Disney+ Scraps Princess and The Frog Sequel Series Tiana

Disney+ is pulling the plug on its planned sequel series for The Princess and The Frog starring Tiana. Anika Noni Rose voiced Disney’s first Black princess in 2009’s The Princess and the Frog animated movie, and when it came time for The Walt Disney Company to start developing content for Disney+, it turned to Tiana as an obvious choice. However, it appears the Tiana series is no longer moving forward at Disney+, as The Hollywood Reporter states Walt Disney Animation Studios has shelved the long-awaited project and is abandoning original longform content for streaming.

A source for the outlet confirmed that with the scrapping of Tiana, Walt Disney Animation Studios will be performing layoffs at its Vancouver studio as its business strategy changes. An unannounced feature-length project that was going straight to Disney+ is also no longer moving forward, so that makes two projects Disney+ is losing out on. The only question is whether this unannounced project was for an established franchise or something entirely new.

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The Princess and The Frog spinoff starring Tiana was announced in 2020 during Disney’s Investor Day as a musical following up on the ending of the animated movie. The reported reasoning behind Tiana being scrapped has to do with the project not being where it needs to be given its production cost. Some of that may be due to several creative changes behind the scenes. One of the last updates to Tiana involved naming Joyce Sherri (Midnight Mass) as lead writer and director. Tiana was thought to be coming out in 2024 but as you can see, that didn’t happen. The Princess and The Frog does have a short-form special in early development with Sherri still attached, and Steve Anderson joining as a director.

Tiana was described as following the titular character from The Princess and The Frog as she “sets off for a grand new adventure as the newly crowned Princess of Maldonia, but a calling to her New Orleans past isn’t far behind.” Nathan Curtis was set to produce with Jennifer Lee and Stella Meghie as executive producers. Sherri would have replaced Meghie as writer/director.

Examples of other beloved animated movies that got spinoff series on Disney+ include Zootopia, Big Hero 6, and Cars. Moana 2 was originally developed as an animated series for Disney+, but was later redeveloped as a feature film. Moana 2 recently crossed $1 billion at the global box office, and will be available to stream on Disney+ starting Wednesday, March 12th.

The Princess and The Frog is a modern twist on a classic tale that features a beautiful girl named Tiana who dreams of owning her own restaurant. When she meets a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, a fateful kiss leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana.

Disney Parks recently replaced Splash Mountain with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure as The Princess and The Frog-themed ride debuted over the summer. ComicBook was on hand at the Orlando-based resort for a preview of Disney World’s new Tiana ride and to dig a little deeper into the story behind the splashy, stunning overhaul.

What do you make of this news of Disney scrapping its Tiana spinoff from The Princess and The Frog? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!