Soul has a brief post-credits scene that makes absolutely no sense. Soul, which released on Disney+ on December 25, was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on June 19, 2020. Like so many other 2020 films, Soul's release was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In October, after realizing that the film would need to be postponed a second time, Disney announced that Soul would premiere exclusively on Disney+ (and without the same $30 premiere access fee as Mulan). But even before the release date initially planned for Soul, production on the film halted and could only be resumed in a socially-distanced manner.
The Pixar animation team who made Soul completed the film while working remotely from their homes. A new podcast called Soul Stories and an upcoming Disney+ documentary will detail the making of Soul, including the challenges and joys that the animation team faced while adjusting to a radically different workflow. A note at the end of Soul’s credits acknowledges the work of the remote team, stating that the film was created and produced at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California “and in homes at least six feet away from each other throughout the Bay Area.” It’s a subtle reminder of the far-reaching impacts of the pandemic, but it also makes the following post-credit scene that much more bizarre.
At the end of the credits, Terry (Rachel House) pops up and says, “Oi! Movie’s over, go home!” The problem is that most audiences watching the film were actually watching it from home. Considering that Pixar took the time to alter the credits in a way that acknowledged the pandemic, it’s especially jarring to immediately follow it up with a scene that is so completely oblivious to the reality that we are currently living in where Soul didn't have a global theatrical release because most theaters are still closed. For those looking to view the scene, it can be found at the 1:40:26 mark, with about 6 minutes left in the film’s runtime (for foreign language credits).
Disney and Pixar knew that people would be watching Soul from home and would have had time to alter or remove the scene but kept it in for some reason. Perhaps it was due to a contractual obligation or other obscure technicality - or it just wasn’t enough of a priority to fix. Regardless, most people likely didn’t see the scene since Pixar movies are known for ubiquitous Easter eggs rather than their infrequent post-credit scenes. And Soul did have a theatrical release in ten countries where Disney+ is not available and theaters are open, so the post-credits scene with Terry wouldn’t have seemed as out of place to those audiences.
Terry is cast (somewhat unfairly) as the villain of Soul, even though Terry earnestly points out to Joe that he cheated, and Joe seems to realize that Terry is right. Terry’s methods may be a bit cruel, but the obsessive accountant is intent on maintaining order with good reason: if Terry slips up at work, it’s literally a matter of life and death. In a pre-Covid world, the brief fourth-wall break from Terry is very much in line with that orderly nature of the character by telling the audience that they are somewhere they shouldn’t be. However, in the context of our reality, it just doesn’t make sense.