The entire sequence of Joe trying to teach his class music, only for them to goof off in different ways. One student is caught using his phone instead of playing, and when Joe calls him out, he is so startled he throws the phone into the bell of another student's sax. Meanwhile, one of the other saxophonists is lying across two chairs and waits until Joe tries to cue her entrance to reveal that she forgot her instrument.
When the other students laugh at Connie for getting into her trombone playing, Joe defends her by explaining how important Jazz music is. He really gets into it as he goes into exposition about how he fell in love with Jazz as a kid, using his passion as a metaphor for how music is a way of speaking. Naturally, Connie remarks out she's only 12, making a point that she doesn't share the same level of passion as him.
Joe's mother sewing someone's outfit, while having a heated discussion with her son about job security. When she asks her son if she agrees while holding a needle at the customer's neck, the customer nervously begs Joe to agree.
In the scene where Joe dies he is so focused on his phone call he doesn’t notice narrowly avoiding a falling stack of bricks, oncoming traffic, banana peels, nails lying on the ground, and a woman on a scooter, before finally falling into an open manhole. As a little "blink-and-you-miss-it" Easter Egg, you can see on the hardware store window that the nails that Joe almost steps on are nine inches long.
As massive and awe-inspiring as the Great Beyond is (and utterly terrifying because of the unknown of what lies beyond); there's something quite ridiculous about the white void making a sound like a bug-zapper when a soul touches it.
After fleeing the Great Beyond, Joe finds himself in the Great Before...
Jerry getting the souls' attention with the "quiet coyote" gesture. The image of this great ethereal being getting the attention of other ethereal beings with a technique used on kindergarteners, combined with the way Alice Braga reads the line, is just hilarious.
During the "Becoming You" seminar, a new soul cheerfully explains they've been assigned the personality traits of "a manipulative megalomaniac who's intensely opportunistic!" One of the Jerries then says "Oho, this one might be a handful! But that's Earth's problem, though."
The Spanish dub escalates this morbidly funny gag to Black Comedy with Jerry instead saying "Oh, this one could destroy a whole country! But that's Earth's problem."
In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Jerry's reaction to that is "Oh, everything a parent expects from their child!" Yikes.
Every scene of 22's many mentors trying (and failing) to make them gain their spark.
Mother Teresa (of whom 22 gleefully tells Joe, "I made her cry!") flatly tells 22 they're the only soul she doesn't have compassion for.
Mother Teresa: I have compassion for every soul. Except you, I don't like you.
Copernicus going into a frothing rage as he screams that they aren't the center of everything.
Copernicus: THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND YOU, 22!
Even Muhammad Ali doesn't have the strength he has to deal with them.
Muhammad Ali: You are the GREATEST... pain in the BUTT!
Marie-Antoinette angrily admonishes them while her soul is just her floating head. And apparently what set her off is 22 offering cake.
Marie Antoinette: Nobody can help you. Nobody!
Carl Jung, who founded analytical psychology, apparently tried reverse psychology on 22 and instead got the following result;
Carl Jung: Stop talking! My unconscious mind HATES YOU!
Special mention goes to Abraham Lincoln, who tells 22 that it was a great honor to end up on the penny, only to get pissed when 22 mentions Andrew Jackson had gotten on the twenty-dollar bill.
22: You're really okay being on a penny? Abraham Lincoln: Why, of course. It's an honor. 22: Okay, but they put Andrew Jackson on the 20. Abraham Lincoln:(throws his hat in rage) JACKSON?!
Joe has 22 try out firefighting to see if that'll be the spark, only to immediately end things when 22 becomes enamored by the flames. Fridge-Funny: Joe may want to give 22 their spark and by extension return to Earth, but not if it meanscreating a future arsonist/pyromaniac.
When Joe asks why 22 sounds like"a middle aged white woman", 22 explain that it's an illusion and can talk however they want.
22:(in male voice, with grumpy face) I could sound like this if I wanted to. (then kid's voice with wide eyes) Or sound like this instead. (normal voice) I could even sound like you. (shapeshifts head into Joe's, in his voice) Life is so unfair. I don't wanna die. Somebody call the wambulance. Wah! (back to normal voice) I just use this voice because it annoys people. Joe:It's very effective.
22 tries out painting while Joe tries to help them find their spark, and complains "Hands are hard!", a well-known pain to many artists of all skill levels.
22 likes to mess with people who are in "The Zone", causing them to lose their focus (i.e. causing a Shakespearean actress to forget her lines and causing a tattoo artist to screw up a tattoo she was working on), and admits to being the reason for the New York Knicks' long string of bad luck.
22:(to Joe) Watch this. I've been messing with this team for decades.note Perhaps since 1973, their last NBA Championship season?(lobs a projectile at a basketball player's soul; cut to the real world, where he misses a potential buzzer-beating slam dunk in humiliating fashion and falls to the court to reveal the Knicks logo behind the basket) Commentator: And the Knicks lose another one...
One lost soul they free is a hedge fund manager... who happens to be freed during his job. As an animator In-Joke, one of the screens on the manager's computer setup features a graph editor like the ones commonly seen in 3D animation software like Maya. As many animators can attest to, his reaction of throwing his computers away is wholly justified.
Hedge Fund Manager:(after returning to his body) What am I doing with my life? (sweeps his computers off of his workstation) I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE! (begins trashing everyone else's workstations) FREE YOURSELVES! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!
Moonwind happily admits he was a lost soul for a while due toTetris.
While in the body of the therapy cat, Joe sneaks a slice of pizza to feed 22 while in his body. As he's dragging the slice on the sidewalk, Joe sees a rat with his own pizza.note A Shout-Out to the "pizza rat" viral video of a rat dragging an entire slice of pizza down an outdoor stairwell. The two look at each other for a moment before going on their way.
When Joe and 22 (in the wrong bodies) find Moonwind in the physical world and inform him what happened... Moonwind is happy Joe is a cat. Apparently, Moonwind has always wanted to be a cat. Not too long after, Moonwind's employer scolds him for dilly-dallying during work. To this, Moonwind cheerily shares the news with his employer that he put a man's soul into this cat. Without missing a beat, the employer further scolds him for his weirdness and shoos off Joe and 22, apparently thinking, "What is this man smoking today?"
Moonwind says that to put Joe's soul back in his body, they'll have to do an "astral trans-migration displacement" which can't happen until Orcus moves into the house of Gemini. When Joe asks when that'll be, Moonwind answers "Well, the government calls it six-thirty."
When Joe-as-Cat gets locked inside his apartment while 22-as-Joe has a heart-to-heart with Connie, Joe angrily demands that 22 get back inside before threatening to scratch up her sofa...before remembering it's his sofa.
One for the Hispanics—when looking for the soul missing from the count in the archives, Terry notes, "There sure are a lot of Garcias in here."
After Terry leaves for Earth, one of the Jerries cheerfully says, "This won't be a disaster, that's for sure!"
Joe (while in the Therapy Cat's body) tries to use the electric razor on 22 (while in Joe's body). This goes as well as you would expect, resulting in Paddington 2 levels of disaster.
In fact, when they visit the barber, and 22 unwittingly shows everyone the bad hair cut, Dez instantly makes an emergency appointment for him on the spot.
Freeze-Frame Bonus: Paul gives a snicker when he looks up and sees Joe's bad hair cut.
When 22 (in Joe's body) shares her life whilst getting a haircut from Dez to everybody in the barber shop who will give a listen. The crazy thing is, everyone thinks "Joe" is being metaphorical. The cherry on the cake is the customer who thinks one of those magical lollipops will give him spiritual insight on life.
Customer: I'll take one of those.
When Joe's rival Paul criticizes the former will never hope to be a famous Jazz player, Joe (while in the cat's body) mutters, "People like that just bring other people down so they can make themselves feel better." 22 then responds out loud "Oh, I get it! He's just criticizing me to cover up the pain of his own failed dream." Realizing Paul was just burned, everyone reacts with an amused "OOOOOOOOOOOH!"
Paul responds with a sad "You cut deep, Joe." Notably, this wouldn't be funny, except for how this is the only time Paul reacts with something other than salty cynicism. Also, part of 22's personality is that she's a cynic. She out-cyniced Paul!
The funniest thing is, 22 wasn't even trying to be obnoxious, she insulted Paul just by being herself.* Terry tries to get Joe's soul back to the Great Beyond, only to accidentally snag Paul. After Terry returns him to his body, he's freaked out and she helps none by revealing herself (i.e. her otherworldly appearance) when trying to comfort him.
Joe (in the cat's body) prompts 22 (in Joe's body) to give one of his mother's co-workers a kiss as part of a traditional greeting they do. 22 kisses heron the mouth, much to Joe's horror. The second coworker calls him out on it, the first one cheekily insists to "Let him finish", and the second one accuses her of being a cougar.
While visiting Joe's mother, 22 (in Joe's body) shows her the ripped pants. Joe's mother winces in disgust and chides not to moon her like that.
When 22 has turned into a lost soul, Joe hops aboard Moonwind's ship to follow them. They grab onto 22 with a tether, but 22 simply dives underground, taking the ship with them. Moonwind is determined to go down with the ship, and soon after comes back to his body in New York, dropping his sign to salute.
The Jerries award Terry a trophy for their efforts in capturing Joe and 22 and setting the count right... specifically at Terry's request. The flat stares and unenthusiastic applause that the Jerries give Terry is priceless. And when 22 bursts into the room, the Jerry that gave Terry the trophy promptly takes it back.
Terry attempts to stop the rampaging 22, but ends up getting taken down by her and making Terry look like a tangled up wire sculpture.
In the end, when the Jerries offer to return Joe to life, he questions what Terry will think about this, and Jerry A assures him they've worked things out with Terry. Answer Cut to how they "worked it out" — Jerry B momentarily distracts Terry and, for the brief moment she's looking away, moves a single bead on Terry's abacus so it looks like Joe has ascended to the Great Beyond. Hey, whatever works. There's something quite funny about knowing that, despite spending the entire film chasing after Joe as a missing soul to get her count correct again, thanks to this ending, Terry's count will forever be off and she'll never know.
After the credits, Terry pops up and yells "Oi! Movie's over! Go home!" The fact the movie debuted on the Disney+ streaming service unintentionally makes this funnier, as most people watching the movie are already home.
The 22 vs. Earth short:
In the beginning, one of 22's friends is about to go to Earth:
Jerry A: Congratulations, you completed your Earth Pass. Soul:(cheerfully matter-of-fact)And 22 did not. Jerry A: Not yet. Other Soul:(cheerfully) She has no reason to live. Jerry B: She's working on it.
A young soul gnaws on one of the Jerrys'... ankle? ... when they get their spark. The young soul proclaims "I'm a doggie! Woof, woof!" and runs off to the portal on all fours. As they watch the soul leave, the Jerry comments, "I'd hate to be thatsoul's parents."
Other:
When Soul won the Annie Award for Best Feature in 2021 as the final award, Smash Cut to Pete Docter, Dana Murray, and Kemp Powers yelling out their thanks from a very very long distance on hills in unknown meadows, in light of social distancing. All viewers could see is very tiny figures jumping up and down. In fact, they were so far away, they can't even hear what they are saying! And for the bonus points, the live-stream of the virtual Annie Awards ends with Pete shouting 'What?!' repeatedly when they are unable to hear each other. It has seen to be believed.
As many animators can attest to, his reaction of throwing his computers away is wholly justified.Hedge Fund Manager: (after returning to his body) What am I doing with my life? (sweeps his computers off of his workstation) I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE! (begins trashing everyone else's workstations) FREE YOURSELVES! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!