Essence reported that Stella Meghie was tapped on November 12 by Disney to write and direct the new upcoming animated series Tiana based on the 2009 film The Princess and The Frog.
Meghie, who’s written and directed films like The Photograph and The Weekend, is set to write a new long-form musical series about Disney’s first Black princess, Tiana.
Meghie was asked by the outlet what the Princess and the Frog meant to her at the time of its release.
“It was huge. I’m such a huge Disney fan. The Little Mermaid was my first favorite movie that I can remember. Disney was just always in my mind. When Princess and the Frog came out, that was the first Black princess, the first Disney icon that I could relate to visually and experience-wise. It was huge. I love jazz. Everything about it was inspiring to me,” she said.
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“I tell the team at Disney all the time that I had been stalking Tiana. I didn’t know that there was an opportunity to bring her to life again in animation. I thought maybe they would consider doing something live-action. Then I got a call saying that they’re doing a show with a particular princess. I said, ‘Which one?’ And when they said Tiana, I was just so excited. It was nothing I was expecting. It reminded me of what one of my mentors says, ‘When something’s for you, it’ll come to you. You won’t even have to chase it,’” Meghie added.
Meghie was also asked if she felt pressured not to let down the Black community considering Tiana’s significance to people of color.
She said, “It’s a tremendous amount of weight because she means so much. She’s the only one at the moment. You have to get it right. The Black community can be very scrutinizing. But I’m not new to this. I’m true to this. I’m used to it, and it just really fuels me to work hard to make sure we’re digging really, really deep to make sure we’re getting to the soul of Tiana.”
Tiana is set to hit the Disney+ streaming service in 2023.
