Voice of Tiana, Anika Noni Rose, lets slip the opening date for 'The Princess and the Frog' retheme of Disney's Splash Mountain

Jun 02, 2022 in "Splash Mountain"

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Princess and Frog Splash Mountain retheme concept art

Posted: Thursday June 2, 2022 10:06am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Appearing this morning on "Live with Kelly and Ryan," Tony Award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose briefly commented on the upcoming 'The Princess and the Frog' retheme of Splash Mountain.

Anika's response to a question about Disney making a ride about "The Princess and The Frog," was that it is coming in 2024. She didn't specify if the 2024 opening date was for Disneyland, Walt Disney World or both.

Watch the video below to see the clip.

Disney later responded with a statement saying that they will be sharing more details in July.

Princess and Frog Splash Mountain retheme concept art

An opening date during 2024 would mean that the closure of Splash Mountain cannot be far away. The Frozen makeover of EPCOT's Maelstrom took just under 2 years to complete.

Disney announced in June 2020 that Splash Mountain at both Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida will be reimagined to the animated Disney film, “The Princess and the Frog.”

At the time, Disney said that "The new concept is inclusive – one that all of our guests can connect with and be inspired by, and it speaks to the diversity of the millions of people who visit our parks each year."

Princess and Frog Splash Mountain retheme concept art

According to Disney, "We pick up this story after the final kiss, and join Princess Tiana and Louis on a musical adventure – featuring some of the powerful music from the film – as they prepare for their first-ever Mardi Gras performance. Tiana is a modern, courageous, and empowered woman, who pursues her dreams and never loses sight of what’s really important. It’s a great story with a strong lead character, set against the backdrop of New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou. In 1966, Walt himself opened New Orleans Square when it became the first new “land” added to Disneyland park, so it feels natural to link the story and the incredible music of “The Princess and the Frog” to our parks."

The voice of Princess Tiana and Tony Award-winning actress, Anika Noni Rose, shared, “It is really exciting to know that Princess Tiana’s presence in both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom will finally be fully realized! As passionate as I am about what we created, I know the fans are going to be over the moon. The Imagineers are giving us ‘The Princess and the Frog’ Mardi Gras celebration we’ve been waiting for, and I’m here for it!”

The project will be led by Charita Carter, who most recently worked on Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. Splash Mountain creater Tony Baxter will serve as a creative adviser for the makeover.

With a backstory based on the controversial 1946 classic Disney movie "Song of the South," there have been strong calls for Disney to make changes to the hugely popular Splash Mountain flume ride.

An official timeline for the closure of Splash Mountain and its reopening as "The Princess and the Frog" has yet to be announced by Disney.

Splash Mountain overview

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imagineer973 days ago

Ok, let's try this again: From a Tokyo thread: Can't they just leave it alone???

MisterPenguin3 days ago

Letting us know was beneficent of you.

LittleBuford3 days ago

More than that, her name is an actual word, though admittedly one I’ve never encountered in another context: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maleficent https://www.etymonline.com/word/maleficent

Eric Graham3 days ago

I honestly really enjoyed the Cruella remake a lot to be honest.

McMickeyWorld3 days ago

If they go for the easy route, they could just swap the figures for Duffy and Friends animatronics and that's it. With the IP, they don't need a very complex plot to work and be fun. It would sell millions in merchandise, a total success.

UNCgolf3 days ago

If they do re-theme it in Tokyo, I wonder what it will be. I don't think OLC will be on board with changing it to Tiana; they'd probably want something different.

BocabearMar 22, 2024

I had forgotten about that, and the first one was cute... but none of the other live action remakes seem to be that great...it feels like all the sequel movies Disney was churning out in the late 90s, early 200s... Cinderella 2? Those were serious garbage...and now these live action remakes seem the same to me...

mickEbluMar 22, 2024

So are we finding out Dr. Facilier is making an appearance in TBA tomorrow or will it be just another mind boggling marketing decision from Disney when it comes to this attraction? Having a whole segment devoted to Keith David/ Facilier at the same event where they are doing a deep dive on the attraction would make zero sense unless he's in it.

James AlucobondMar 22, 2024

Cinderella is better, I think, but it’s really the only one, mostly because it didn’t concern itself with following the original story. The others are either unasked for facsimiles or weird attempts to make evil characters sympathetic (though I chuckle at Maleficent glossing over the fact that her name is literally meant to invoke the opposite of “beneficent”).

brb1006Mar 22, 2024

I really enjoyed the 1996 live-action adaptation of 101 Dalmatians.

BocabearMar 22, 2024

I can't think of one live action remake that was better than the original...I won't count Cruella because that was really something different.... There were things to like about the Cinderella and the BATB... but in general they never quite did it for me...Both of those movies had a dress problem... Cinderella's garish blue dress was so immense it wore her, and Belle's Golden gown was completely wrong period...Looked more like 1940s and way too demure... Actually Cinderella's Godmother gown was much prettier than what she conjured for Cindy...Almost like they made the white one for Cinderella and then changed their mind and decided to match the blue dress that was sold as Halloween costumes... The other live action remakes I think have all been terrible...

Rich TMar 22, 2024

Yes. And the remake isn’t strong enough (IMO) to be particularly memorable in script or visual style to stand out in its own. As lightweight as the animated classic is, it is very entertaining and memorable. That’s the whole problem with the remakes. Instead of presenting something original, cohesive and memorable, they’re chained to the curse of having to hit mandatory nostalgia-check-boxes even if doing so maybe isn’t the wisest move. Disney wants to have its cake and eat it too. And so we get a Little Mermaid remake with hideous CGI sidekicks and a Jungle Book where CGI characters are forced to perform clumsy, forgettable versions of songs that were wonderful in the original animated film.

Rich BrownnMar 21, 2024

Of course the cartoons are recognized more. The remake featured animals that looked like.. well, animals. They aren't a funny sketch version of them.

Rich TMar 20, 2024

I think the Jungle Book remake was definitely one of the better ones, certainly helped by the original animated film being so comparatively (and intentionally) lightweight. That said, the remake in retrospect (IMO) now seems kind of bloated, style-less and forgettable. Certainly, the CGI characterizations of Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Kahn, Louie and Kaa have not left even a tiny blip on the pop culture landscape, while the 1960’s hand drawn versions are still recognized and embraced. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Disney actually is aware that the remakes don’t have the staying power of the originals, and is perfectly content to just let them serve their purpose as short-lived cash-grabs. It sure would be nice if all that time, money and talent went toward the creation of something original and wonderful.