Princess Updates from Disney Television Animation

The most notable gap in the D23 Expo announcements this month was from Disney Television Animation. Two years ago, they announced a massive slate of upcoming series, several of which were never mentioned again. Now we know why. Most of these shows have either been canceled or delayed, and the princesses are sadly no exception. Before I get into that, however, I'd like to lead with some good news. As many of you know, one of my favorite shows of all time is Sofia the First, a limitless adventure about a little girl who gets to experience all the magic of being a Disney Princess for the first time. This series has been stuck in Netflix limbo for the past three years, preventing Sofia from joining her fellow princesses on Disney+. Next month, all of that is about to change.

In tweet posted on September 15th, series creator Craig Gerber shared Disney Schedule Archive's post that Sofia the First will be leaving Netflix on October 8th and joining the ranks of Elena of Avalor and her other princess friends on Disney+ on October 12th. This is a huge deal! Sofia spends many episodes of her show hanging out with other Disney Princesses whose movies are currently available on Disney+, so it always felt off for her series to be streaming on a different network. Her show has always been the only one that I truly miss during the months that I don't subscribe to Netflix. It makes so much more sense to have all the princesses in the same place. That's why October 12th truly feels like a homecoming for our littlest Disney Princess. I am so excited to finally see her where she belongs.

Now for some less exciting news. The highly anticipated Tiana series inspired by The Princess and the Frog had a big press release last year with concept art, story developments, and an estimated release date of 2023. You would think with all that hype, it would have had its own panel at the D23 Expo this year. It turns out the reason it didn't is that the series was delayed. It has been quietly rescheduled to 2024 with no updates about its production. Like the original release estimate, this date is not set in stone. It is very possible that the series will continue to get delayed as its release draws closer, especially after the complete lack of new information since last year, implying that it might be going through some major changes regarding its story, animation, or overall vibe.

Similarly, the Moana series, which was announced at the same time as Tiana but has had absolutely no details released, has been removed from Disney's release schedule. Keep in mind that this does not necessarily mean it was canceled, although that is a possibility. At this point, there is simply not enough information to know what's going on with it or even what it will be about, although the title at least implies that Moana will be the main character. This series is not as high profile as Tiana's, which gives Disney more leeway to quietly push it back as much as they find necessary.

I realize this isn't a lot of exciting news to look forward to, but the lack of information is probably why none of these titles were mentioned at the Expo. The Sofia the First announcement is very exciting for me personally as a fan, but the series has already ended, meaning there is no reason for Disney to give it a big fanfare just because it's moving to their streaming service. As for Tiana, I believe that the Disney executives are being very careful to give fans what they want and avoid controversy, which may lead to some internal battles regarding what would be more culturally acceptable among modern audiences and cause delays. Moana is on the backburner since it did not receive as much hype, which means it can potentially get canceled if the budget gets too big. Which of these shows are you most excited to see? Let me know in the comments!