Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess

## Plot

I know, I didn't plan to review this series because it's too "kiddie", but I've given up on reviewing a number of more "mature" shows because, in their later seasons, they start turning into c-r-a-p. Maybe that's really why Disney normally (stupidly) limits its shows to three or four seasons. They don't want their stuff undergoing seasonal rot. Everything makes sense now. Seriously though, no more *Once Upon A Time* or *Switched at Birth*. I'll take simple morals and the voices of Ariel Winter, Sara Ramirez, Travis Willingham, and Wayne Brady any day of the week. Anyways, according to the Disney Wiki, Sofia is an eight year old girl living with her mother Miranda, a cobbler, in the village of Dunwiddie, in the kingdom of Enchancia. One day, they're called to the palace to give the king himself new shoes. Of course, the village isn't far from the castle, so it could've just been the closest place. King Roland the Second and Miranda fell in love at first sight, and were married not long after. This made Miranda the new queen and Sofia a princess. The two will be leaving the village and moving into the castle. Sofia says goodbye to the people of the village, including her best friends Jade and Ruby. During this, some animals hitch a ride to the castle on the coach. They are Clover the rabbit, Robin the robin, Mia the bluebird, and Whatnaught, the silent squirrel. Sofia is officially crowned a princess, and will be having a royal ball later that week to welcome her into royal society. Her new siblings are fraternal twins James and Amber. And no, so far their biological mother and Sofia's biological father have not appeared, been mentioned, or named, at least on the show. Anyways, Amber is a spoiled rich girl who is jealous of Sofia. Sofia is nervous because she doesn't know anything about being a princess, especially how to dance, and is worried that everyone will laugh at her. That night, her mother reassures her, and her new father gives her a welcome gift. It's a purple amulet, and it's very special. Roland has Sofia promise to never take it off, so she'll never lose it. Amber witnesses this and becomes even more jealous. While on her way back to her room, Sofia bumps into Cedric, the royal sorcerer. He's a bit of a buffoon who can never get his spells right. He comes from a long line of royal sorcerers, and his father was Enchancia's royal sorcerer previously, back when Roland's father was king. He recognizes Sofia's amulet as the Amulet of Avalor, which contains powerful magic. He wants to use it to take over the kingdom. We'll discuss his motives later. *Much later.* Sofia feels a little better, but she still sleeps by the windowsill that night instead of her large bed. The animals from the carriage ride sneak into her room that morning to do the standard helpful woodland creature thing by helping her get dressed, but she just screams, and they get shooed out by Baileywick, the castle steward. Sofia will be attending Royal Prep, a school for princes and princesses. It's run by the three good fairies from *Sleeping Beauty*: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. In case you didn't know, Flora is the one that wears red, Fauna is the one that wears green, and Merryweather is the one that wears blue. Amber only gets more jealous of Sofia when all the kids like her so much. She pressures James into playing a prank on her. She tries to laugh it off, and walks away because she hates being embarrassed. She notices a baby bird has fallen out of its nest, and the mother can't get to it. She puts the baby bird back, and her amulet glows. While on her way back, the birds speak to her. The amulet gave her the power to talk to animals, but she doesn't realize it yet. She's mad at James for pranking her, and he feels bad about what he did. Cedric acts super nice to Sofia to get on her good side. He gives her a tour of his workshop, and she learns where he hides the key. She learns about the amulet, and how it can grant powers or curses based on good or bad deeds. Cedric dismisses hers as a knock off though, unless she gave it to him to verify that it was the real one. Since Sofia promised Roland that she'd never take it off though, she declines his offer. Also, he has a pet raven named Wormwood, who is arguably more evil than he is. The animals sneak into Sofia's room again and discuss whether or not to wake her up after what happened last time. Also, Sofia sleeps in her bed this time. Because she can understand animals now, she can hear them talking and wakes up. They're all a little freaked out at first, but Sofia realizes that her amulet is the real one and that she was given the power to talk to animals after helping that baby bird. Clover explains that woodland creatures have been helping princesses because they want food. Sofia and the animals become fast friends, especially Clover, who becomes her new best friend. No, he doesn't replace Jade or Ruby; we just see him more often than those two. Sofia has another rough day at school. Luckily, her mom arranged for Ruby and Jade to come over. James helps her pour them tea, and offers to teach her everything she needs to know for the ball as an apology for the prank he pulled. Amber overhears them talking when Sofia reveals that she doesn't know how to dance. They have a dance class at school the next day though. Amber decides to ruin it for her by giving her a pair of magic trick shoes that make her dance uncontrollably. After seeing Amber's smirking face, both Sofia and James realize that she did it on purpose. Sofia decides to go to Cedric for help, and asks him for a spell to make her dance well. Instead, Cedric gives her a sleeping spell, so he can blackmail her into giving him the amulet for the counter spell. James confronts Amber about what she did, and says that everyone likes Sofia more than her, including him. Amber is upset by this, and it only gets worse after she rips her dress and no one shows up to help her, since the ladies in waiting are too busy helping/admiring Sofia. She stays in her room and doesn't go to the ball. Sofia recites the spell, and everyone in the ballroom falls asleep except for her. Including Cedric, who clearly didn't think this plan through. Sofia assumes that she said it wrong. She's all alone, and one of her tears falls on the amulet, which starts glowing. This is another power of the amulet. It can summon other princesses to help its current owner in times of distress. In this case, it's my favorite fairy tale and one of my favorite princesses: Cinderella, voiced here by Jennifer Hale. She explains that Amber didn't go to the dance, and that she always regretted never making up with her step-sisters, so I guess this takes place before the two sequels. She encourages Sofia to give Amber a second chance, and magically disappears. But I swear that the circular glowing carriage you see at the end before the credits is totally the famous pumpkin carriage. Sofia explains the situation to Amber, and they decide to search Cedric's workshop for the counter spell. They get in with the key, but Wormwood attacks them. Sofia gets her animal friends to help distract him, and they put him back in his cage. The girls can't find the spell though. Wormwood gloats that the counter spell book is behind a painting of Cedric's parents. Because Sofia can understand animals now, she gets the spell book and finds the right spell. However, Amber doesn't want to go into the ballroom with her dress ripped. Sofia mends it for her. Amber apologizes for her behavior, and gives Sofia a dance lesson so she won't be embarrassed. The whole family dances together. Sofia calls Roland dad for the first time, instead of your majesty. She and Amber have finally accepted each other as sisters. Roland explains to Sofia that he's called Roland the Second because his father was also named Roland, and Sofia says that makes her Sofia the First.

## Review

I really liked this pilot. It was a great start to the series. The animation is fine. I really liked the songs. I love the idea of the Amulet of Avalor and the sheer number of possibilities it brings to the table. Craig Gerber, the creator of the show, clearly thought so as well, since the ever growing lore surrounding everything magical in the show is continually increasing. The show was so popular that it got a spin-off/sister show, also created by Craig Gerber, called Elena of Avalor, which changes everything we thought we knew about the amulet, especially its origins. And yes, I also plan on reviewing that show in due time. In fact, I personally consider it better than the show it was spun off from! Make no mistake though, they're both very good.