Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel’s son, Walker, could easily let Frozen go over other Disney animated films.
“We saw them all — well, not Frozen. He got sick of [it] pretty quickly [as] you can imagine,” Diggs, 53, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, June 26, while discussing his role in Disney Junior’s Ariel! series.
Diggs and ex-wife Menzel, 53, share son Walker, now 14, who was coming of age when his mother starred in 2013’s Frozen. Menzel portrays Elsa in the animated movie and its 2019 sequel, and her “Let It Go” ballad even won an Oscar in 2014.
While Walker rapidly got tired of Frozen, he still bonds with Diggs over other classics from Disney’s catalog.
“We still watch them, and he just now is realizing a lot of the brilliance of Disney,” Diggs gushed to Us. “They’ll make story lines accessible to their children and the adults alike so that adults don’t get sick of the stories.”
According to Diggs, Walker particularly enjoyed the “darker aspect” of 2017’s Coco, while the actor has long appreciated Pocahontas and The Princess and the Frog.
Diggs is also gearing up to step into the Disney universe himself, playing King Triton on Disney Junior’s Ariel! opposite Mykal-Michelle Harris as the young mermaid.
“As you can imagine, being a part of the Disney family for both of us has been a wonderful experience where we’re making history,” Diggs said on Wednesday. “It’s a completely multi-ethnic cast. We’ve got brand-new music with a very strong Caribbean background.”
He added, “These are very understandable and palatable kinds of situations that you find in this father-daughter relationship. People can actually kind of use them as opposed to the larger-than-life situations you find on the big screen.”
To prepare for his role as King Triton, Diggs took inspiration from his life with Walker.
“It’s all applicable … just to take your child’s perspective into consideration,” he told Us. “I come from an age where you just did what your parent said, and all they needed to say was, ‘Because I told you so.’ But in our [show], the parental figures take time to explain why they’re coming from the perspective that they’re coming from, [and] the children have an opinion too.”
Diggs noted that his take on King Triton is “a little calmer” than previous versions of the underwater monarch.
“[He] takes the time to talk and understand what Ariel is going through as opposed to just the autonomous perspective,” he said. “It’s a type of situation where I think parents could actually learn a little bit to take time and listen to their kids as opposed to just trying to just teach them what to do.”
Diggs also admires how Disney Junior’s Ariel! highlights a “multi-ethnic family” working collaboratively to solve problems together.
Diggs and Harris, 12, costar alongside Glee alum Amber Riley, who brings a fresh twist to the villainous Ursula.
“I think that it is such a refreshing take on Ursula to be able to see her as this loving auntie who’s always helping out the children [instead of as a villain],” Harris, best known for her roles on ABC’s Mixed-ish and Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home, told Us on Wednesday. “It’s definitely a new version of Tantie, but an incredible one at that.”
Disney Junior’s Ariel! premieres Thursday, June 27, on Disney Junior and will be available to stream on Disney+ the next day.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
