The Roots musician will also helm music for the film and serve as executive producer
Disney’s Arisocats remake has found a director. Questlove will helm the film in addition to serving as executive producer and overseeing its music.
Described as a hybrid mix between live-action and CGI, Aristocats will feature a script from Will Gluck and Keith Bunin. It marks Questlove’s directorial debut in a feature film as he revives the decades-old story about a family of cats trying to make their way back home after being kidnapped by an evil butler.
Questlove made his official directorial debut with Summer of Soul, the 2021 documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival. For the film, the musician dug into history to deliver a fresh narrative to a modern audience.
“The number one question I had was, ‘Who wouldn’t want to see this?’” he told Rolling Stone at the time. “Why wasn’t this written about? Who would throw this away?’” The documentary went on to win Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 Academy Awards.
The upcoming Disney project marks the first remake of the film which was originally released in 1970 with voice acting from Eva Gabor and Phil Harris. Robert and Richard Sherman helmed the music for the animated picture, including “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” and the theme song “The Aristocats.”
