Elena of Avalor S3 E17

## Plot

The sky is still grey after a storm from the previous night. Isabel presents her latest invention, the Royal Seal-o-matic, to her family. It's supposed to make stamping royal proclamations easier by stamping the documents for you, but Elena tells Isabel that it's really not that hard to do by hand, and the machine stamps the paper so hard that it punches a giant hole through them. Also, I can't help but wonder if Luisa guessing that it's a flying carriage is a reference to those actually existing on Sofia the First, although maybe she meant something like the model blimps seen in season 2. Also squared, oof, I really hope all of this isn't reminding Elena of her best friend leaving (abandoning) her just one episode ago. She sees that a ship is sinking and orders the guards to have Captain Turner send out a rescue boat. Isabel says that at the rate it's sinking, the rescue boat might not get there in time, so she and Elena leave to see what they can do. There are only three people on the ship: Princess Rebeca, her little brother Prince Ari, and their grandmother Miriam. They're trying to pour the water out, but it's coming in faster than they can pour it out by hand. Rebeca is like a grown up version of Isabel, not that anything really comes from it. She makes a catapult and launches a hook with a rope attached to it towards the shore. Elena, Isabel, and the guards grab it and start pulling the ship in. Yeah, no way can four people move a ship of that size, especially when one of them is a child. Also, I noticed another animation error involving Elena's scepter. First she doesn't have it, then she does, and then it's gone again. Anyways, the ship is barely moving, and Rebeca, Miriam, and Ari rowing doesn't really help. Ari wants to swim for it, but Miriam can't swim. Rebeca chops down the front mast to use as a bridge to reach the cliff where the others are. They're able to make it right as their ship sinks. Rebeca says they barely made it, but Miriam tells her that barely is good enough. Elena invites them into the palace to warm up. They thank them for their help. They're Jewish Latinos, also known as Ladinos, also known as Sephardic Jews, and they teach the others a few Hebrew and Yiddish words throughout the episode, like mitzvah, nosh, and bubbe. They introduce themselves, and Elena introduces herself and her family. Their ship was in a storm last night. They were trying to get home to their kingdom, Galonia, with their grandmother so they could celebrate Hanukkah with her. Miriam explains that it's her favorite holiday, and it celebrates a time when their people defended their right to follow their most cherished traditions. One of those traditions was to always keep a special lamp lit, but on the very first Hanukkah, there was only enough oil to last for one night, but the lamp burned for eight nights. Miriam remembers that her hanukkiah, also known as a menorah, was in one of the crates that fell overboard when their ship sank. It had been in their family for generations. Elena and her family offer to help them celebrate Hanukkah here. Rebeca wants everything to be perfect and just right because Hanukkah is her grandma's favorite holiday, and she's determined to give her the best one ever. She explains that they celebrate for eight nights, and eat latkes, also known as potato pancakes, and bimuelos, which are fried dough balls. Luisa offers to make the food. There are also coins made of chocolate called gelt, playing with dreidels, etc. Isabel and Ari can make dreidels. Before Elena and Rebeca can get the chocolate for the coins, Luisa says she needs their help in the kitchen. She wants to know if the food is right. She's most worried about the sauce. They didn't have any honey oranges like the recipe called for, so she used anoki berries. Rebeca says that it's good, but it's not quite as sweet as the sauce her grandmother is used to. Luisa can add guavas to make it sweeter. Elena wonders if it'll be enough, and Luisa tells her that they have to make due with what they have. Rebeca says her grandmother tells her the same thing. The sky is clear now, and Rebeca takes to riding jaquins like a fish takes to water. Isabel and Ari have made lots of dreidels, and Ari is teaching Isa what the symbols mean. He's upset about his bubbe's haunkkiah being gone. Isabel tells him that they can make a new one. He's made homemade hanukkiahs before at school. Rebeca and Elena pick up chocolate for the coins at La Vida Dulce, Luisa's family chocolate shop. A guard tells them that several crates from the Galonian ship have washed up at the port. Miriam's hanukkiah might be in one of them. They leave, and Elena tells the guard to take the chocolate back to the palace. The Galonian crest is based on the Star of David. However, every crate just has more clothes in it, especially Miriam's coats. Luckily, the last one has the hanukkiah in it… but it's broken. Elena tells Rebeca that all the pieces are here, so they might be able to glue it back together. They run into Miriam when they get back to the palace though, and she can tell that something's wrong. They tell her that they found the hanukkiah, but instead of telling her the truth, they claim that it's dirty and they want to clean it first. They head to Isabel's workshop. Rebeca is able to glue the hanukkiah back together. She finally takes in her surroundings and is impressed by Isabel's workshop, and that she and Ari made so many dreidels. The wooden ones look just like the ones back home. When Rebeca spins one, it lands on the hanukkiah Isabel and Ari made, which they don't need anymore. Elena cheers Ari up by giving him some chocolate. They need to cut the rest into coin shaped circles and wrap them in gold foil, but that will take forever, and they don't have much time before sunset. Isabel says they can use her Seal-o-matic to get it done in time. It was punching royal proclamations too hard, but it's just right for making gelt. Rebeca finishes gluing the hanukkiah back together. A servant arrives with the rest of the chocolate. Elena notices that it's almost sunset, and they still have to get everything set up. She and Rebeca bring the chocolate coins and the hanukkiah to the dinner table outside, and tell Ari and Isabel to bring the rest up later. Rebeca rearranges everything on the table so it's exactly like how it is in Galonia. Then she tests the dreidels to see which ones spin the most like the ones back home. Elena thinks they all spin really well. One of them flips a platter of food, which causes a chain reaction that leads to the hanukkiah falling and shattering into so many pieces that they'd never be able to fix it. Elena assures Rebeca that her grandmother will understand. They find the rest of their family members playing with a dreidel together, with the pot being chocolate coins. Rebeca tells them that the guava bimuelos were smushed. Luckily, it was just the first batch that Luisa brought up for a snack, and Miriam discovered that she liked the bimuelos even more when the sauce wasn't so sweet. The best wooden dreidel Ari and Isabel made was also broken. Miriam tells Rebeca that they still have the metal ones. They look a bit different, but they can spin for ages. Rebeca shows everyone the broken hanukkiah. Ari sees it and runs off, and Isabel follows him to see if he's okay. Rebeca apologizes to Miriam, who leaves to have a moment to herself. Elena assures Rebeca that her grandmother knows she tried to give her the best Hanukkah ever, and Luisa tells her that she's not mad at her. Rebeca is mad at herself though, and thinks they should cancel the party. However, Ari, Isabel, and Miriam return with the replacement hanukkiah. It's nothing like her old one, but nothing ever will be. Her old one is gone, so she needs a new one, and this one is perfect. That's what Hanukkah is all about: How people carry on, even when faced with the toughest challenges, and make the most of what they have. This hanukkiah will always remind them of their new friends in Avalor, and how hard Ari and Rebeca worked to give Miriam the best Hanukkah ever, and succeeded. They celebrate the Festival of Lights, which is another name for Hanukkah, in a new land with new friends this year, with so much to be thankful for. Miriam lights two candles on the new hanukkiah as the sun sets. I loved how similar Luisa and Miriam were. I swear most grandmothers act like that towards their grandkids, like they're psychic or something, probably because women are still the primary caregivers all over the world, and once you've raised one generation of kids, you've probably seen everything and know what to expect from *their* kids. I imagine that this episode was very important and special to Craig Gerber and his family, since they're Jewish, and also because Craig made his directorial debut with this episode. Sure, he created and was the executive producer of Elena of Avalor and *Sofia the First* and helped write some episodes, but he had never directed one before. I think that he did an amazing job, and I bet his family is proud of him. Apparently he forgot to tell them that he was adding a Jewish Latino Disney Princess though, so when they found out through a different source, they were really mad. So, if Hanukkah lasts for eight nights, then did Rebeca, Ari, and Miriam stay in Avalor for over a week, or did they just celebrate the first night and spent the rest of it back home with their family in Galonia? I only ask because Rebeca also appears in the next episode, but Ari and Miriam don't, with no mention of how they recently met Elena and became friends with her and her family. All three briefly return in the series finale, but they don't do anything, and only Rebeca has lines. Craig Gerber and his family also loved *The Ghost and Molly McGee* holiday episode that aired around a year later, because one segment was focused on Hanukkah, and the main character's best human friend, Libby Stein-Torres, and her family, are also Jewish Latino. An earlier episode even focused on said character's bat mitzvah, which was the first time I had ever seen one. Every other time, it was always a minor male character's bar mitzvah. It's like how you never see a Mexican boy celebrate his 15th birthday with a quinceañero in entertainment media; it's always a girl. Feel free to correct me if any of the cultural stuff is wrong. Basically, watch these shows, they're amazing and educational with great animation, music, characters, life lessons, etc.