Doodles

Pete was at school one day and whatever the teacher was talking about had lost his attention - either because he already knew the subject matter, or he just didn't care to know the subject matter.  He started doodling a small caricature on the lower corner of the page his math book was open to.  He turned to the next page and drew a second image just slightly different from the first, and so on, and so on.  He noticed by flipping the pages quickly with his thumb that his character came to life.   He was rather proud of himself.  His teacher, not so much.  When the teacher reported the offense to his parents, Pete expected the worst.  But instead, his parents gave him a pad of post-it notes that you could buy for a nickel and encouraged him to use those instead of his math book.  Pete Docter probably went through quite a few post-it notes when creating his latest Pixar film, "Soul".  Pete had already demonstrated considerable success with his earlier movies, "Monsters Inc", "Up" and "Inside Out". "Soul" explores the vast idea of "what are we here for?" and has received high critical acclaim.   While the movie doesn't answer the question for the viewer, it does provide a great platform to encourage personal thought and discussion with those you care most about.  I was interested to see Pete give credit to his parents and his wife for leading him towards the foundation for his own answer to the question.   "I know some people say Jesus is a great teacher, or whatever. I think there’s something fundamental to the Christian faith that speaks to the core of who we are … That’s what Jesus brings: A personal relationship with God that is really unique. It’s the only sort of religion that I know of that offers that.”  I pray that some other people watching this movie come to the same conclusion.  For more about Pete Docter check out this video or this article where I first learned about him.