Tiana's Series and Other Announcements from Disney+ Day

Today marks the two-year anniversary of Disney+, Disney's premiere streaming service. To celebrate this joyous occasion, today has been coined Disney+ Day. This celebration includes a number of new releases and announcements about newly released and upcoming content. I wasn't particularly interested in this event at first because there didn't seem to be a lot of upcoming princess content on Disney's radar, but I am glad to have been proven wrong. Alongside the addition of Enchanted, a movie that many are surprised was not already on Disney+, Disney revealed a new title card for its sequel, Disenchanted, which is set for release in the Fall of 2022. However, the biggest reveal for me is this stunning piece of concept art from their upcoming animated series, Tiana.

Tiana in a fashionable business dress running across the top deck of a riverboat

The image features a slightly older version of the beloved heroine from The Princess and the Frog running across the top deck of a riverboat in historically fashionable business attire carrying an important-looking briefcase. The corresponding tweet states "The series follows newly crowned Princess of Maldonia on a new adventure, but her New Orleans past isn't far behind." The musical format and 2D animation style are reminiscent of the recently concluded Tangled: The Series, which may have recurring themes as well. Tiana is likely to have a difficult time adjusting to royal life due to her conscientious attitude and adventuresome spirit just as Rapunzel felt like she was back in her tower when her father didn't want to let her leave the castle. Of course, the cultural background and 1920s setting will still give Tiana its own unique sense of identity. I'm a little surprised that the official description does not mention Tiana's dream of opening her restaurant, Tiana's Palace, which is featured at the end of  The Princess and the Frog, but I'm sure it will come up in the show. This series was originally announced during Disney's Investor Day last December alongside a new Moana series, but there have not been any updates about that as far as I know. Tiana is currently slated for a 2023 release on Disney+.


Another unexpected addition to to the Disney Princess roster is Sneakerella, a modern-day retelling of "Cinderella" revolving around the sneaker industry. Yes, I was confused too. It looks like an interesting movie despite the odd princess-themed marketing decision. It is a rare gender-bent version of the classic fairy tale in which the main character is an underprivileged young man who wants to design sneakers and falls in love with a well-off "princess" of the sneaker industry, who is likely the daughter of a CEO for a company similar to Nike. It's interesting that this modern retelling comes so soon after Amazon Prime's Cinderella in which the protagonist was also a designer. With Andrew Lloyd Webber's incarnation of the character holding a can of spray-paint on the show's poster, it seems like Cinderella is being rebranded for future generations as a hard-working creative instead of someone who cleans a lot. I think trait is more relatable in the digital era since computers allow more outlets for creative work and leave a smaller physical footprint on people's homes, requiring less time to clean physical media collections or other odds and ends.


Disney's massive Twitter thread also shared title cards for a myriad of upcoming projects. The two that stood out to me the most were Disenchanted and Agatha: House of Harkness, a newly announced spin-off of WandaVision. No release estimate was given with this shocking title reveal aside from "Coming Soon." Considering how unexpectedly popular the singing witch from WandaVision was, it's likely that Disney decided to create this show as a direct result of demand from fans. This announcement fills me with joy. Agatha stole the show as WandaVisions's surprise villain, and I would love to know more about her and her mysterious history as a centuries-old witch. Hopefully, the series will offer more cameos of Wanda and Vision after their story was drawn to a tragic close. As far as Disenchanted goes, not much was revealed about it today. You can read about more about it in one of my own previous posts if you are looking for some fun tidbits about the production. The title card on Twitter serves as reminder that it is still coming and encourages fans to rewatch the original movie, which is newly out today on Disney+. We will be able to see the experience tier of Giselle's journey in the Fall of 2022.

Which Disney+ Day announcement made you the most excited? There were many that I haven't mentioned as I have a clear bias toward princess content. Let me know in the comments if any of these big reveals have you waiting on the edge of your seat. As for me, I'm glad to see that Tiana's show is moving along since I was a bit skeptical that it would really happen when it was first announced last year. The artwork looks gorgeous, and I can't wait to see more of it. I'm also thrilled by the prospect of more WandaVision content, though Wanda's own story has been heavily rumored to conclude in 2022's Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, so Agatha's spin-off may tell a separate story entirely. Are you as excited as I am?

Comments

So here's something interesting from this article about Jennifer Lee's tenure in charge of the company . Stella Meghie (I hope I spelled that right) once approached Disney about making a live action version of The Princess And The Frog. She was turned down. Then Jennifer approached her about making this series, and she said yes.



https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/jennifer-lee-interview-walt-disney-animation-frozen-encanto-1235076391/
Lisa Dawn said…
That makes sense because it's too early to make it again, but not too early to continue the story. I feel the same way about Tangled. Besides, they did a great job with Tiana's character in Once Upon a Time.
https://x.com/DrewTailored/status/1824227026964000990

According to Drew Taylor from The Wrap (who's very knowledgeable about what goes on in the industry), the Tiana show won't be completely 2D. It'll be a hybrid style similar to the Spiderverse movies.
Lisa Dawn said…
Well, they didn't say that in 2021 when this was written...

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