Anika Noni Rose, star of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, is staying quiet about plans for future projects with Tiana, the princess who is getting both her own TV series on Disney+ and starring in a reworked Splash Mountain at Disney’s parks. Not unlike conversations about the “Marvel snipers,” Rose joked that she’s too scared of Disney to say anything, other than admitting that she’s excited to see what’s coming. In addition to those two things, Disney is also launching a dining experience at the parks based on Tiana’s restaurant from the movie.
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Disney Parks announced back in 2020 that the iconic Splash Mountain ride would be getting a theme overhaul. In 2021, they announced the Tiana project for Disney+, making for what is an overall pretty big expansion of Tiana’s story and The Princess and the Frog‘s footprint at Disney.
“You can expect no information from me. I’m sorry,” Rose told ComicBook.com’s Jamie Jirak. After we asked about the ride, she added, “Do you know Disney? Do you know that we say nothing? I can’t say anything. All I can say is they’re really excited, what they’re doing. A lot of love and passionate into it, a lot of research in New Orleans, and hopefully, it’ll be really great.”
In order to distance itself from the problematic Song of the South, and to continue adding more franchise IP and characters to the parks, Disney opted to change Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, theming the new version of the ride after The Princess and the Frog.
The ride itself will stay the same, but its look and story will transport guests to New Orleans, where they’ll be met by Tiana and some of her friends.
Rose spoke with ComicBook.com in support of BoxLunch’s Holiday Gala, which they hold to benefit Feeding America.
“In America, it’s just clear people like to say ‘food and security,’ but I think it’s much more clear when you say ‘people are hungry’ and they are, from children to adults,” Rose said. “Most recently and most close to home, Feeding America fed actors and writers during the strike who could not afford groceries. Nobody everyone thinks that when they talk about the actor strike that actors are actually somewhere worried about food. But people were, and it was an amazing thing for people to know that they could go somewhere. It’s a beautiful thing to feed people. It’s one of my favorite things to do. It’s a great way to express love, to feed someone.”
Here’s the official synopsis for Tiana:
“With a modern twist on a classic tale, this animated comedy is set in the great city of New Orleans. Featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana, a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana.”
“Tiana is a bright and resourceful nineteen-year-old who dreams of opening her own New Orleans restaurant. Inspired by her father, she knows everything about cooking and running a business. She has taken his advice by dreaming big and working incredibly hard to achieve her goal even in the face of sizable obstacles. Along the way she loses sight of what was really important. As fate should have it, and adventure involving a frog, a firefly and an alligator reveal to her that what she wants isn’t necessarily what she needs.”
