What's Coming in 2020

Last year was quite possibly the biggest year for princess media ever. I don't think anything from 2020 will compare to the sheer number of princess anniversary events, TV shows, books, and movies that 2019 bestowed upon us, but that doesn't mean we won't have anything to look forward to in the coming year. Two of our favorite Disney Princess cartoons will be ending soon, leaving us with a tiara-shaped hole in our hearts. Fortunately, the advent of Disney+ allows for even more original content from the studio than feature films or Disney Channel specials, promising some low-key princess entertainment while the cinemas get overrun with live-action remakes. One such upcoming Disney+ original princess movie is Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.


Secret Society of Second-Born Royals stars the immensely talented Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who played the title role in Andi Mack, one of my favorite shows from the last decade. In this upcoming Disney+ original movie, she will take on the part of a princess named Sam, who is second in line to the throne of Illyria. Sam is one of those princesses who hates being a princess until she learns that she has superpowers and is invoked into a secret society of heroic peacekeepers who protect their sacred lands from wrongdoers. The plot sounds like a cross between the Disney Channel original movie Princess Protection Program and the Barbie movie Princess Power. Though neither of those films was a shining example of creative expertise, I have faith that Secret Society could be an improvement over the low standards that Disney Channel places on their productions as Disney+ seems to hold their original content to a higher statute of quality. I was very impressed with the production values behind their 2019 remake of Lady and the Tramp and their Christmas movie, Noelle, which is basically a holiday-themed remake of Enchanted.

Another upcoming Disney+ project is Frills, a "Cinderella" inspired movie in which the iconic Fairy Godmother character travels to our world to help a modern-day single mother. Very little information is available about Frills right now except that it will begin shooting this year. Whether or not it will hit Disney's new streaming service before 2021 is still unknown. The plot of Frills sounds suspiciously similar to a sitcom that ABC was supposed to release back in 2017 called The Real Fairy Godmother. The show was going to star Kristin Chenoweth as a cynical contemporary woman who learns that she is a Fairy Godmother and must learn to use her newfound powers to help people and become a better person. Even though the series promised a put pilot, it never saw the light of day. Perhaps Frills is ABC's way of getting this concept into the world through their parent company after production on The Real Fairy Godmother went awry.


All good thing must come to an end, and that will sadly be the case for Tangled: The Series and Elena of Avalor this year. Release dates have already been announced for the last few episodes of Tangled, which will hopefully resolve Cassandra's dangerous rivalry with Rapunzel. The last batch of episodes will air every Sunday starting next week on January 12th and leading up to the 90-minute finale movie, Plus Est en Vous (which translates from French to "More Is in You"), on March 1st. This show has done such an amazing job of building up the drama, romance, and intrigue among its fairy tale characters over the years and has me very excited to find out what it will lead up to. Elena of Avalor has not announced an ending date yet, but it will likely be sometime this year with her coronation special. The next new episode of the show will air this Friday, January 10th with "The Birthday Cruise." As an added bonus, Craig Gerber announced on Twitter that this episode will include guest appearances from several other princesses that Elena has met throughout the show, including Chloe, Valentina, and Rebeca, Disney's first Jewish princess. After Tangled and Elena air their final episodes, it is unlikely that we will see another new Disney Princess series for a while since Star vs. The Forces of Evil ended last year, and Sofia the First ended the year before that.

Some other princess happenings in 2020 include the live-action remake of Mulan and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3 Re Mind DLC featuring Kairi as a playable character, which comes out later this month. It looks like yet another year of Disney championing the majority princess media that we will consume. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of Disney's Cinderella, which they will celebrate with several new Limited Edition dolls and possibly other events. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2020. Have you heard any upcoming princess news that I've missed? What are you looking forward to the most this year? Let me know in the comments below!
I have always dreamed of being a writer and creating the next great fairy tale princess heroine. Princesses inspire us to be our best selves. While you're here, feel free to follow my page on Facebook, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and check out my books. I'm also on Instagram and Twitter.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
You should look up "Sleeping Beauty Proposal" on youtube by Lee Loechler. Many have re-uploaded his video even if he just posted it yesterday. Im sure you will like the video :)
January 10, 2020 at 9:40 AM
Lisa Dawn said…
Hi Anonymous,

What an adorable proposal video! Thanks for sharing!
January 10, 2020 at 10:10 AM
Anonymous said…
There's a new Barbie movie coming out to (I think) Netflix.
It's simply called Barbie Princess Adventure and for the little information I can find, it seems to be a take on the Prince and the Pauper fairytale. Again.
But I can only find the synopsis on fandom sites so maybe the movie is something completely different.

Synopsis:
"Barbie discovers what it means to be a modern princess in this full-length, original musical when she switches places with her royal doppelganger. Barbie helps a young monarch find her voice and use her position for social change."
February 25, 2020 at 9:54 AM
Lisa Dawn said…
Hi Anonymous,

That sounds fantastic! I hope they post a release date soon!
February 25, 2020 at 9:58 AM
PrincessContent said…
Hi there! Me again! :)

I just found out that apparently there's a live action version of Winx Club coming to Netflix this year. Or it would start filming this year? No trailers or posters yet but the cast was announced last year. The working title of the show is 'Fate: The Winx Saga'.

Stay safe!
April 8, 2020 at 8:11 AM
Lisa Dawn said…
Hi PrincessContent,

Yup, I heard about that. I'm not super excited because I don't like the idea of live-action remakes very much, and I feel like Winx has overstayed its welcome. On the other hand, if it's being developed in Italy, it's probably going to be heavily delayed...
April 8, 2020 at 8:15 AM
PrincessContent said…
Hi!

It seems to be a British production sense most of the people in the cast are british. But the original creators are involved in the project but I guess, just like you said, that because of corona it's probably delayed...
April 8, 2020 at 11:22 AM
MermaidFan said…
If there was a princess movie I was looking forward to see this year, it was The King’s Daughter.
The story is about the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV, who is after years living in an abbey brought back home to now live her life in the palace. She then ends up befriending a mermaid her father is holding captive.

The original release was planned for 2015 but they pulled the movie back, one source claiming that they wanted to work on the special effects more.
Anyway, the trailer was released in October last year and it looks so magical.
Since this movie has been held back for so many years and now with COVID-19 ruining everything, I do hope that the studio decides to release this movie on streaming services instead. Even if this movie probably would look gorgeous on the big screen.

Here is the poster and trailer if you are interested.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k7VMXjCwRsU/WWkCH-giEiI/AAAAAAAAiLU/uV-ijzUiN_EEK9pA5ZLIxFvqumI0JUgeACLcBGAs/s1600/KING%2527S%2BDAUGHTER.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyLZyVV_Isk
May 27, 2020 at 10:49 AM
Lisa Dawn said…
Hi MermaidFan,

Thanks for sharing! I saw the trailer for this movie a while ago, but I couldn't find any other information. I would love to be able to see it someday!
May 27, 2020 at 10:54 AM
Ben Atkins said…
Great blog I eenjoyed reading
June 18, 2023 at 5:14 AM
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