The creator of Lizzie McGuire has addressed the currently-in-limbo Disney+ series. Terri Minsky, who was behind the original series and was previously slated to helm an upcoming revival, was fired from the project in January, stalling its production. Now, in an interview with Variety on Wednesday, Minksy has shed some light on what was going on behind-the-scenes.
“I am so proud of the two episodes we did,” Minsky said, adding that star Hilary Duff had “a grasp of Lizzie McGuire at 30 that needs to be seen.”
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“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.”
Duff herself had no comment on the matter, but the outlet has reported that several sources close to the production state that she wasn’t happy with Minsky’s removal. As mentioned in the quote, the show had actually filmed two episodes prior to her being ousted.
Apparently, both Duff and Minsky were aiming for Lizzie to be grown up in the revival, while the House of Mouse is looking for a show that’s more akin to the original series, which ran from 2001 to 2004. While it sounds like Disney was into Minsky and Duff’s take at first, executives onset and gradually became aware of the type of content that would be featured in the show.
Disney previously addressed the situation to Variety back in January, saying that the show’s fans “have a sentimental attachment to Lizzie McGuire and high expectations for a new series,” and though they’d filmed two episodes, they “need to move in a different creative direction and are putting a new lens on the show.”
Minsky’s comments about “going to Hulu,” Disney+ are referring to another upcoming series, Love, Victor. Based on the 2018 film Love, Simon, the show was originally slated for Disney+, before the suits became aware that the show would probably push past the family-friendly boundaries it’s determined to enforce. That show was moved to Hulu on Wednesday as a result.
Not long after the news started circulating, Duff took to Instagram and shared a screenshot about the Love, Victor situation, adding the caption “sounds familiar…,” a clear nod to the ongoing Lizzie McGuire drama.
