Elena and the Secret of Avalor

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## Broadcast information

### Original air date

November 20, 2016

"**Elena and the Secret of Avalor**" is a *Sofia the First* special, that premiered on November 20, 2016, as a Disney Channel and Disney Junior special movie event. The special also served as the pilot to the show's spin-off series, *Elena of Avalor*.

## Plot

In the Kingdom of Avalor, Elena takes Naomi up a mountain to show her Elena's favorite view of Avalor City next to a large waterfall. Naomi is impressed, until Elena laments to Naomi how she missed all this since she was trapped in the Amulet of Avalor for forty-one years, so a lot has changed since then. Elena then takes out a broken wand in a case she had in her saddlebag and shows it to Naomi. Elena explains to her it was Shuriki's wand and how she would still be trapped in the Amulet of Avalor if it wasn't for a brave young princess: Sofia. Elena then proceeds to tells Naomi the whole story that led to the present and both their and Avalor's current state:

A coach is heading toward Avalor Castle. Riding inside it are King Raul and Queen Lucia, the current sovereigns of Avalor, and Elena's parents. It's being chased by a green mist, and the royal guards driving it sound very terrified as they try to escape it, urging the horses to hurry back to the castle as quickly as possible. When the coach reaches the castle, Elena, wearing the Amulet of Avalor, comes out to greet her parents just in time to see the mist get revealed to be a sorceress who kills Elena's parents with a spell, killing the royal guards driving the coach and the horses pulling it as well in one fell swoop. Horrified, Elena flees back into the castle in terror in an attempt to hide, but the sorceress chases her down, intercepts her, then proceeds to strike Elena with the same spell to remove the only witness to the murder of Elena's parents so the sorceress is free to take over the throne unopposed and leave no evidence behind that could cause an uprising after she takes over.

The attack is revealed to be a daydream that Sofia's having in class at Royal Prep, which worries her elder step-brother, Prince James. Flora flies by and dismisses the students for summer vacation. As the Royal Kids of Enchancia head back to the coach to head home, Sofia's Amulet suddenly glows blue, alerting her to the fact that it's time for her to go to the Secret Library. Meanwhile, King Roland and Queen Miranda are trying to decide where to take their kids for their summer vacation. When the Royal Twins meet up with them, they reveal that they still haven't picked a place out.

Meanwhile, Sofia grabs *Behind the Walls* and heads to the Secret Library. When she arrives, the Library picks out a book called *The Lost Princess of Avalor*, to the shock of Sofia, who asks "Like my Amulet of Avalor?" When the book goes into the pendulum, it turns into a man who states "Exactly like your Amulet of Avalor!", startling Sofia when he appears. The man tells Sofia that he's Alacazar, the Royal Wizard of Avalor. Alacazar then proceeds to tell Sofia the story after making her comfortable to hear it:

*Across the Great Ocean in the Kingdom of Avalor, there once lived a Princess named Elena. On her fifteenth birthday, her mother, Queen Lucia, gave her the Amulet of Avalor. One fateful day, an evil power-hungry sorceress from the Northern Islands named Shuriki invaded Avalor. She attacked the King and Queen and set her sights on the palace. Elena chose to face Shuriki on her own. When Shuriki tried to strike her down, the Amulet saved Elena's life by pulling her inside it.* Alacazar found the Amulet and discovered that the only way to free Elena was to find a special Princess to set her free. Alacazar traveled for years to find this Princess until he grew too old to continue his search. He then used the last of his magic to turn himself into the book he transformed from to introduce himself to Sofia.

Alacazar then tells Sofia that the daydream she had earlier in class was Elena telling her that the time has come to set her free from the Amulet. Alacazar tells Sofia that she can do it as the Amulet tested many Princesses before her and she is the only one the Amulet chose. Alacazar tells her what she has to do to free Elena: she must go to his home in Avalor and summon his chanul. He also warns Sofia to be careful as Shuriki is as powerful and evil now as when she took over Avalor over four decades ago. Sofia goes to her family and convinces them that they should spend their vacation in the Kingdom of Avalor. With everyone in agreement, the Royal Family of Enchancia then sets sail for Avalor to both enjoy a vacation there and open up trade relations between Avalor and Enchancia.

The Royal Family of Enchancia arrives in the Kingdom of Avalor on the Royal Galleon under the command of Admiral Vasquez, pulling into Avalor Harbor. When Sofia sees Avalor City after waking up and getting her dress for visiting Avalor on, she wonders how she's going to find Alacazar's house in such a huge city. However, Sofia is unnerved to learn that they're going to meet Shuriki first since her father sent a messenger ahead telling her they're coming since it's the custom to meet the kingdom's ruler when visiting a new kingdom, as only Sofia knows of Shuriki's takeover of the throne, so her family believe she's the rightful Queen while Sofia knows that is not true and Elena is the true sovereign as eldest daughter of Raul and Lucia. Meanwhile, Shuriki is using her magic to get ready for their arrival and hide her true appearance when Chancellor Esteban and Armando come in and tell them they've arrived. The pair assure Shuriki that everything will be perfect and to Shuriki's strict guidelines she implemented when she took over. The Royal Family of Enchancia is greeted by a cheering crowd, but Sofia can see that the crowd isn't really happy since they are being forced to do so by the guards to avoid punishment, and when Shuriki arrives, Sofia is instantly wary. Sofia notices a boy playing a flute, much to Shuriki's chagrin due to outlawing music under her reign. As they get into the coach, Sofia spots Shuriki's soldiers taking the flute away from the boy playing it, upsetting him. They arrive at Avalor Castle, where Shuriki gives them a tour before taking them out to a feast that Esteban has prepared. Suddenly, Jaquins, the Symbols of Avalor, swoop in and snatch some of the food after singing a bit to annoy Shuriki. Shuriki tells the Jaquins to get lost, but they ignore her. Shuriki is about to pull out her wand to blast them, which would blow her cover, but Esteban stops her and leads everyone back inside. Sofia's Amulet glows and pulls her toward the Jaquins, which Sofia takes to mean that they can help her. Sofia goes up to the Jaquins, Migs, Luna and Skylar, and asks them to help her. The Jaquins refuse, stating that they don't help friends of Shuriki. Sofia explains that she's there to bring Princess Elena back. Hearing this, the Jaquins instantly become delighted to help her and fly her to Alacazar's house, explaining in song how they keep the hopes of Avalor alive during Shuriki's reign as the Symbols of Avalor and the Guardians sworn to protect it before Shuriki took over.

Sofia arrives at Alacazar's house. A woman greets her. Sofia tells her why she's there, but the woman proves to be no help as she closes the door on Sofia. Mateo, Alacazar's grandson, walks up, and asks Sofia about her magical knowledge and reveals that the woman is his mother, Rafa. Sofia introduces herself and reveals that Alacazar sent her. Mateo realizes that Sofia's amulet is the Amulet of Avalor, and takes her to his workshop. Once there, Mateo reveals that he's been training himself to be a wizard in secret since Shuriki outlawed all magic other than her own when she took over, hoping to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. He also reveals that a chanul is a spirit animal that serves as a guide to all magical things in the world and that it was Alacazar's chanul who revealed that Elena is imprisoned in the Amulet and how to get her out. Mateo summons Alacazar's chanul, Zuzo, who tells Sofia what she has to do to free Elena from her amulet: First, she has to get Shuriki's wand. Once she gets it, she has to wrap the Amulet around it and put both on the Crown of Aziluna. Mateo explains that Aziluna was a Maruvian healer that could break any spell or curse and that there's a statue of him in the mountains. Zuzo also tells Sofia: "Just because you're the one doesn't mean you're the only one." before he vanishes. Sofia doesn't know how she'll get Shuriki's wand until Mateo accidentally gives her an idea: to dance with her. At Avalor Castle, Armando is entertaining the Royal Twins while Roland and Miranda's conversation with Shuriki is having her contemplate invading Enchancia as her next target. Sofia comes in and asks Shuriki to dance the Sambarossa with her. Shuriki, who hates music and dancing to the point where she outlawed it when she took over Avalor, is reluctant, to which Sofia, who has been informed of her ban by Mateo and the Jaquins, asks if there is a law against it, to which her father tells her, "Sofia, no one would pass a law against dancing. That's like passing a law against fun," which makes Shuriki agree, not wanting to blow her cover and expose herself if she refused. After Armando has shown them how, everyone dances the Sambarossa. During the dance, Sofia pretends to trip and step on Shuriki's foot. While Shuriki recoils from the pain, Sofia uses the opening and steals her wand from her. After pocketing the wand, Sofia convinces Shuriki to let her and her siblings play hide and seek with Armando while she and her parents resume their discussions, to which Shuriki agrees. When Armando starts counting, Sofia drags her brother and sister away with her. Amber realizes that Sofia's up to something and asks what's up. Sofia tells her and James that she'll tell them later and that she needs them to stay hidden for as long as possible. James instantly agrees, but Amber demands "Why won't you tell us?" to which Sofia tells her it's for her own good and leaves. Sofia meets up with Mateo, Skylar, and Luna, and shows them that she got the wand. Mateo and the Jaquins are impressed with her for pulling it off, with Skylar speaking for all of them by saying "Girl looks sweet as sugar, but she's got some skills." The group then flies off to free Elena.

The group arrives at the Maruvian Temple where the Crown of Aziluna is. They go inside and find an enchanted lake. Mateo tells Sofia that she needs to swim across the enchanted waters for the magic to work. After asking the Amulet of Avalor to turn her into her mermaid form, Sofia turns into a mermaid and dives into the lake. Once underwater, Sofia finds the Crown of Aziluna and does as Zuzo instructed when she spoke with him back at Mateo's house. This makes an island with a statue on it rise out of the water. Once it surfaces, Sofia, back to her human form as she reverted back once above water, slides down to the statue's base. Suddenly, Sofia's Amulet glows pink and descends. Once it hits the ground, a person appears in a flash of pink light. The Amulet returns itself to Sofia, now pink instead of the original purple when she first received it, or red when Elena got it. The person is revealed to be Princess Elena, who's finally free. Elena hugs Sofia, and then greets Mateo and the Jaquins. She then voices her intention to free Avalor from Shuriki, retrieving Shuriki's wand from the crown before flying off with Mateo and Sofia on Skylar and Luna to return to the castle. The group lands, and Elena tells them what she's going to do: She going to use Shuriki's own wand against her. Sofia and Mateo want to help, but Elena refuses and flies off on Skylar to face Shuriki alone with Sofia and Mateo going after her anyway on Luna.

Armando is still playing hide and seek with Amber and James when Elena lands in the castle. Skylar wants to help, but Elena tells him she has to do this own her own before heading for the throne room to confront Shuriki. Shuriki has just signed the parchment to open up trade between Avalor and Enchancia when Elena storms in to confront her, to Shuriki's shock. Elena tells her it's time for her to pay for her crimes, to Shuriki's horror. Roland asks in confusion, "What crimes?" Elena tells them that Shuriki invaded Avalor and seized the throne from the Royal Family, *her* family. Shuriki puts the truth to Elena's claims as she has her guards restrain Roland and Miranda, to their shock and anger. Shuriki tries to pull out her wand to blast Elena, only to find that Elena has it, to which she deduces must be because Sofia took it. A shocked Miranda asks "Sofia's involved in this?" Elena confirms this and tries to blast Shuriki with her wand, using the same spell Shuriki used on her and her parents over 40 years ago, but fails. She tries again, but due to a guard's interference, the spell ricochets and blasts a tapestry revealing a painting of her maternal grandparents and little sister Isabel. Shuriki reveals that was how Alacazar protected them: By placing them inside an enchanted painting even her magic can't touch. She also reveals that Esteban is Elena's cousin. Shuriki takes back her wand and orders her guards to seize Elena. Skylar flies in, freeing Elena from the guards restraining her, and takes off with Elena on his back. Shuriki orders her guards to throw Sofia's family into the dungeon and to capture Sofia and Elena. Roland warns Shuriki to leave his step-daughter out of this and how she'll regret on what she's doing to the Enchancia Royal Family, but Shuriki smugly replies that she doubts it as she watches them get taken away.

Elena meets up with Sofia, Mateo, and Luna and tells Sofia that Shuriki has her family. Together, they fly back to Mateo's house to escape the volleys of arrows being fired on them by Shuriki's archer detachment of her royal guards. Mateo and Elena take Sofia to protect her and, when they arrive back at his home, Rafa comes out and reveals the spell that can free Elena's family. Citizens of Avalor come over and, at Sofia's urging, remembering the riddle that Zuzo told her earlier, Elena agrees to let them help with retaking their kingdom from Shuriki.

Sofia and Elena then fly to a secret entrance into the castle and sneak into the dungeon, avoiding Shuriki's guards looking for them out in the harbor. Once inside, they run into Armando, who agrees to help. While Armando distracts the lone guard after the other one leaves to speak to Shuriki after Armando's first attempt to lure them away only got one of them to leave, Sofia sneaks past them using her shrinking ability and grabs the keys to the cells. Sofia finds her family, but Miranda tells her that she has a lot of explaining to do regarding recent events. Sofia assures them that they'll get one and lets them out. Roland knocks out the guard and locks him up. Elena then reveals the truth of Sofia's Amulet and asks Roland and Miranda to not to be angry at Sofia for her true reasons for wanting to come to Avalor with helping Elena take her kingdom back from Shuriki. Miranda tells Sofia that she should've told them what was going on so they could've helped her, to which Sofia tells them she felt it was best to keep them out of trouble. Roland decides that Sofia can be forgiven for her actions since they were justified and noble. The group then sets off to execute Elena's plan.

Meanwhile, Shuriki demands that Esteban produce the results that she desires. Esteban protests that when he helped her invade Avalor, she promised that no one in his family would get hurt, to which Shuriki retorts that she also promised him power, which she gave him when she appointed him Chancellor. Shuriki tells him to be grateful she kept at least one of her promises, or he'll end up like his aunt and uncle, Raul and Lucia. Suddenly, Luna flies in and attacks Shuriki, who chases after her with Esteban. Once Shuriki's gone, Mateo sneaks in and, using the spell Rafa gave him, frees Isabel and her grandparents from the painting, who all happily reunite with Elena. The entire group then sets off to execute the rest of Elena's plan: Rallying the citizens of Avalor against Shuriki. The Avalorians and the Enchancians all march to the palace and overwhelm the guards, who lock the gates. Elena suggests breaking it down, but Sofia suggested they'd just fly to the other side and open it from there. Sofia and Elena fly in and open the gates, through which the citizens of Avalor march through, while Roland keeps the guards busy until they are joined by Miranda, Mateo, and Elena's grandparents. With her guards having deserted her out of cowardice and being outnumbered, Shuriki stops the crowd by summoning dark clouds over the castle. Shuriki raises her wand to blast Elena, knowing taking her out will break the will of everyone else, but Esteban, who has had enough, grabs the wand from Shuriki and tosses it to Elena, who destroys it. With the wand broken, Shuriki's powers are destroyed, and she ages into an old woman. Horribly weakened, Shuriki falls over the edge of the bridge and down a waterfall. She later resurfaces as she swims away to regroup. Sofia and Elena are disturbed by this sight, and Francisco comforts his granddaughter, telling her that Shuriki is gone now and they've won (unaware of Shuriki's survival). Sofia offers the Amulet back to Elena after she thanks Roland and Miranda for their help, but Elena tells her she can keep it, not only for what she did for Avalor, but also because Elena has already seen enough of it for the rest of her life. Elena then assumes the throne as Crown Princess, to the joy of the Avalorians.

Back in the Secret Library, Sofia and Alacazar review the story Sofia just finished, giving it the happy ending it deserved. Alacazar tells Sofia she gave Elena's story a great ending to which Sofia states that she gave Elena's story a great beginning. After he vanishes, Sofia's dress undergoes a transformation, and she leaves the Secret Library.

Back in the present, Elena and Naomi decide to lock Shuriki's wand in the treasury forever.

## Cast

* Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
* Aimee Carrero as Princess Elena
* Jane Fonda as Shuriki
* Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
* Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
* Tyler Merna as Prince James
* Travis Willingham as King Roland II
* Barbara Dirickson as Flora
* Chris Parnell as Migs
* Yvette Nicole Brown as Luna
* Carlos Alazraqui as Skylar
* Jenna Ortega as Princess Isabel
* Emiliano Díez as Francisco
* Julia Vera as Luisa
* Christian Lanz as Chancellor Esteban
* Jillian Rose Reed as Naomi
* Joseph Haro as Mateo
* Jorge Diaz as Gabe
* Keith Ferguson as Zuzo
* Joe Nunez as Armando
* Ana Ortiz as Rafa

## Songs

* The Great Unknown
* The Spirit of Avalor
* My Time
* Our Time (My Time Reprise)

## Trivia

* This special introduces Princess Elena, who is also the protagonist of the spin-off series, *Elena of Avalor*.
* This is the fourth TV Special movie in the series, following *Once Upon a Princess*, *The Floating Palace*, and *The Curse of Princess Ivy*.
* This special takes place after "Dads and Daughters Day".
* Sofia's Amulet changes color from purple to ruby pink after She frees Princess Elena.
* Sofia's family learns the truth of her Amulet in this special.
* This special has a DVD.
* According to Mateo himself, when he summoned Zuzo, it's his first time to summon a chanul. The possibly second time would be in The Scepter of Light.
	+ This was also his first time meeting a chanul.
* Mateo wore his Promotion outfit in this movie and the 5th time to do a wardrobe change. The 1st was in First Day of Rule, the 2nd was in Island of Youth, the 3rd was in Spellbound and the 4th was in The Scepter of Light.
* The special was originally titled "Sofia the First: Journey to Avalor" but was renamed due to the spinoff airing early. The framing device where Elena recounts everything to Naomi was added in last-minute to make up for said time
* To promote the series in Southeast Asian countries they did a 1 hour showing. Of the following episodes
	+ Spellbound
	+ First Day of Rule
	+ Finders Leapers
	+ All Heated Up
* To promote the movie. The Great Unknown had a music video.
* There's a book version of this movie called Elena and the Secret of Avalor (book)
* **Moral lesson:** You don't always have to face a problem alone.

## Gallery

*The image gallery for **Elena and the Secret of Avalor** may be viewed here.*