From executive producers—and bandmates in the hip-hop group The Roots—Questlove and Black Thought comes a new Disney animated series called Rise Up, Sing Out.
Videos by American Songwriter
The new music series will seek to inspire and empower children with positive messages, uplifting tones, and cultural affirmations. The new series will begin streaming via Disney+ on Wednesday (February 2), according to Variety, and will air over the weekend on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
Questlove, who is the Roots’ famed drummer, posted about the news on Twitter to his 3.3 million followers, sharing an article and writing simply, “a dream.”
In a preview video, which you can see below, Questlove said the new show is both good for kids and “useful for adults to learn.”
Both Questlove and Black Thought produce the series, as well as the music. And they will also appear in animated form, showcasing to viewers themes of “diversity, inclusion, kindness, and self-expression.”
For Disney, the show was created in order to help address a large demand for kids programming that can help parents to teach the whole family about respect for each others’ differences.
“The ‘Rise Up, Sing Out’ shorts touch on a lot of real-world issues, especially for young Black kids, that just weren’t talked about when we were growing up,” Quest and Thought shared in a joint statement. “The beautiful thing about these shorts is that not only are they going to provide young kids the proper language to talk to their friends and family about some of the things that might be bothering them, but it’s also going to give parents the tools on how to respond.
“We feel this is the perfect moment and the perfect time for us to put this project out into the world to plant a seed about kindness that will hopefully have a lasting impact for generations to come.”
Disney has also released the music from the series to streaming platforms so everyone can enjoy the songs at all times.
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
