Walt Disney Animation Studios has officially pulled the plug on its Tiana princess series as it abandons making original longform content for streaming, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
A spokesperson confirmed there will be some layoffs in its Vancouver studio as a result of this shift in business strategy. In addition to the Tiana series, the studio is also scrapping an unannounced feature-length project that was set to go straight to Disney+.
Tiana was first announced in December 2020, and was envisioned as a musical featuring Anika Noni Rose reprising her role as Tiana from the 2009 film The Princess and The Frog, the film centering on Disney’s first Black princess.
Sources close to the streaming series say that despite best efforts, including several changes to the creative team, Tiana ultimately could not get to where it needed to be given production costs.
Still, The Princess and the Frog remains a key property for the company, as Tiana is one of Disney’s canon princesses. Last year, the Splash Mountain attraction was revamped at both of Disney’s U.S. parks and transformed into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
And the animation studio is said to developing a separate short-form special inspired by The Princess and the Frog, which is currently in early development. Though details of the project remain under wraps, it’s expected to feature all new storytelling based on the 2009 film with Joyce Sherri attached as director and writer, and Steve Anderson also directing.
The decision to shelve Tiana and the unannounced Disney+ movie follows last year’s news that Pixar would no longer prioritize developing longform episodic content after the release of Dream Productions and Win or Lose on Disney+.
During the pandemic, some Disney execs — including then-CEO Bob Chapek — pressed its various film silos to make original content for Disney+ in order to grow subscribers.
Walt Disney Animation’s Moana 2 was originally conceived as an animated series before being reimagined as a theatrical release. The decision that paid off in spades and led to a $1 billion-plus run at the global box office before. It debuts March 12 on Disney+, where it’s expected to do generate huge numbers (The first Moana, released in 2016, became a cult classic with kids and was the most watched streaming movie in 2024, according to Nielsen.) That, alongside with the $1.7 billion earned by Pixar’s Inside Out 2 — the biggest movie of 2024 — proved that theatrical is its animation’s greatest strength.
Insiders say that Walt Disney Animation remains committed to releasing one theatrical film per year in addition to other shorts and special projects. Zootopia 2 is slated for release on Nov. 26 with the studio’s new chief creative officer, Jared Bush, tapped to direct and writer, with Disney vet Byron Howard also directing. An unannounced feature is calendared for November 2026, while the third installment in the blockbuster Frozen franchise is set for November 2027.
Shortform is wildly popular on streaming. Bluey, which Disney+ licenses, was the most watched show in the U.S. last year, according Nielsen. Disney Animation’s past short-form streaming projects include the Emmy-award winning Zootopia+ and Baymax! series.
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