Walt Disney Animation Shelves ‘Tiana’ as the Studio Moves Away From Long-form Streaming Content
In a story that should surprise few who have been paying attention, Disney’s long-gestating Princess and the Frog streaming series, Tiana, has officially been shelved and will not see the light of day.
Initially announced in 2020, Tiana was envisioned as a sequel to 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. Walt Disney Animation Studios was to produce the series, which would have seen Anika Noni Rose reprise her role as the titular princess.
However, since Tiana was initially announced, the media landscape has drastically changed, and Disney is no longer willing to lose billions of dollars to entice new subscribers to streaming. Instead, under Bob Iger’s leadership, the company has made a concerted effort to focus on feature films.
Photo: IMDB
To that end, over the past eighteen months, we have seen Moana 2 transform from a Disney+ streaming series to a Hollywood blockbuster and Pixar announce that it was no longer prioritizing long-form television.
Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Animation Studios is abandoning long-form content for streaming. This pivot means the end of Tiana and an unnamed feature film that was set to go straight to streaming.
Updates on ‘Tiana’ Had Been Few and Far Between
While Disney ostensibly continued to move forward with Tiana throughout these changes to their streaming strategy, the handwriting was on the wall.
Photo: Disney
Since the show was announced in 2020, updates on Tiana were few and far between. The series was initially expected to be released in 2023, but that obviously never happened.
Now, it looks like it never will.
Some Good News
The good news for Princess and the Frog fans is that Tiana, Naveen, and the rest of the film’s stars may still return.
Photo: Disney
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Animation is developing a new short-form special inspired by The Princess and the Frog. Joyce Sherri is the director and writer of the project, while Steve Anderson is the director.
We will keep our eye out for any details on the yet-unnamed project.
