If anything, Soul is guilty of over-ambition. The wizardry and wit are there, but it lacks Pixar’s usual deftness in making complex themes sing for youngsters.

What follows is an absolute delight. It will make any viewer cherish the life they have and want to live it more fully, every single day, ideally with lots of laughs along the way.

It shortchanges itself at every turn by overextending itself.

It is a little scattergun in its approach, and the ontology may be a bit much for kids, but even they will relate to its message about appreciating life’s smaller pleasures, which this year feels like a good one.