Walt Disney Animation Studios has cancelled its spin-off from The Princess and the Frog. Tiana was announced back in 2020 and was to feature Anika Rose reprising her role from the original film.
The report over at The Hollywood Reporter says this was the final long-form animation project in development at the studios that was tagged for streaming distribution, so this could be the end of an era for the animator.
This is also likely to cause comment, as the character of Tiana was trumpeted at the time as the first Disney Princess of color when she originally appeared, and was also the creative anchor for the re-theming of the classic Splash Mountain attraction at Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom away from Disney’s “problematic” 1946 film Song of the South.
The creative team had already undergone multiple changes, but they still could not get it to work, and the costs were mounting.
Instead, it appears that a sequel in some form to the original movie will instead be made, and Joyce Sherri will write with Steve Anderson co-directing alongside her.
This could mirror Moana 2, which was retooled from a series into a movie with theatrical release and just made Disney $1 billion at the box office.
Walt Disney Animation has a movie a year scheduled, including Frozen 3 in 2027.