Variety reports that the upcoming Tiana series coming to Disney+ has tapped Joyce Sherri to take charge of the series as lead writer and director.
The upcoming musical was announced way back in 2020 during Disney's splashy investor day; a follow-up to 2009's The Princess and the Frog, it will feature the return of Anika Noni Rose as Tiana and, despite originally eyeing a 2023 premiere, the trade notes that it's now set to launch in 2024.
Sherri is an interesting choice to take charge of Tiana seeing as her most recent TV writing credit was Netflix and Mike Flanagan's horror series Midnight Mass. However, she's written and directed a number of short films and received widespread acclaim for her work on Sweet Sixteen.
According to Tiana's official description, the animated series will revolve around the title character as she "sets off for a grand new adventure as the newly crowned Princess of Maldonia, but a calling to her New Orleans past isn’t far behind."
This comes as Disneyland and Disney World prepare to transform Splash Mountain into Tiana's Bayou Adventure. There are also rumblings about a live-action adaptation of The Princess and the Frog.
Nathan Curtis is set to produce the series, with Jennifer Lee and Stella Meghie executive producing. Interestingly, the latter was originally announced as the show's writer and director, but something has obviously changed (she remains an executive producer).
The Princess and the Frog was inspired, in part, by the 2003 novel The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker, which in turn is based on the German folk tale "The Frog Prince" as collected by the Brothers Grimm.
Set in New Orleans during the 1920s, the film tells the story of a hardworking waitress named Tiana who dreams of opening her own restaurant. After kissing a prince who has been turned into a frog by an evil witch doctor, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must find a way to turn back into a human before it is too late.
The movie was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Peter Del Vecho, from a screenplay that Musker and Clements co-wrote with Rob Edwards. The directors also co-wrote the story with the writing team of Greg Erb and Jason Oremland.
Along with Rose, the 2009 release featured the voices of Bruno Campos, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Cody, John Goodman, Keith David, Peter Bartlett, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey, and Terrence Howard.
Stay tuned for updates on Tiana.