- Disney+ has canned its offshoot animation series of The Princess and the Frog due to production costs.
- A shortform project inspired by The Princess and the Frog movie is in early development instead.
- The decision comes as Disney+ shifts away from creating original longform content for streaming and prioritizes theatrical releases.
Disney+ has reportedly axed its animated musical series Tiana, an offshoot of The Princess and the Frog movie, but there’s more projects being shelved by the streaming service.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney+ is moving away from creating original longform content for streaming and focusing on theatrical releases. A spokesperson confirmed that this business strategy shift will lead to some layoffs in its Vancouver studio.
The offshoot series of the critically acclaimed 2009 movie was first announced in December 2020 and was intended to be a musical with Anika Noni Rose returning as Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess. However, sources reportedly said that despite multiple creative team changes, Tiana could not meet production expectations due to costs.
Fans of the Disney Princess movie will understandably be disappointed by this news, but don’t stop wishing on a star just yet as Disney is still going to continue Princess Tiana’s story in another way. A shortform project inspired by The Princess and the Frog is said to be in early development at the animation studio, which is expected to feature new storytelling based on the film.
What other longform projects have been scrapped by Disney?
The Tiana series isn’t the only project to end up on Disney’s scrap heap as an unannounced feature-length movie that was set to go straight to Disney+ has also reportedly fell victim to the new business strategy.
The decision to cancel Tiana and the untitled Disney+ movie follows the news that Pixar would no longer prioritize developing longform TV shows after the release of its Inside Out 2 spin-off series Dream Productions and Win or Lose, the animation studio’s first ever streaming series.
The reason why both studios are now shifting their focus from small screen animation is because of the huge success they’ve had with animated movies on the big screen. Moana 2, which was originally planned as a series and reworked into a theatrical release, went on to gross over $1 billion at the global box office. While Moana 2 sets sail for streaming on Disney+ on March 12, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 became the biggest movie of 2024, earning $1.7 billion and the title of one of the best Disney+ movies.
From now on, Walt Disney Animation Studios remains committed to releasing one theatrical film per year along with shorts and special projects. There’s already a lot in the pipeline with Zootopia 2 set to release on November 26, as well as an unannounced film in November 2026 and Frozen 3 set for November 2027.
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