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?
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.

Would you like to contribute to The Princess Blog? Become a patron, and you could pick the topic for my next post!

Comments

CristinaMilizia201 said…
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/
January 21, 2022 at 7:08 AM
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.
January 21, 2022 at 9:18 AM
CristinaMilizia201 said…
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.
August 18, 2024 at 2:55 AM
Lisa Dawn said…
Well, they didn't say that in 2021 when this was written...
August 18, 2024 at 5:14 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Princess Fashion

Image
I've been seeing several viral posts recently about historical fashion lately. One was  a gallery of women's fashion every year from 1784 to 1970 , and another was a video re-enactment of how women got dressed in the 18th century . These got me thinking about some of my favorite princess fashions. Though princesses are not known to be  historically accurate , their fashions drew inspiration from many different places, and history is one of them. If you take a look at the way fashion has evolved over time, you can get an idea of which parts inspired the princess movies and which parts were altered. Something that surprised me in the re-enactment was how many pieces were assembled on a woman to give the appearance of a single dress. Today, most dresses are a single piece, but historically, gowns consisted of a corset bodice and a large skirt with a crinoline underneath. This was something I also noticed about Disney's  theme park princesses . Though they look like one dr
Read more

One Hundred Princesses for My 100th Post

Image
Today is a major accomplishment for me. I started this blog 100 days ago, and I've managed to write a new post in it every day since then. Some of the topics were easier to come up with than others. I also had to go back and edit some after the fact due to poor proofreading. Speaking of which, I'm really sorry about the disastrous short story from my first Story Saturday post . The whole thing was written on my phone on the way to a Mermaid Art Show event in San Diego, so I was a little distracted. I promise to put more effort into future Story Saturdays, which should be easier now that I will no longer be writing new posts every day. Don't worry, though. I will still keep everyone informed of the latest princess news and review all the new princess movies and specials. Without further ado, in celebration of my 100th post, here is a list of 100 princesses with all of the posts I've made about them (in no particular order). Thank you so much for reading my blog. 1-11:
Read more

What It Means To Be a Disney Princess in the 2020s

Image
The first post I wrote in this blog was called "How the Disney Princesses Stayed Modern for 80 Years."  The answer was a combination of creating new princesses to match the times along with branded promotional videos, events, and merchandise that combine the old with the new. The latest example is this year's Ultimate Princess Celebration , which is an attempt to celebrate all of the Disney Princesses, including ones that may feel outdated by today's standards, by releasing imagery that makes it look like they're all friends. This is a wonderful method of keeping some of my favorite childhood characters relevant , but it is also a shield used to cover up a darker truth that many of these characters would not be deemed acceptable by today's standards. We have reached a point in Hollywood in which traditional feminine traits are considered weak or problematic . As such, characters like Raya  are considered the only acceptable way to portray a woman in the medi
Read more

The Burning Question: Is Mulan a Princess?

Image
Mulan  is a wonderful animated  feature that was released by Disney in 1998 . Showcasing a young woman who broke tradition by disguising herself as a male soldier and saved all of China in the process, it is, in my opinion, one of the most empowering films for girls on the market. Yet, with my reputation as a self-proclaimed princess expert, there is one burning question that people are always asking me: "Is Mulan a princess?" She was not born to a king or queen, nor did she marry a prince, so why is her visage so often plastered alongside the other royal heroines ? The short answer is that she's not a princess, but she is a Disney Princess. Why aren't the two mutually exclusive? The answer to that is a bit more complicated. When the Disney Princess line was launched in 2001 , it initially focused on the main six--Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine. However, since Jasmine was the only heroine of color in the line, it expanded shortly therea
Read more

Review: Mermaid Magic

Image
It's been a bit of a wait, but Rainbow SpA  has delivered on their promise of an original animated mermaid show ! From the creators of Winx Club ,  Mermaid Magic  premiered on Netflix a few days ago with ten fun-filled episodes. Although the show didn't have quite as much underwater content as I was hoping for, it's a solid new Magical Girl series with beautiful animation and a female-empowering plot. I was thrilled to dive into the world of Merlinda, Sasha, and Nerissa and learn about their incredible powers on their journey to save Mertropia (originally called Mertropolis) pirates, witches, and toxic waste. The first season ended on a satisfying note with the potential for new adventures in future seasons. Merlinda is the sheltered princess of Mertropia who leaps into action when she overhears a conversation about her father using up his life force to protect the kingdom. If she can travel to the dangerous surface world through a magic portal and recover five Neptune Pea
Read more

Review: Time Princess - House of Horrors

Image
The latest visual novel in Time Princess is called House of Horrors, which sounds more like a horror movie than the fairy tales and historical novels that first attracted me to the game. In fact, it has been nearly four months since Time Princess released a story about actual royalty with Cleopatra , and the teaser for their next one is set in modern times. While House of Horrors may not have been what I was hoping for, I didn't find it as scary as the title would imply. The story is very linear and unveils an intriguing mystery piece by piece with beautiful Victorian-inspired gothic clothing. I think it came out a little too soon after Ghost Manor  to feel fresh and new, but the mystery aspect made it worth a quick playthrough. House of Horrors is one of few recent visual novels in Time Princess that acknowledges the enchanted storybook the protagonist enters to receive the memories of each character she inhabits. It is relevant here because when she wakes up, she finds that s
Read more

Review: The Spanish Princess/White Queen Trilogy

Image
Yesterday, the Starz network  released the series finale of The Spanish Princess , concluding  The White Queen  trilogy of miniseries that began in 2013. Based on a book series called The Cousins' War  by Phillippa Gregory , the trilogy covers the women who stood behind the men in power in the English monarchy from 1464 to the 1530s, preceding the first two sovereign queens, Mary and Elizabeth. The White Queen , The White Princess , and The Spanish Princess  grant us a rare opportunity to see what life was like for medieval monarchs. Watching them reminded me of why I prefer the fairy tale versions of royalty. Those stories do not contain the gory deaths, gruesome births, and invasive politics that historical dramatizations like these exemplify. In fact, I had very little interest in watching the second season of The Spanish Princess until I watched some historical videos and learned that the king that Catherine of Aragon was married to was none other than King Henry VIII, who was
Read more

Review: Unicorn Academy (Netflix)

Image
As soon as I saw the previews for Netflix's new animated series, Unicorn Academy , I couldn't get over how similar it looked to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . Teenagers forming magical bonds with unicorns to save the world from evil? Yes, please! With a Jewel Riders graphic novel on the horizon, this is the perfect time to revisit that premise. Unicorn Academy is loosely based on a book series of the same name  that got picked up by Netflix and recently aired its first season. The premiere movie and successive eight episodes follow six unicorns and their riders on their quest to protect the magical realm from the evil Ravenzella, who performed reprehensible acts to previous generations, including the father of the main character, Sophia. The show contains a lot of teen angst and drama as well as rainbows, sparkles, and magic. Although Unicorn Academy features an entire school full of unicorn riders training to be protectors, it only focuses on the six students liv
Read more

Review: The Princess Twins of Legendale

Image
For those of you who aren't savvy in the world of underground Hollywood, there is a studio called The Asylum , whose sole purpose is to create low-budget imitations of popular movies in the hopes that an old granny will forget her glasses while shopping and buy one on DVD for her grandkids, thinking it's that big blockbuster movie they're always yapping on about. When they set their sights on an upcoming release from a major studio, they rush to get their imitation out before or around the same time as the one they're mimicking so they can pretend that they came up with the idea first. The Princess Twins of Legendale  was not produced by The Asylum, but it feels like it easily could have been. In actuality, it was produced by a modern toy company called MGA Entertainment , which is famous for making Bratz and  L.O.L. Surprise dolls. You would think that a toy company producing a low-budget movie would only do so with the intention of selling toys, but surprisingly, my
Read more

Between the Lines Is the Best Off-Broadway Musical You've Never Seen!

Image
If there was ever a musical that felt like it was written just for me, it's  Between the Lines . Never heard of it? That's not surprising. The show had a limited premiere for a few weeks in 2017 and a quiet off-Broadway run for a few months in 2022 before disappearing from the face of the earth. Its fall to obscurity was a crying shame until a pro-shot was released this year on BroadwayHD , the official streaming service for live theater. Based on a novel by Jodi Picoult  and her then-teenage daughter, Samantha van Leer , the musical tells the story of a high school book nerd named Delilah who falls in love with a prince from a fairy tale that comes to life. This story is incredibly meaningful to me as both a writer and a reader. Not only have I had many intense crushes on fictional characters, but the plot is nearly identical to the first script I ever wrote for my first screenwriting class in college. Between the Linse is a love letter for princess fans around the world tha
Read more