"Great Aunt-Venture" is the twentieth episode of Sofia the First. It premiered on October 25, 2013.
Overview[]
Sofia spends the day with her Aunt Tilly as she goes about making her famous apple pie. The two go to fetch the most delicious apples, only for them to be stolen by a wombeast. When they find the wombeast, Sofia discovers he was simply hungry. The wombeast gives back the basket of apples, and Sofia invites him for dinner.
Plot[]
Today, the carnival is in town, and Sofia is searching through her closet for shoes. Just then, James calls out, asking if she's ready, and she replies, "Almost." She finally finds some shoes, but they don't match. James tells her to worry about that later and pulls her along to meet Amber. The trio are excited about the carnival, especially Sofia, since she's never been to one before.
Sofia, James, and Amber make it outside just in time for their father, King Roland II, to tell them their Aunt Tilly will be arriving soon, much to Amber and James's horror. While Queen Miranda looks forward to meeting her, James and Amber don't. They tell Sofia that Aunt Tilly is boring and the most exciting thing she does is bake pies. Amber and James try to talk their way out of seeing their aunt, but Roland insists they stay put and be polite. A flying coach arrives and, after landing with a lot of dust, Aunt Tilly appears. She is delighted to see her brother and Miranda. She greets James with a pinch on the cheek and mistakes Sofia for Amber and says she's grown so beautiful. She tells Amber, thinking she is Sofia, that she was a funny-looking baby, prompting an annoyed Amber to tell her aunt she's Amber. Sofia greets her Royally, but Aunt Tilly tells her they're family and that she's Aunt Tilly to her. After a warm greeting, the Royal Family makes their way inside. Amber and James try to escape, but Roland tells them the carnival can wait.
Roland tells Tilly they are having a family dinner in honor of her visit and asks her to bake one of her special apple pie for dessert. Tilly is delighted and tells him she'll need apples and some Little Helpers, to Amber and James's horror. The twins decline and run away to the carnival. However Sofia, not wanting to disappoint her aunt, volunteers to help. Before going off on their adventure, Tilly searches her carpet bag for some clothes for Sofia to wear since she's not dressed for the occasion. She pulls out a fish bowl, a bugle, a vase of flowers, and finally a set of clothes similar to her own.
After changing her clothes, Sofia and Tilly start off on their journey. They arrive where the Arabella Orchard should be, only to find out it has moved. Confused, Sofia asks "How can an orchard move?" Tilly tells her that the Arabella Orchard are special apple trees that are always looking for the right place to grow which is what makes the Arabella Apples so rare and delicious. She brings out her Locus Pocus Map. Following Aunt Tilly's instructions, Sofia asks the Map where the Arabella Orchard is and it magically shows the way. They must go through the Melodious Meadow, across the Gargantuan Gorge, and then they will find the Arabella Orchard.
They find their way to the Melodious Meadow, which is a huge meadow of tall sunflowers. Once inside the meadow, they quickly get lost, and the sunflowers are too high to see over. Sofia suggests they need to see over the flowers in order to find the way out. Tilly agrees and searches her bag until she pulls out some magic jumping shoes and gives them to Sofia to put on. At first, Sofia finds it difficult to control them, but she quickly gets the hang of it. Sofia is able to jump high enough to jump over the flowers and lead the way out.
After getting out of the Meadow, Sofia and Tilly make their way to the Gargantuan Gorge. They find an unsafe rope bridge that collapses after they test it. They meet a sad Giant who has a whole thorn bush stuck in his foot. After Sofia and Tilly help pull the thorn bush out, the Giant helps them by carrying them across the Gorge. They soon find the Orchard, and soon start picking the Arabella Apples. After they're done, the Orchard vanishes to find another spot to grow.
On the way back to the castle, they come across a Wild Wooly Wombeast that steals the apples and flies away. Full of despair, Sofia gives up all hope: They lost the apples and they can't get more from the Orchard since it's now gone. Through a song, Tilly encourages Sofia not to give up and use her head to get the apples back. Using the Locus Pocus Map, they track down the Wombeast to the Horrid Hills. Using a kite from Tilly's carpet bag, they fly to the very top of the Horrid Hills, where the Wombeast lives. They find the Wombeast's cave, and Sofia goes in alone, where she finds the Wombeast, who's not as mean and scary as he appears. Using her ability to talk to animals, Sofia is able to make peace with Wilbur the Wombeast and get the apples back and help Tilly make her apple pie for the Family Dinner, which everyone enjoys.
Home Video Release[]
Cast[]
- Ariel Winter as Sofia
- Bonnie Hunt as Aunt Tilly
- Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
- Zach Callison as Prince James
- Travis Willingham as King Roland II
- Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
- Tim Gunn as Baileywick
- Corey Burton as Wilbur the Wombeast
Additional voices[]
- Travis Willingham as Giant
Songs[]
Transcript[]
The transcript for Great Aunt-Venture may be viewed here.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 1.728 million viewers on its premiere.[1]
- Aunt Tilly's characteristics may have been based on Mary Poppins, both appear to know magic, they carry carpet bags that can hold more items than they should, and carry umbrellas as well.
- This is Bonnie Hunt's first voice role in a Disney series and the first not to be Pixar.
- This is the first episode to have a living relative of King Roland's to appear in the series since his father is mentioned at the end of Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess (and later makes a physical appearance in "Through the Looking Back Glass") and his grandfather only appears in a flashback during the episode Let the Good Times Troll.
- A clownfish makes a brief appearance while Aunt Tilly searches her bag for some clothes for Sofia. Probably a reference to Nemo or Marlin from Finding Nemo.
- This episode is the second time an aunt is mentioned. This time, Aunt Tilly is mentioned by Roland. (The first time is by Prince Desmond when he's afraid of his Aunt Nadine in "Make Way for Miss Nettle".)
- This episode marks Aunt Tilly's debut appearance.
- This is the last episode to air during the series' second run on the Disney Channel which began on November 30, 2020; it last aired on May 26, 2023, although the series aired on the channel once more from August 21—25 as part of "World Princess Week".
- The magic jumping shoes may be based on Talarias, a pair of winged sandals which symbolize the Greek messenger god Hermes.
- Moral: The proof is in the pudding.
References[]
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (October 28, 2013). Friday Cable Ratings: 'Gold Rush' Wins Night, 'WWE Smackdown', 'Good Luck Charlie', 'Haven' & More. TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2024.