Netflix is ready to present a new, animated exploration of the American story in We The People, a 10 x 3 min. anthology series from Peabody, Humanitas, NAACP and Emmy Award-winning creator/exec producer Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins), executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, Kenya Barris, Tonia Davis and Priya Swaminathan.
Premiering appropriately on the Fourth of July, the musical civics-based series is the latest project under Nee’s overall deal with Netflix Animation announced in 2018. (You can read more about this and other exciting projects from this collaboration coming soon in the June-July ’21 issue of Animation Magazine).
Combining music and animation to educate a new generation of young Americans about the power of the people, We the People is a series of 10 animated music videos that covers a range of basic U.S. civics lessons in not-so-basic ways. Set to original songs performed by top artists, with a groundbreaking mix of animated styles — each episode of We the People is an exuberant call to action for everyone to rethink civics as a living, breathing thing and to reframe their understanding of what government and citizenship mean in a modern world.
Season 1 features music by H.E.R., Bebe Rexha, Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe, Cordae, Adam Lambert, Andra Day, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brittany Howard, Daveed Diggs, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Kyle and Amanda Gorman.
Presented in beautifully diverse animation styles, episodes are directed by Oscar winner Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse), Trisha Gum (The LEGO Movie 2), Victoria Vincent (Bunny Rabbit), Benjy Brooke (Teen Titans GO! to the Movies), Mabel Ye (Kid Cosmic), Tim Rauch (BoJack Horseman), Jorge R. Gutierrez (Maya and the Three), Daron Nefcy (Star vs. The Forces of Evil), Everett Downing (Hair Love) and Kendra Ryan (Assoc. Creative Director, BUCK).
Series producers are Ada Chiaghana, Erynn Sampson and PeeDee Shindell.
Ahead of the Netflix streaming debut, AFI DOCS will host the world premiere of We the People with a free screening event in the DOCS Talks section of the film festival, Thursday, June 24 at 8 p.m. EDT (DOCS.AFI.com).
