This animated film follows middle school music teacher Joe Gardner, who dreams of being a professional musician. Joe catches a break and lands an audition with a famed jazz musician, but tragedy strikes when he falls through a manhole and dies before his audition. Joe finds himself in a big waiting room for souls and meets a soul named 22. If she gets her final merit badge of sorts, 22 would get a first-class ticket to Earth. However, she doesn’t really want to go, so offers her ticket to Joe if he can help her “find her spark” — the final badge.
The two go through a series of adventures and find themselves back on Earth, where 22 is introduced to the simple joys in life. After getting back to the waiting room in the sky, 22 sees that her final badge has filled out. Joe is so focused on his trip back and neglects to notice that 22 is actually ready to live on Earth. Once back on Earth, Joe finds his days to be unfulfilling and begins to feel guilty about taking 22’s chance at life away. Joe finds his way back to look for 22, who’s stuck in a zone for lost souls. After Joe convinces 22 to give Earth a try, he escorts her as far as he can before he ascends to heaven.
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