By Disney has been working on a revival of the classic Disney Channel show, Lizzie McGuire. Last month, production halted abruptly when the show’s creator left. We finally have an idea why. It all comes down to the “family-friendly” nature of Disney+.
Variety reports the show was too adult-oriented. It doesn’t sound to me like it was full of nudity or violence, but simply wasn’t aimed at pre-teen girls. The original show, being a Disney Channel production, was targeted toward a very young audience. It sounds like Disney wants the revival to shoot for the same demographic.
The departed showrunner Terri Minsky gave this quote to Variety:
“I am so proud of the two episodes we did. Hilary has a grasp of Lizzie McGuire at 30 that needs to be seen. It’s a wonderful thing to watch. I would love the show to exist, but ideally I would love it if it could be given that treatment of going to Hulu and doing the show that we were doing. That’s the part where I am completely in the dark. It’s important to me that this show was important to people. I felt like I wanted to do a show that was worthy of that kind of devotion.”
It sounds like Hilary Duff, the star of the show, has grown up. She wants Lizzie to grow up with her. Disney doesn’t see a need for this, evidently. I think this is a real shame. Why even bother reviving the series with grown actors if you want the show to remain how it was when the actors were children? Just make a whole new show. It all seems very silly to me. Hopefully, Disney will still find a way to make this show work in a compelling manner, but I won’t be holding my breath.
‘Lizzie McGuire’: How the Disney Plus Revival Ground to a Halt (EXCLUSIVE) [Variety]