Soul impressed, not only for his beautiful photorealistic animation, nor for his dispute with abstract concepts of life, purpose and beyond, but for his genuine representation of the black community, centered around the main character Joe (voiced by Jamie Foxx in English). And although some things may be lost in translation in the film’s transition to European markets, these elements remain crucial for Soul. But a choice of many European markets in relation to the latter – Joe’s black identity – is under scrutiny.
In European dubbing of Soul, The New York Times reports that Joe and other black characters are often voiced by white actors, which has led to a reaction in several countries like Denmark and Portugal.
The controversy started in Denmark when people found out that Joe was nicknamed by a white actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas, leading to an outcry that prompted Lie Kaas to issue a statement on Facebook defending his cast. “My position regarding any job is very simple,” he wrote. “Leave the man or woman who can do the job in the best possible way to get the job.”
However, in Portugal, a petition calling for Soul to be redoubled with actors of color collected more than 17,000 signatures.
The New York Times notes that white actors voice black characters in many other European voiceovers. Soul, with some exceptions like France, where Joe is voiced by the black actor (and recent Lupine stand out) Omar Sy. Voice actors rarely receive so much attention, but Soul may have alerted people to this issue of white-voiced artists giving voice to POC characters – which Hollywood animation programs like Big Mouth, Central Park, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and BoJack Horseman lately – because the film representation of the black community in New York is so intrinsic to the story.
This is a complicated subject to which even longtime experts in the animation industry have no concrete answer. Alex Dudok de Wit wrote about the ongoing debate over diversity in the dubbing industry in Vulture, noting that many international markets do not have enough color actors to cover all non-white roles. For example, most homogeneous countries like Japan or South Korea probably would not be able to hire a black actor to voice Joe. But while it may not be surprising that a Scandinavian country like Denmark does not have a large group of black voice actors, it is somewhat unusual that Portugal has not been able to find one for a high-profile project like Pixar’s latest film.
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