumps down and snakes around the corner. The accountant

draws a portal in the ground, like a lion trap.

©2020 DISNEY•PIXAR -

--PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

7/17/2020 Soul Academy Draft 85.

As 22 finishes making amends with Paul, Terry readies the

trap:

TERRY:

Come to Terry!

A body falls into the trap. Terry follows, jumping in.

TERRY:

Gotcha!

INT. LIMBO.

Surrounded by the eerie darkness of Limbo, Terry let’s “Joe”

have it:

TERRY:

Thought you could cheat the

universe?! Well you thought wrong!

I’m the Accountant, and I’m here to

bring you in!

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