"King for a Day" is the thirty-first episode of the Disney Jr. animated series, Sofia the First. It premiered on June 27, 2014, and is the seventh episode of the second season.
Overview[]
King Roland leaves Prince James in charge of the kingdom for one day while He, Amber and Queen Miranda are out. James, with the help of Sofia, learns what a fair and good leader should be.
Plot[]
The Royal Family is having pancakes for breakfast when James turns up riding wheeled shoes that he calls "Rolling Wheelie Shoes" and states that he plans to give everyone a pair when he becomes King. Roland tells his son that being King is about more than just having fun, it's about being responsible, and Miranda adds it's also about being generous, brave, and polite. James feels so sure he's all those things, Roland decides to make him King for the day while he and Miranda go to the Ever Golden Glades to do some phoenix watching. Before leaving, Roland places a crown on James's head making him "King James for the Day." Amber decides to go with her parents since she thinks James is going to make a mess of everything and will make sure their father gets back in time to see it and make him wish he made her Queen for the day first.
After the three of them leave, everyone heads to the throne room, where Baileywick presents James with his first Royal Duties: Approve a thousand documents by reading them first, choose a new coat of arms for the Royal Scribes, find a way to get the castle servants' jobs done faster, and deal with an old abandoned house in the village. Just then, Ruby and Jade show up saying there is a sleeping giant in a cave outside the village, and his snoring is keeping everyone awake at night. Seeing how difficult it is being King, James isn't sure he can handle it, but Sofia, through a song, manages to encourage him to come up with creative ideas to solve these problems. Using a pogo stick, James stamps the documents in no time and has Cedric magically give the servants Rolling Wheelie Shoes, helping them move faster and getting their jobs done in no time. With his confidence built up, James decides to be the King of Fun and makes Sofia his Royal Adviser. Meanwhile, Roland and Miranda arrive at the Ever Golden Glades and already spot a Phoenix. Just when Miranda gets the chance to draw it, Amber calls out so loud for them that she scares the Phoenix, causing it to burn up, but it rises from the ashes and flies away. Amber tries to convince her father that making James King was a bad idea and he might make a mess of everything, but Miranda is confident that James is doing fine.
James and the others arrive in Dunwiddie Village, and instantly hear the snoring giant, with Sofia stating "No wonder no one's getting any sleep." To Sofia's shock, James decides to cheer up the sleepy villagers by throwing a party and turning the old house into gingerbread and the pond into chocolate milk. Sofia feels these ideas will cause more problems, but James doesn't listen. Soon, the village is filled with loud music, food, games, and everyone is having a good time, but it still hasn't stopped the giant's snoring. When James decides to have Cedric conjure fireworks, Sofia, Jade, Ruby, and Cedric are all against it as that could wake the giant up, but James still doesn't listen and tells Cedric to do it. With a wave of his wand, Cedric launches the biggest, brightest, and loudest fireworks across the sky.
Unfortunately, the fireworks wake up the giant, who turns out to be a baby. The now awake baby giant heads for the village, stomping and crying. Everyone runs inside the gingerbread house for shelter. As the baby giant starts to tear the gingerbread house down, everyone turns to James because he's the King, but James feels he can't solve this problem and throws away his crown. Sofia tells her big brother one of the hard facts about being King: Being King isn't about having fun. It's about doing what's best for the Kingdom and being a good leader. James finally comes to see that he got carried away with being King and, thanks to her help, they come up with a way of putting the baby giant back to sleep by giving him a bedtime snack with the gingerbread walls and the chocolate milk pond. While everyone makes preparations, James gets the baby giant to chase him back to his cave while riding his pogo stick. They reach the cave and, as soon as he sees his snack, the baby giant immediately helps himself and, with help from a lullaby played by the village musicians, the baby tiredly heads back to the cave and goes back to sleep. Just then, Amber, Roland, and Miranda return just in time to hear what is happening. Roland is very happy to hear how Sofia and James handled the baby giant and promises to make Sofia Queen for the Day next, to Amber's fury. After having Cedric create a huge door in front of the cave to silence the baby giant's snoring, the Royal Family heads back to Enchancia Castle to find the servants are still wearing Rolling Wheelie Shoes, to Roland's chagrin.
Cast[]
- Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
- Zach Callison as Prince James
- Isabella Acres as Jade
- Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
- Tim Gunn as Baileywick
- Jess Harnell as Cedric the Sorcerer/Servant
- Lyons Mathias as Baby Giant
- Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
- Diamond White as Ruby Hanshaw
- Travis Willingham as King Roland II
Song[]
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 2.319 million viewers on its premiere.[1]
- This episode and the next five episodes aired as part of Disney Jr.'s second annual "Pirate and Princess Summer" event.
- This episode aired after the premiere of the Jake and the Never Land Pirates episodes "Bucky's Treasure Hunt/Cubby's Tall Tale". New episodes from both shows also premiered on the same day on August 1 and 15, 2014.
- This episode is Jade and Ruby's first appearance in the second season.
- This is the second episode to introduce giants, the first was in the episode "Great Aunt-Venture".
- This is also the second time Cedric is praised for being a good sorcerer.
- The Ever Golden Glades was mentioned in the lyrics of the kingdom's anthem in the seventeenth episode.
- Baileywick uses a famous line from Star Wars in this episode; when James proposes fireworks, Baileywick says "I have a bad feeling about this". The line has been used at least once in every Star Wars film and is often uttered by characters in dangerous situations.
- This is the third time Sofia becomes someone's supporting assistant, The first was in "Cedric's Apprentice" and the second was in "Great Aunt-Venture" when she became Tilly's travelling companion.
- This is the sixth time Sofia re-visits the village.
- Moral: The most important quality a leader must have is sense of responsibility.
Transcript[]
The transcript for King for a Day may be viewed here.
References[]
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (June 30, 2014). Friday Cable Ratings: 'Girl Meets World' Tops Night + 'Zapped', 'Friday Night SmackDown', 'Jessie' & More. TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2024.