Sofia the First

Sofia the First
Created by	Craig Gerber
Directed by	Jamie Mitchell[1]
Voices of	Ariel Winter Wayne Brady Sara Ramirez Travis Willingham Darcy Rose Byrnes Tim Gunn Jess Harnell Zach Callison Tyler Merna
Composer(s)	Kevin Kliesch
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	66 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jamie Mitchell
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Disney Television Animation Rough Draft Studios Korea Co., Ltd.
Distributor	Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network	Disney Junior
Original release	November 18, 2012 (2012-11-18) – present
External links
Official website

Sofia the First is an American computer-animated television series that incorporates characters from the Disney Princess franchise. The series stars Ariel Winter as Sofia, a young girl who becomes a princess when her mother, Miranda, marries King Roland II of the kingdom of Enchancia. It features songs written by John Kavanaugh and Erica Rothschild and a musical score by Kevin Kliesch.^[2]

The series' pilot episode "Once Upon a Princess", premiered on November 18, 2012 on Disney Channel, featuring a cameo from Cinderella. The series itself premiered on January 11, 2013 on Disney Channel during its Disney Junior block. Disney Junior renewed Sofia the First for a second season on March 5, 2013,^[3] and then the series was renewed on January 8, 2014.^[4] The show's second double-length episode, The Floating Palace, aired on November 24, 2013, with an appearance from Ariel. The third double-length episode, The Curse of Princess Ivy, aired on November 23, 2014, featuring Rapunzel. On April 14, 2015, the series was renewed for a fourth season by Disney Junior.^[5]

On January 29, 2015, a spin-off of the series titled Elena of Avalor was announced to premiere in 2016, with the main character debuting in the upcoming episode, Sofia the First: Journey to Avalor.^[6]

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia - An 8-year-old village girl who became a princess after her mother married King Roland II. She is upbeat, outgoing, adventurous, and loves the outdoors. Ever since she was brought into the royal family, she became the bearer of the mystical Amulet of Avalor, which gave her the ability to understand animal speech (they can understand her without the amulet^[7]). It can also summon Disney Princesses to help her.
• Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber - Sofia's stepsister, James' twin^[8] sister, King Roland's daughter and Queen Miranda's stepdaughter. She is stoic, vain, spoiled, sassy, jealous, impatient, but nonetheless, a good friend. Honoring her title as princess, she devotes her life to a huge liking of jewelry and keeping everything clean and pristine.
• Zach Callison (Seasons 1–2)/Tyler Merna (Seasons 2–present) as Prince James - Sofia's stepbrother, Amber's twin^[8] brother, Roland's son and Miranda's stepson. Unlike Amber, he is adventurous and outgoing.
• Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda - Sofia's mother, Roland's wife, and the stepmother of the royal twins.
• Travis Willingham as King Roland II - Sofia's stepfather, Miranda's husband, the father of the royal twins, and the ruler of Enchancia.
• Jess Harnell as Cedric the Sensational - The royal sorcerer of Enchancia. He is described as a great and impressive sorcerer by the Good Fairies.^[9] He has a crow named Wormwood and lives in a tower. He is the son of the previous royal sorcerer, now retired with Cedric's mother.^[10] Cedric has also referred to having a sister who stole from him, who he has never forgiven.^[11] He secretly longs to take over the kingdom^[12] to bring glory to sorcerers everywhere. Ever since Sofia wore the Amulet, he fails repeatedly at stealing it, and the one time he managed to, was unable to use it to take over the kingdom due to its cursing.^[12] He is intensely loyal to his closest friend, Princess Sofia. He doesn't do his job well and his spells usually backfire.
• Wayne Brady as Clover - A rabbit and friend of Sofia with help of the Amulet. He usually thinks of eating constantly.
• Tim Gunn as Baileywick - The castle steward. Being a workaholic, he does his job well though he did fall into a few accidents. He can be overprotective of Sofia at times, but she doesn't really mind most of the time.
• Meghan Strange as Robin - A robin and friend of Sofia.
• Ashley Eckstein as Mia - A bluebird and friend of Sofia.

Disney Princesses

• Jennifer Hale as Cinderella from Cinderella - In the pilot "Once Upon a Princess", she helps Sofia make amends with Amber and become true sisters. She sings a song called "True Sisters."
• Linda Larkin as Jasmine from Aladdin - In "Two to Tangu", she teaches Sofia and Amber how to tame a wild carpet and not to be afraid of trying something new. Her singing voice was performed by Lea Salonga. She sings a song called "The Ride of Our Lives."
• Julie Nathanson as Belle from Beauty and the Beast - In "The Amulet and the Anthem", she shows Sofia that actions speak louder than words when apologizing for bragging didn't work. This was also Nathanson's first time providing the singing voice of Belle after taking over for Paige O'Hara, the original voice of Belle. She sings a song called "Make It Right."
• Jodi Benson as Ariel from The Little Mermaid - In "The Floating Palace", she encourages Sofia to enlist Cora to help rescue Oona from the sea monster, saying that the love of family is held by all. She sings a song called "The Love We Share." She is the first Disney Princess not to be shown in her re-design.
• Kate Higgins as Aurora from Sleeping Beauty - In "Holiday in Enchancia", she teaches Sofia that in a crisis she can always count on her animal friends. She is the first Disney Princess who doesn't sing in the series.
• Katherine Von Till as Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - In "The Enchanted Feast", she teaches Sofia to learn the importance of trusting one's instincts after Sofia suspects that a visiting sorceress is not who she says she is. She is the second Disney Princess who doesn't sing in the series.
• Ming-Na Wen as Fa Mulan from Mulan - In "Princesses To The Rescue", she teaches Sofia and her friends that they are stronger than they know. Her singing voice was performed by Lea Salonga and is the second Disney Princess not to be shown in her re-design, rather in her armor. She sings the song "Stronger Than You Know."
• Mandy Moore as Rapunzel from Tangled - In the second half of the hour-long episode "The Curse of Princess Ivy - Part 2", she shows how much Sofia and Amber's relationship has grown and deepened despite mistakes that Amber has made. She also teaches Amber to mend their relationship she has to "Dare to Risk It All."
• Anika Noni Rose as Tiana from The Princess and the Frog - In "Winter's Gift", she teaches Sofia that what matters most when giving a gift to someone is that it comes from the heart. She sings a song called "From the Heart".
• Ruth Connell as Merida from Brave - In "The Secret Library", she teaches Sofia confidence so she can save Minimus and Mazzimo and fulfill her task as the storykeeper. She is the 3rd Disney Princess not to be shown in her re-design and 3rd Princess who doesn't sing in the series.

Recurring cast

• Russi Taylor as Miss Fauna (from Sleeping Beauty)
• Tress MacNeille as Miss Merryweather (from Sleeping Beauty)
• Barbara Dirikson as Miss Flora (from Sleeping Beauty)
• Coco Grayson as Princess Hildegard, who has a pet seal-headed white squirrel named Lulu
• Jenna Lee Rosen as Princess Hildegard (singing voice)
• Harley Graham as Princess Clio
• Jenna Lee Rosen as Princess Clio (singing voice)
• Sabrina Carpenter as Princess Vivian
• Ellie Kemper as Crackle
• Jim Cummings as Wormwood, Goodwyn the Great, Professor Popov, Rex the Bloodhound
• Fiona Bishop (movie) / Diamond White (series) as Ruby Hanshaw
• Maxim Knight (movie) / Karan Brar / Cade Sutton / Nathaniel Semsen (series) as Prince Zandar
• Isabella Acres as Jade
• Jennifer Hale as Violet
• Clancy Brown as Constable Myles
• Michaela Zee as Princess Jun
• Eric Stonestreet as Minimus
• Colin Ford / Grayson Hunter Goss as Prince Hugo
• Bonnie Hunt as Aunt Tilly

Episodes

Reception

In October 2012, Sofia was identified as Disney's first Latina princess when a producer spoke during a press tour.^[13] A Disney Junior general manager later elaborated that "...Sofia is a fairytale girl who lives in a fairytale world. All our characters come from fantasy lands that may reflect elements of various cultures and ethnicities but none are meant to specifically represent those real world cultures." ^[14] Sofia has a mixed fairy-tale heritage, as a Disney spokeswoman elaborated, "...Sofia's mother, Queen Miranda, was born in a fictitious land, Galdiz, a place with Latin influences. Miranda met Sofia's father, Birk Balthazar, who hailed from the kingdom of Freezenberg, and together they moved to Enchancia, where Sofia was born."^[15]

Galdiz is based on Spain^[16] and Freezenberg is based on Scandinavia.^[17] The National Hispanic Media Coalition president/CEO interpreted Kanter's half-Spanish(-inspired) description of Sofia as her not qualifying as Latina.^[18]

Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess premiered on Disney Channel on November 18, 2012, garnering 8.17 million viewers (when the Live+7 ratings were tabulated), which made it the #1 cable TV telecast of all time for Kids 2-5 and Girls 2-5. It also set a record for the #1 preschool cable TV telecast ever in Total Viewers and for Adults 18-49.^[19]

Merchandise

A range of Sofia the First merchandise has been launched by the Disney Store in the US, including costumes, books, toy figures, wall posters, and homeware.^[20] Products have also been launched in UK, Canada and Australia.^[21]

Mini games

A variety of online mini games are based on the series^[22] including:

1. Big Air Adventure^[23] a 5-series crossover of titular characters from Doc McStuffins, Henry Hugglemonster, Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Miles From Tomorrowland
2. Minimus the Great^[24]
3. Royal Bubble Rescue^[25]
4. Royal Me Avatar^[26]
5. Sofia's Card Catch^[27]
6. Sofia's Painting Pals^[28]
7. Sofia's Royal Sticker Book^[29]
8. Sofia the First Dress Up^[30]
9. The Mermaid Princess^[31]
10. The Missing Amulet^[32]

See also

• Disney Princess

References

External links

• Official website
• Sofia the First at the Internet Movie Database
• Sofia The First at the Big Cartoon DataBase