Rise Up, Sing Out

Black Thought And Questlove’s Disney Animated Series Premieres This Week On Disney+

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black thought questlove disney series
Disney Press

If you had told me 20 years ago that the two main members of The Roots would be executive producers on a Disney animated series, I’m not totally sure I would have believed you. But here we are in 2022, with Black Thought and Questlove working on “Rise Up, Sing Out,” a musical series looking to inspire and empower children with uplifting messages and cultural affirmations. Variety reports the series will be streaming starting today on Disney Plus with the first episode also airing on Disney Channel and Disney Junior.

Not only do Quest and Thought produce the series and the music in it (naturally), but they will also appear in it in adorable animated form offering themes of “diversity, inclusion, kindness, and self-expression.” Disney produced the show to address a growing demand for children’s entertainment that would help parents teach kids respect for each others’ differences in an increasingly diverse world. In a statement, The Roots’ frontmen tackled those issues head-on:

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. 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.

In addition, on Friday, February 4, Walt Disney Records will release the music from the series to streaming. It looks like the future is in good hands — who would’ve thought those hands would belong to The Roots?

The Roots’ Questlove And Black Thought Are Teaming With Disney Junior For An Animated Short Series

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Questlove and Black Thought both keep themselves plenty busy outside of The Roots, and now the pair is teaming up for yet another new endeavor. This time, it’s Rise Up, Sing Out, a series of animated shorts they’re making with Disney Junior.

The series, which is set to premiere later in 2021, will feature music from the pair. Press materials describe the show, “Presenting important concepts around race, racism and social justice for the youngest viewers, the series consists of music-based shorts that are designed to provide an inspiring and empowering message about noticing and celebrating differences and providing a framework for conversation.”

In a joint statement, Questlove and Black Thought said, “It is an honor to work with the Disney Junior team to help create a series of shorts that will empower and uplift the future generations in the way we know best, through music. We hope these shorts will encourage the young audience to recognize and celebrate our differences as human beings while learning the tools to navigate real-world issues of racial injustice.”

Joe D’Ambrosia — senior vice president, Original Programming and general manager, Disney Junior — also said, “We recognize that many kids are experiencing a multitude of feelings around what’s happening in our world today and know that many families are struggling with how to discuss sensitive issues around race. Our goal with these shorts is to open up the conversation and provide families with the tools and knowledge to address these important topics with their preschoolers in an age-appropriate manner through music and relatable kid experiences.”