- “Come meet the new girl in crown.”
- ―Tagline
Sofia the First is a 3D computer-animated television series that ran from January 11, 2013 to September 8, 2018 on Disney Jr. The series pilot made its debut on Disney Channel on November 18, 2012 with a one-hour special. The series stars Modern Family actress Ariel Winter as the voice of the titular character, who is a young girl standing on the verge of becoming a proper, royal princess. The show went off the air for exactly two years on November 30, 2018, before returning again in reruns at 6am on November 30, 2020, starting with the pilot movie.
It introduces Sofia (voiced by Ariel Winter) a little girl with a commoner's background until her mother (voiced by Sara Ramirez) marries King Roland II (voiced by Travis Willingham) and she becomes royalty.
Premise[]
The series follows the adventures of Sofia, a young girl who becomes a princess overnight after her mother marries King Roland II. Sofia tries her best to adapt to her new life being a princess and has her stepbrother and stepsister, James and Amber to help her along with the headmistresses of the Royal Preparatory Academy, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the Three Good Fairies from Disney’s classic, Sleeping Beauty. In Sofia's darkest hours, classic Disney Princesses are there for her whenever she most needs help.
Sofia learns that looking like a princess isn't all that hard, but behaving like one must come from the heart. The stories focus on the idea that what makes a real princess is what's on the inside. The show highlights character qualities, such as kindness, courage, bravery, generosity, loyalty, honesty, and grace. Subjects, such as sincerity and forgiveness are heavily focused on. She has the magical and incredibly powerful Amulet of Avalor that allows her to talk with animals, shrink, and even turn into a mermaid. However, her magical amulet is coveted by the evil sorcerer Cedric, who desires its tremendous magical power to take over the kingdom of Enchancia.
Cast[]
- Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
- Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
- Zach Callison/Tyler Merna/Nicolas Cantu as Prince James
- Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
- Travis Willingham as King Roland II
- Wayne Brady as Clover
- Jess Harnell as Cedric the Sorcerer
- Tim Gunn as Baileywick
- Sabrina Carpenter as Princess Vivian
- Karan Brar as Prince Zandar
- Megan Mullally as Miss Nettle
Reception[]
Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess premiered on Disney Channel on November 18, 2012 in the United States, and had 5.2 million viewers.
Merchandise[]
A range of "Sofia the First" merchandise has been produced throughout the world.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The animation from Season 2 onwards is much lighter and smoother than in Season 1.
- Purple is the most common and favored color throughout the TV series since it is Sofia's signature color.
- Cinderella is the only Princess from Walt's lifetime (the other two being Snow White and Aurora) to sing in the show; namely the song True Sisters in "Once Upon a Princess".
- Pocahontas and Moana are the only Disney Princesses who did not make guest appearances in the show.
- Pocahontas did not appear because the producers found it difficult to do a story with her that worked.
- The reason Moana never appeared remains unknown, although it could be that the show ended less than two years after her debut movie was released.
- Anna and Elsa never appeared either as Disney's theatrical division did not allow the series' producers to use them as they were working on Frozen II, but allowed them to use Olaf. Nevertheless, Anna was still mentioned.
- Of the living original voice actresses of the Disney Princesses, three did not reprise their roles:
- Mary Costa, the original voice of Aurora, was 82 years old when the series began and had long since retired from acting.
- Paige O'Hara, the original voice of Belle, had been replaced by Julie Nathanson in 2011 because she could not match the character's tone as easily as she could 20 years ago.
- Kelly Macdonald, the original voice of Merida, likely did not return because she lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
- At the beginning of the series, the Royal Preparatory Academy's students learn there are 138 kingdoms. That does not count two kingdoms revealed throughout the series: Merroway Cove and Hakalo, making it 140. Only the Royal Family of Enchancia (Princess Sofia, her parents and siblings) know about these two kingdoms.
- Sofia was originally the only princess at Royal Prep to ride a horse until Amber mastered it. In "Substitute Cedric", Maya can be seen wearing a Derby uniform.
- Sofia the First is the last Disney Jr. show to be removed from Netflix.
- On November 18, 2022, in celebration of the series' 10 year anniversary, both Disney Junior and creator Craig Gerber announced on X and other social media platforms that a new series based on Sofia the First is in the works. Disney Junior announced this again on the show's 11 year anniversary on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
See also[]
External links[]
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