We are quite thankful to Twitter user @_grxnttt for providing us with this scoop. You may recall we posted an article back in July speculating that Sneakerella, a film which wrapped production in 2020 and still hasn’t received a release date, had shifted to Disney Channel as a 2022 DCOM.
This was backed up by a press release from Disney Music calling it a “Disney Channel Original Movie” and the official novelization being delayed from November to May 2022 before moving back up to February 2022.
We’re excited to let you know that our continual coverage of this title’s strange release issues has finally come across some concrete information. It’s good news mixed in with the bad.
First of all, it is indeed delayed to 2022. That’s the bad news.
The good news is the publicity contact for the title has confirmed (firmly) that the title is not moving to Disney Channel.
The Disney Music press release implying a November release was written before the delay. The references to it being a Disney Channel Original Movie were typos by people confused that Disney Channel is the producer. Much like Secret Society of Second-Born Royals and Phineas And Ferb: Candace Against The Universe, Sneakerella is a Disney Channel-produced film. It just premieres exclusively on Disney+.
This is fantastic news. Disney Channel is already believed to have stolen Secrets of Sulphur Springs, Under Wraps and Christmas…Again?!, the latter two which were initially reported as Disney+ Original Films before pivoting to Disney Channel.
Why Delay Sneakerella?
We think the reason for this delay is the recent Prime Video release of Camila Cabello’s underrated take on Cinderella set in the past, but featuring modern sensibilities. By pushing the film (we predict a February 11th “Valentine’s Day”-ish release) it avoids confusion by people speaking about two versions of Cinderella within 2 months of each other.
Sneakerella, directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, stars Lexi Underwood and Chosen Jacobs. Writers are David Light & Joseph Raso, Tamara Chestna, Mindy Stern, and George Gore II.
Are you disappointed Sneakerella is taking more than one year after wrapping to appear on streaming? Are you relieved it’s not a DCOM?
Drew Ryan is a film, TV, and Disney geek. He has degrees in English, Student Personnel Administration, and Library & Information Science from Lawrence University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Interested in the minutia and licensing of streaming service content, he is always publishing lists, suggestions, and advocating for Disney’s missing library to be added to Disney+. Drew subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Paramount+. You can find him waxing nostalgic over classic Disney Channel or geeking out over Marvel, CW shows, & Disney on Twitter.
