Early film pitches for Pixar’s Academy Award-winning “Inside Out” named comedian Lewis Black to illustrate how an iconic voice like that belonging to the “King of the Rant” could bring an emotion like “Anger” to life. Black went on to voice the character in both the 2015 film and its 2024 sequel — now the highest grossing animated film of all time; a fan of all things Pixar, Black has called the opportunity a career-defining role. Now, the Chautauqua favorite returns to the Amphitheater stage with his “Inside Out” and “Inside Out 2” directors Pete Docter and Kelsey Mann, respectively, to discuss the intersection of humor and the heartfelt. Their conversation opens a Chautauqua Lecture Series week co-curated with Black himself, and in partnership with the National Comedy Center.

Pete Docter is the Oscar-winning director of “Monsters, Inc.,” “Up,” “Inside Out” and “Soul,” and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He has served as a member of the National Comedy Center Advisory Board since 2019.

Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the studio’s third animator, Docter collaborated and helped develop the story and characters for “Toy Story,” Pixar’s first full-length animated feature film, for which he also was supervising animator. He served as a storyboard artist on “A Bug’s Life,” and wrote initial story treatments for both “Toy Story 2” and “WALL-E.” Docter also executive produced “Monsters University” and the Academy Award-winning “Brave.” Docter has won three Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature for “Up,” “Inside Out,” and “Soul,” and has received nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Animated Feature for “Monsters, Inc.,” and Best Original Screenplay for “Up,” “Inside Out” and “WALL-E.” In 2010, “Up” also was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Kelsey Mann first came to Pixar Animation Studios in 2009 and was the story supervisor on the 2013 feature film “Monsters University.” In this capacity, he oversaw a team of story artists through the process of storyboarding the film. He also contributed ancillary material during the production of the Academy Award-winning feature “Toy Story 3.” Mann was soon tapped to direct the “Monsters University” short film “Party Central,” and he also worked as the story supervisor on “The Good Dinosaur” and “Onward.” Most recently, Mann directed Pixar’s feature film “Inside Out 2.”

Mann launched his animation career as an intern at Reelworks, a small Minneapolis-based commercial studio. From there, he moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and went on to hold a variety of positions including animation, storyboarding and directing for companies such as Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. and Lucasfilm Animation.

Known as the “King of the Rant,” Lewis Black uses his trademark style of comedic yelling and animated finger-pointing to skewer anything and anyone that gets under his skin. He’s made audiences across the world laugh at the absurdities of life, with topics that include current events, social media, politics and anything else that exposes the hypocrisy and madness he sees in the world.

In 1996, Black was tapped to create a weekly segment for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” The segment, a three-minute rant about whatever was bothering him at the moment, evolved into “Back in Black,” becoming one of the most popular and longest-running segments on the show.

In his comedic career, Black has released more than a dozen albums — receiving six Grammy nominations and two wins for his work — and has filmed two specials for HBO, including “Black On Broadway” and “Red, White and Screwed.” The latter was nominated for an Emmy in 2007. His most recent stand-up specials are 2020’s “Thanks for Risking Your Life” and 2023’s “Tragically, I Need You” — his 15th stand-up special.