Although Disney has already rebooted some of its most popular TV shows, it ended up canceling its plans for a grown-up reboot, which made no sense, and the original show proves why. In recent years, Disney has ridden the waves of different trends, both in film and TV. While on the big screen Disney remains focused on live-action remakes of some of its most popular animated movies and long-awaited sequels, on TV it has mostly focused on reboots. Shows like Wizards of Waverly Place have been rebooted successfully, but others didn’t go past a development phase.

Falling into this category is Lizzie McGuire. Created by Terri Minsky, Lizzie McGuire followed the title character (played by Hilary Duff), , Miranda (Lalaine) and Gordo (Adam Lambert). Lizzie’s thoughts and feelings are depicted at different points in every episode through an animated version of Lizzie, who talks to the audience. Lizzie McGuire was a success and became widely popular, so a grown-up reboot would make sense, more so as the original show had already tackled some serious topics.

Despite being a Disney Channel TV show, Lizzie McGuire tackled serious topics in different episodes, though without compromising its tone and style. Surely, it would be expected for a show aimed at preteens and adolescents to deal with certain topics, but carrying the Disney brand also brings a certain responsibility when it comes to content. Luckily, the writers of .

Some of the most recurrent serious topics throughout Lizzie McGuire were peer pressure and the search for one’s identity. A notable example of the former is when Lizzie becomes a “bad girl” after bonding with one during detention, leading her to change how she dresses, does her hair, behaves, etc. On the topic of finding one’s identity, some examples are when Gordo’s latest obsession is the Rat Pack and the fashion of the 1960s, when Lizzie tries to change so Ethan will like her, and when a new girl at school copies Lizzie in everything.

Some more serious topics addressed in Lizzie McGuire were Lizzie’s first breakup, her first job at the coffee shop, Lizzie and Miranda buying their first bra, and Miranda’s eating disorder. , as the show has never been shy about serious topics, and if it had already addressed some when the characters were young, why would it be a problem now that they are older.

After rumors about a possible Lizzie McGuire revival, the project was officially announced at 2019’s D23 Expo, with Hilary Duff reprising her iconic role and with the series being released on Disney+. It was later announced that Lambert would return as Gordo, as well as Jake Thomas as Matt (Lizzie’s brother), Hallie Todd as Jo (Lizzie’s mother), and Robert Carradine as Sam (Lizzie’s father). Production on the Lizzie McGuire reboot began in October 2019, but .

By then, they had already filmed two episodes, but (via Variety). After that, the Lizzie McGuire reboot was put on hiatus, and after conflicting updates from Duff and Disney, the former announced in December 2020 that the project had been officially canceled. What makes the cancellation of the Lizzie McGuire reboot more frustrating is the plot details, as it would have followed a 30-year-old Lizzie, now an apprentice to an interior decorator and living in Brooklyn with her fiancé, who owns a restaurant in SoHo.

Lizzie would have learned that he had been cheating on her, so she would have returned to Los Angeles. There, she would have reconnected with Gordo as friends, as he would have been in a happy relationship with his pregnant fiancée. Lizzie would have also reconnected with Ethan but more intimately, waking up in his bed, with her animated alter-ego mentioning she could check Ethan off her to-do list “twice.” , which is those who grew up watching the original show.

As relatable and entertaining as it would have been, the more mature concept for the Lizzie McGuire reboot ultimately wasn’t appealing to Disney, more so as it was a project for the Disney+ brand. The original Lizzie McGuire show tackled serious topics important to its target audience, which made it more relatable, so it would have been expected that the grown-up reboot did the same according to the audience’s age, but Disney didn’t like that.

Before the Lizzie McGuire reboot was officially canceled, Hilary Duff publicly pleaded for Disney+ to move the project to Hulu, as it had done with Love, Victor and High Fidelity. Five years have now passed since the cancellation of the grown-up reboot, and it still doesn’t make sense – and even worse, there’s no hope of it being picked up and finally happening.

Source: Variety.