While Pixar Animation productions tend to earn high praise with almost every release, it’s the work of director Pete Doctor that’s been the consistent standout for the company. The driving force behind “Inside Out,” “Up,” and “Monsters, Inc.,” Docter has repeatedly pushed Pixar into different creative directions, generating exciting, hilarious, and profoundly emotional movies along the way. His latest is “Soul,” which at first glance might appear to be an “Inside Out” riff, returning to the world of human beings and their struggling inner lives. While the features share some similarities in tone and theme, “Soul” aims for the bigger picture, with Docter and his team crafting a film about the gift of life and how the joys of existence are often drowned out by the drive to find purpose. Once again, the helmer has found a way to explore daily existence with animated buoyancy, and while the endeavor takes a strange detour at the midway point, Docter remains attentive to his message of appreciation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com