Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion

[Consumer]

Eh, this falls into the standard trap of assuming that things that appeal to men inherently appeal to everyone (i.e. Indy, SW attractions), but things that appeal to women are only for women or children. There's a whole trope about it: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlShowGhetto

Nothing wrong with wishing that Tiana or PATF had been represented in a different way or attraction, but assuming that just because it features a princess it must only be for little girls? That at the very least neglects the fact that the ride profile is staying exactly the same. I assure you that there will be people all ages and even some-gasp-grown men enjoying this ride, on summer days at the very least. More than that, if the ride is good.

 

[Magicart87]

She also doesn't look like Tiana in this concept illustration. Seems the issue isn't with the AA per se but with the inability to follow character sheets and facial feature rules for consistency. Yes, the 2D to 3D conversion is going to be a challenge but it seems they're struggling with her look. And it makes sense because she's also no longer grounded in reality. She went from a human to a frog to a chameleon it seems. Only in Disney's quest to make her adaptable to any situation or surroundings, we lost more and more of the character in the process.

I just think they're doing too much with Tiana. The results speak for themselves.

 

[Disney Irish]

She also doesn't look like Tiana in that concept illustration. Seems the issue isn't with the AA per se but with the inability to follow character sheets and facial feature rules for consistency. Yes, the 2D to 3D conversion is going to be a challenge but it seems they're struggling with her look. And it makes sense because she's also no longer grounded in reality. She went from a Human to a Frog to a chameleon it seems. Only, in Disney's quest to make her adapt to any situation and surroundings we lost more and more of the character in the process.

I just think they're doing too much with Tiana. The results speak for themselves.

I think the AA looks close to the concept art.

 

[Magicart87]

I think the AA looks close to the concept art.

It does but the concept art doesn't look like Tiana either, IMHO.

 

[TP2000]

Tiana that has been doing the M&G at Tiana's Palace (I believe she still comes around) is also portrayed to be older similar to how she will look in the ride -

As you well know, not all character actors look all that close to their animated counterparts. Here's another, more youthful-looking, actress playing Tiana at the same location:

She looks younger, but less like Tiana facially. But it's funny how great outfits and hair and makeup on a fabulously charming young lady can sell it. She looks and feels a lot more like Tiana than that other one!

What I've discovered here in the past 20 minutes or so is that @DisneyIrish was presenting information as fact that wasn't actually fact. There has been no purposeful decision by Disney to age Tiana by any noticeable measure for the ride or her park appearances at the restaurant.

What we have here is a ride that takes place in 1927 or 1928, within two years or less of the movie that was set in 1926. The animatronic Tiana was debuted for some unknown reason in unflattering lighting and she'll look better in the ride itself. The face character and quote from @DisneyIrish earlier this week about purposely choosing older looking actresses to play Tiana in the park now appears to have just been pure speculation on his part.

As for whether or not they will still sell Princess Tiana merchandise alongside Career Woman Tiana merchandise, that's unknown as I have to chalk that info up as also just pure speculation.

Setting the ride in 1928 when the movie was set in 1926 is fine. They aren't aging Tiana on purpose, they just seem to be changing her character into a slightly different person than she was in the movie. She's less Princessy, more average person.

 

[Disney Irish]

She looks younger, but less like Tiana facially. But it's funny how great outfits and hair and makeup on a fabulously charming young lady can sell it. She looks and feels a lot more like Tiana than that other one!

What I've discovered here in the past 20 minutes or so is that @DisneyIrish was presenting information as fact that wasn't actually fact. There has been no purposeful decision by Disney to age Tiana by any noticeable measure for the ride or her park appearances at the restaurant.

What we have here is a ride that takes place in 1927 or 1928, within two years or less of the movie that was set in 1926. The animatronic Tiana was debuted for some unknown reason in unflattering lighting and she'll look better in the ride itself. The face character and quote from @DisneyIrish earlier this week about purposely choosing older looking actresses to play Tiana in the park now appears to have just been pure speculation on his part.

As for whether or not they will still sell Princess Tiana merchandise alongside Career Woman Tiana merchandise, that's unknown as I have to chalk that info up as also just pure speculation.

Setting the ride in 1928 when the movie was set in 1926 is fine. They aren't aging Tiana on purpose, they just seem to be changing her character into a slightly different person than she was in the movie. She's less Princessy, more average person.

I'm presenting the facts as Disney has presented them in their blogs about the backstory of the attraction. All I've said is that its been known to take place after the events of the movie, so she will older (time doesn't stand still after all). We don't know the exact dates, but clearly after 1927.

Now if you want to make the jump that she isn't aged up and just a different character version of Tiana, that is up to you. But I've not presented anything that is false.

 

[TP2000]

I'm presenting the facts as Disney has presented them in their blogs about the backstory of the attraction. All I've said is that its been known to take place after the events of the movie, so she will older (time doesn't stand still after all). We don't know the exact dates, but clearly after 1927.

Now if you want to make the jump that she isn't aged up and just a different character version of Tiana, that is up to you. But I've not presented anything that is false.

Comments like this from you about Tiana looking older in that first unflattering photo of her animatronic, which has turned out to be pure speculation on your part, simply caused confusion for some here.

I will try to remember that in the future when reading your posts.

This isn't new information. The attraction announcement since day one has stated to be after the events of the movie, and subsequent information since has come out that its set years after the movie. Even the art work shows Tiana in new outfits and older than the movie. So not sure why this is now a surprise 3+ years later for some.

They will have merch from both the new attraction and from the movie, both iterations of the character.

 

[Disney Irish]

Comments like this from you about Tiana looking older in that first unflattering photo of her animatronic, which has turned out to be pure speculation on your part, simply caused confusion for some here.

I will try to remember that in the future when reading your posts.

Nothing that I posted was factually incorrect. It all comes from Disney's own blog post. Any inferences you made from that is on you.

I've never claimed to be an insider or even tried to imply it.

 

[chadwpalm]

Can we just agree that Disney retconned Tiana and move on?

 

[D.Silentu]

To that point, since the animatronic reveal it has been mentioned twice in this thread that there is a Disney+ show about Tiana on the way. The safe bet is that the current look is consistent with the upcoming show, not the movie.

 

[Consumer]

To that point, since the animatronic reveal it has been mentioned twice in this thread that there is a Disney+ show about Tiana on the way. The safe bet is that the current look is consistent with the upcoming show, not the movie.

I don't get why people even bother bringing this up. Assuming it's true, that makes this change so much worse. Imagine if Disney made an Aladdin ride based off the Aladdin TV show instead of the movie. A PatF Disney+ show will never have the same reach or longevity as the film, especially after D+ either ceases to exist or the show is inevitably pulled from the platform.

 

[TP2000]

Can we just agree that Disney retconned Tiana and move on?

But I don't think we know that yet. It appears that what Disney has done is the following;

1. Released an unflattering Social Media post of Tiana shown under flourescent warehouse lighting where no one looks young or attractive. (Which triggered waves of nostalgia of getting out of the bar before Last Call and the lights turning on.)
2. TDA's Entertainment Dept. cast at least one actress face character as Tiana for the Anaheim restaurant gig who looks noticeably older and different than the Tiana we know from the 2009 movie. She looks, at best, like Tiana's 30 year old sister.

What clouded and muddied the issue was that when we began talking about it, a few folks like @Disney Irish began claiming that none of this was news and that Disney had already said that Tiana would be older and different in the ride than the young lady we knew from the movie. When in fact, that was purely speculative on Mr. Irish's part, and Disney has not announced that the ride or Tiana's Palace is now set in the 1930's, but is instead merely a year or two after the events of the film that was set in 1926.

This isn't new information. The attraction announcement since day one has stated to be after the events of the movie, and subsequent information since has come out that its set years after the movie. Even the art work shows Tiana in new outfits and older than the movie. So not sure why this is now a surprise 3+ years later for some.

They will have merch from both the new attraction and from the movie, both iterations of the character.

There was also the mistaken, but likely not mean-spirited, accusation by @MisterPenguin that some of us commenting on the aged look of the animatronic had said it looks like Tiana has grey hair, when no one said any such thing. The word "grey" or "gray" was first and only brought up by @Disney Irish in a related post. That added to the confusion.

The animatronic reveal on Social Media by WDI was not staged or produced very well, in my opinion, and it made the Tiana animatronic look unflattering and odd and older. Then a single photo of a poorly cast actress playing the role of Tiana at Disneyland this year was offered as further proof by @Disney Irish that Disney was doing all this on purpose and they'd already announced all of this and if you didn't know about Older Tiana then you haven't been keeping up.

The reality is that this is just a messy Social Media post from a WDI Comms intern, and a bad casting call in Anaheim to fill a lunch shift at the new restaurant.

 

[LittleBuford]

The genteel trolling is off the charts today. Here, for reference, are the first posts to paint animatronic Tiana as old-looking:

Is that Tiana or Tiana’s mom?

Oh I know haha. Thanks. Is she supposed to be older? Probably the short hair. She looks more like “middle aged soccer mom” Tiana. Kind of in line with everything else we’ve seen/ heard of this retheme. Less magical, more realistic. My prediction of not seeing her in her signature green dress isn’t that bold I guess. Would be interesting with the new short hair cut. Unless Mama Odie magically grows it back.

Sure, @Disney Irish and @MisterPenguin (among others) then chimed in, but they were not the ones to raise the idea that Tiana now looked like a middle-aged soccer mum. Nor were they the ones to embrace the comparison:

Thank you. While the new animatronic technology they're using is impressive, within the first few seconds of seeing that version of Tiana I actually thought... "I thought she was supposed to be pretty?"

Maybe under the ride lighting she'll look better, but she looks older and plainer via Animatronic. Very... Soccer Mom, as you say, and not as young and pretty as she's been when seen in the parks.

 

[mickEblu]

The genteel trolling is off the charts today. Here, for reference, are the first posts to paint animatronic Tiana as old-looking:


Sure, @Disney Irish and @MisterPenguin (among others) then chimed in, but they were not the ones to raise the idea that Tiana now looked like a middle-aged soccer mum. Nor were they the ones to embrace the comparison:

I believe TP’s point was that he never said that she has gray hair or looks like a grandma. He agreed that she looks like a middle aged soccer mom now.

Not sure what what the point of this post was.

 

[TP2000]

The genteel trolling is off the charts today. Here, for reference, are the first posts to paint animatronic Tiana as old-looking:


Sure, @Disney Irish and @MisterPenguin (among others) then chimed in, but they were not the ones to raise the idea that Tiana now looked like a middle-aged soccer mum. Nor were they the ones to embrace the comparison:

Because from that first unflattering photo of Tiana in warehouse lighting, she did look older and not as pretty as she did in the movie and previous WDI artwork.

Her warehouse lighting shots that WDI released (for unknown reasons that didn't help this project at all, but I'll talk about that later) almost looked like a different person, not the Tiana we know from the movie. But as the conversation progressed earlier this week, some better photos were found that showed the Tiana animatronic in better lighting. She still doesn't look quite like Priness Tiana, but at least in better lighting she doesn't look like someone's mom driving a minivan.

I think it's the hairdo on the animatronic that's not helping her, or making her look older the most.

Luckily, this has all been resolved. It was all simply a case of a badly produced Social Media post, a random clip of a poorly cast actress at Disneyland, and some "We've all known about this older Tiana change for years!" bravado by one poster.

 

[TP2000]

I believe TP’s point was that he never said that she has gray hair or looks like a grandma. He agreed that she looks like a middle aged soccer mom now.

Not sure what what the point of this post was.

It's even more bizarre because we basically agree with each other on Tiana's look, at least from that first photo released by WDI on Tuesday. Her animatronic looks slightly older, and definitely a bit different than her movie look. Now that we've seen that same animatronic in better lighting, more like the conditions on the ride, she won't look that bad. But still, it's an animatronic that's just a tad off from the face and look of Princess Tiana we know from the movie.

But for some reason, @LittleBuford is pretending that I hold some wildly different opinion than him, when I don't.

 

[D.Silentu]

I don't get why people even bother bringing this up. Assuming it's true, that makes this change so much worse. Imagine if Disney made an Aladdin ride based off the Aladdin TV show instead of the movie. A PatF Disney+ show will never have the same reach or longevity as the film, especially after D+ either ceases to exist or the show is inevitably pulled from the platform.

It's fair to say that if this is Tiana's Disney+ show look they are counting their chickens before they hatch. I do think it makes sense looking from Disney's viewpoint. The movie, as we've discussed at length here, was not a box office hit. As a result it appears that they are reinventing the character, needful or not. I presume they don't have confidence in the movie alone to secure that longevity, or rather, profitability. In a few years the ride will probably have context through media and merchandising. Naturally this is all guesswork, but it's a backward plan, if true.

 

[LittleBuford]

I believe TP’s point was that he never said that she has gray hair or looks like a grandma. He agreed that she looks like a middle aged soccer mom now.

Not sure what what the point of this post was.

To call out dishonest nonsense.

Because he’s now claiming that he never really thought she looked that much older—maybe ten years at most—but was misled by @Disney Irish into making all those jokes comparing her to a senior. And this in spite of the fact that his first post on this topic was to agree wholeheartedly with your “middle-aged soccer mom” comparison. Even a couple of hours ago, he stated explicitly that she looked “at least 15 years older” than her animated counterpart, but apparently he wrote that while he was still under @Disney Irish’s spell.

 

[mickEblu]

It's even more bizarre because we basically agree with each other on Tiana's look, at least from that first photo released by WDI on Tuesday. Her animatronic looks slightly older, and definitely a bit different than her movie look. Now that we've seen that same animatronic in better lighting, more like the conditions on the ride, she won't look that bad. But still, it's an animatronic that's just a tad off from the face and look of Princess Tiana we know from the movie.

But for some reason, @LittleBuford is pretending that I hold some wildly different opinion than him, when I don't.

That seems to happen often I think as they argue with their perception of the person posting and not the words he/she is actually posting.

Sorry I don’t think Tiana looks good in any of the pics we’ve seen. I agree the hair is the worst offender but it also just doesn’t look like Tiana from the movie.

 

[TP2000]

It's fair to say that if this is Tiana's Disney+ show look they are counting their chickens before they hatch. I do think it makes sense looking from Disney's viewpoint. The movie, as we've discussed at length here, was not a box office hit. As a result it appears that they are reinventing the character, needful or not. I presume they don't have confidence in the movie alone to secure that longevity, or rather, profitability. In a few years the ride will probably have context through media and merchandising. Naturally this is all guesswork, but it's a backward plan, if true.

While I was a huge fan of the riverboat show they did at Disneyland in 2009 for Tiana, and I love the songs from the movie... The facts do remain that the movie was not a big hit. One of the least successful at the box office of the past 15 years. But she's the only Black Princess that they've got, and Bob Iger spoke up in a panic in June, 2020 about making a ride for her when no such ride was even close to being designed, and the rest is history.

But in my opinion, if they are doing a big E Ticket Princess ride for her, they should keep her as the young and glamorous Princess that she was in the modestly successful movie. Making her a career woman at an older age won't get 6 year old girls excited about her. While it may check boxes for the HR executives, it's a merchandising and marketing disaster waiting to happen.