It ain’t easy being green, and it ain’t easy spending so much green either.
Disney has axed a series meant for Disney+ called “Tiana” spun off from its 2009 animated film “The Princess and the Frog,” one that would have featured the return of the original film’s voice actress Anika Noni Rose, IndieWire has confirmed. The series was announced back in 2020, has been in development since, and has gone through several different creative teams, but the production costs to make it work were too great to continue, a source told IndieWire. THR first confirmed the news about the series being shelved.
The loss of “Tiana” is not indicative of just one project; it’s part of a larger change of thinking at Disney around long-form animated content intended for streaming. In addition to “Tiana,” an untitled, unannounced, animated feature film meant for Disney+ is also being shelved.
Pixar also recently made news that it wouldn’t be prioritizing any more longer-form streaming series for Disney+ like “Dream Productions” or the just-released “Win or Lose.” And “Moana 2” too originated as a Disney+ series before it was converted into a feature.
That last one turned out to be a win for Disney. “Moana 2” has made a cool billion dollars at the box office and is dropping on Disney+ soon, where the first “Moana” continues to be one of the most-streamed titles on the planet. But not everything can so easily shift gears and be put into theaters, and the cost of producing half hour-long animated limited series — even ones based on core IP — is a lot when the real time and dollars are clearly elsewhere.
One of the most-watched series anywhere on streaming is “Bluey” which, in 2023 on Disney+, was watched for nearly as many hours as “Suits,” despite the fact that “Bluey” episodes are just 8 minutes long. Some of the newer episodes of “Bluey” are even shorter, 1-3 minutes.
To that end, Disney+ has other short-form series like “Zootopia+” and “Baymax!,” and it’s even now developing a different short-form special about “The Princess and the Frog” (Disney needs to keep the franchise going after revamping Splash Mountain into a “Frog” themed ride at its theme parks). Why develop 6-8 episodes of a kids show 22-30 minutes in length when an 8-minute show with a lot more episodes will keep them just as engaged?
If you’re looking for someone to point the finger at, blame Bob Chapek. The former Disney CEO had mandates to get Disney’s film units to produce longer-form series content for Disney+ to quickly grow subscribers. It’s why Marvel started churning out Disney+ series that had diminishing returns and eventually had to change gears. Disney Animation is only just catching up to the same thinking.
Disney Animation will still have at least one feature film a year, including this year’s “Zootopia 2,” 2027’s “Frozen 3,” and an untitled film slated for Thanksgiving 2026. And it will still produce other shorts and special projects.
Anything longer than a “Bluey” You’re likely going to have to watch that in a movie theater.
