Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess is an animated special that first premiered on November 18, 2012 on Disney Channel and November 22, 2012 on Disney Jr. It serves as the pilot film for Sofia the First,[1] which later premiered on January 11, 2013.
Overview[]
In the whimsical world of Enchancia, Sofia's ordinary life takes a dramatic turn when her mother marries King Roland II, transforming her into a princess. As she prepares to move into the castle with her new family, including step-siblings Amber and James, Sofia embarks on a royal journey of self-discovery. With guidance from the wise headmistresses of Royal Prep Academy - Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather - and support from loyal friends like Baileywick and a clever rabbit named Clover, Sofia learns that true royalty comes not from appearance, but from embracing values like honesty, loyalty, courage, and compassion, which shape her into a kind and real princess.
Disney Jr. YouTube Overview[]
Sofia is an average girl whose life suddenly transforms when her mother marries the king, making Sofia a princess.
Plot[]
For the prologue of a new fairytale, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty appear and introduce us to Sofia, a happy-go-lucky 8-year-old girl living with her mother, a Hispanic cobbler named Miranda; who lives in the beautiful village of Dunwiddie. But then, one fateful day, they are summoned for a shoe fitting by King Roland II, the king and ruler of Enchancia and the son of the former king Roland I. It's love at first sight for Roland and Miranda. They soon marry, making Miranda the new Queen of Enchancia and the Royal Family's Matriarch, and Sofia the kingdom's second princess and the Royal Family's youngest member. Sofia reaches at the castle and meets her new father; Baileywick, the castle steward; and Cedric, the Royal Sorcerer, who Sofia refers to as Mr. Ceedric to his irritation (until later episodes of this correction), and her new older siblings, Princess Amber and Prince James, the Royal Twins of Enchancia. While James accepts Sofia as his new little sister, Amber takes an instant jealousy of her. Roland accepts Sofia as his new daughter immediately, telling her "Call me Roland", or "You! With the crown!" or "Dad." when she continues to call him "Your Majesty." and tells her he's throwing a Royal Ball in honor of her Royal Debut, noting it the best way to let everyone in the Tri-Kingdom Area know Princess Sofia has arrived. Sofia is then brought to her new room in the castle.
Sofia reveals her insecurities through a song, believing she isn't ready to be a princess. She feels the enormous responsibilities of being royal are beyond her since she has no training or experience. She finds her mother, Miranda, and tells her she doesn't want a Royal Ball because she doesn't know how to dance and is afraid of letting people down or embarrassing herself. Miranda reassures her, telling her to just be herself.
King Roland, who had overheard the conversation, emerges and gives Sofia a beautiful purple amulet as a welcome gift. He tells her it's special and makes her promise to never take it off so she won't lose it. Sofia happily accepts the gift and promises to wear it always.
On her way to bed, Sofia bumps into the royal sorcerer, Cedric. He immediately recognizes the amulet as the legendary Amulet of Avalor and decides he must have it. He plans to use its power to take over the kingdom.
The following day, Sofia, James, and Amber ride a flying Coach to the Royal Preparatory Academy. Once there, Sofia meets the headmistresses: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the three good fairies. Sofia asks them to teach her how to be a true princess by Friday, the day of her Royal Debut Ball, but the fairies, through a song, tell her that becoming a true princess is something that takes time. Everyone takes an instant glow to Sofia, much to Amber's jealousy. Amber convinces James to give Sofia a ride on the Enchanted Swing Set. James does so, which makes everyone's smiles vanish. The swing ride sends Sofia into a fountain with a splash. Sofia laughs it off, stating "Good one, James. You got me." and leaves soaking wet. Everyone is shocked that Amber and James would do such a awful thing to their little sister with Zandar voicing it by stating "I thought you said she was your sister."
Meanwhile, a still drenched and now upset Sofia stumbles across a baby bird who had fallen out of its nest. She helps it back to its mother stating "There you go. Just the two of you. The way it should be." revealing how lonely she feels now that she's a princess and already misses the days when it was just her and her mother. Suddenly, her amulet glows and, to her shock, the birds say "thank you." When Sofia gets home, Cedric intercepts her and takes her to his workshop. Once there, Cedric uncovers to her that her amulet is the Amulet of Avalor, a magical item that contains powerful magic. He then clarifies its rule to her: "With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse." Cedric asks Sofia to let him take a look at it, but Sofia refuses because she promised Roland she would never take it off and her mother instructed her that when she makes a promise she must keep it no matter what.
The next day, Sofia meets Clover, Robin, and Mia and discovers she can understand what they're saying. Recalling what Cedric told her about her amulet and helping the baby bird and the glow her amulet gave off, Sofia recognizes the first importance of her amulet's rule: When she does good deeds, her amulet gives her powers and that her amulet gives her the ability to talk to animals. Clover is pleased to hear this and, through a song, tells her the reason animals have always benefited princesses is because they want food, and Sofia, who's pleased to finally have new friends, obliges. A now assured Sofia dedicates herself to becoming the best princess ever both to fulfill her responsibilities as one and to prove herself to the other Royals, who she feels hold her in contempt.
When she comes home Thursday, she finds her old friends Ruby and Jade waiting for her. As she's serving them tea, James comes over and takes the teapot out of her hand and pours her friends tea. He apologizes for the trick he and Amber played on her and offers to make it up to her by showing her the ropes, which Sofia accepts. When she reveals she needs dance lessons, James tells her about Professor Popov's dance class the next day, one dance lesson, and Sofia will be ready for the royal ball. Sofia was excited for the lessons, but what they didn't know was that Amber overheard the whole conversation and she came up with a mischievous plan. Sofia arrives at dance class but before she can take some dance shoes, Amber comes over and hands her a pair. Sofia steps forward to acquire her dance lesson, but when the music begins, she begins to dance oddly. Sofia discovers these are trick shoes because of the glow they're giving off and stops long enough to catch a nasty look in Amber's eyes and realize that Amber tricked her again before she's sent crashing to the ground. Sofia gets really upset and throws a cushion aside and places the trick shoes on the carpet and gets her normal ones. Amber then feigns sympathy, only for Sofia's hateful glare to inform James who gave her those trick shoes, prompting him to give Amber a glare too, and Amber continues feigning sympathy, which Sofia doesn't fall for. When they get back to the carriage, Amber claims she must have grabbed them by mistake but Sofia doesn't buy a syllable of this because she knows that Amber gave them to her on purpose to ruin her dance lesson.
When Sofia gets home, she asks Cedric for a spell that will help her be a good dancer. He jots down a spell on a piece of paper and gives it to her but tells her not to recite it until she's at the ball; after she leaves, he reveals that the spell is actually a sleeping spell and that after it's cast, he plots to blackmail Sofia into handing over the amulet and take over the kingdom.
Meanwhile, before the ball, Amber is in her room preparing with the help of the maids, Suzette and Marcy. At that moment, James enters and says he needs to have a talk to his sister alone. The maids leave, and James immediately confronts Amber, telling her she gave Sofia the trick shoes at school on purpose. However, Amber reminds him that he played a prank on Sofia too, but James insists that what she did was not a prank and explains that Sofia needed those dance lessons. He then scolds Amber for trying to ruin Sofia's royal ball and adds that he knows why she did it. She's jealous that everyone likes Sofia more than her, and he tells Amber that after what she did today, he likes Sofia more than her. Stunned, Amber tells James he doesn't mean that, but he responds, "Yes, I do," and storms out of the room. Suddenly feeling ashamed, Amber tries to call him back, but her gown gets caught on the leg of her vanity chair and rips. Horrified, she rings the bell for the maids' help, but they don’t come. She goes looking for them and overhears them in Sofia's room calling her "the prettiest princess in the palace." Upset, she starts to cry and runs back into her room in tears.
At the start of the ball, Sofia arrives in a sparkling version of her princess gown, amazing everyone with her beauty. Remembering the spell Cedric had given her, she recites "Somnibus Populis Cella", preparing to dance with her dad. To her horror, everyone, including Cedric (who was also in the ballroom at the time) and her family, falls asleep. After that, Sofia rushes to her mom and thinks she must have said the spell wrong. "Please wake up!" she begs. Feeling alone, Sofia runs off and calls for help. When no one answers, she starts to cry. "What have I done?" she says, full of regret. A tear falls onto her amulet, causing it to glow and summon Cinderella. Surprised, Sofia asks how she got there. Cinderella explains that Sofia's amulet, which links all the princesses that ever were, summoned her. She adds that whenever the Amulet of Avalor's wearer is in trouble or needs help, it will summon a princess. Cinderella then asks Sofia why she's so sad. Sofia explains the situation, believing that she should just let everyone laugh at her. However, Cinderella tells Sofia that Amber is still awake and can help. Still hurt and upset by Amber's past actions, Sofia is reluctant to trust her. Yet, through a song, Cinderella tells Sofia about her mean stepsisters and convinces her to give Amber a second chance before she disappears.
With a new perspective, Sofia goes to Amber's room and tells her what she did, showing her what happened. Amber apologizes for her actions, explaining that she was just jealous of Sofia receiving more attention. Sofia forgives her, and the two sisters finally bond. Together, they get the counter-spell. Sofia fixes Amber's dress, and Amber gives Sofia a dance lesson. Afterward, they go back to the ballroom, where Sofia says the counter-spell, "Populi Cella Excitate", and everyone wakes up. Cedric realizes his plan was ruined and flees back to his workshop in frustration.
Sofia and Roland then dance together, with Sofia calling him "Dad" instead of "Your Majesty" for the first time. She asks him why people call him Roland the Second. He tells her it's because his deceased father was also named Roland. Sofia states, "Well, I guess that makes me Sofia the First." The waltz evolves into the whole family dancing together, having finally become a true family. Everyone lives happily ever after.
Transcript[]
Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess/Transcript
Music[]
As with many of the classic Disney movies, music plays an important role in Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess and the Sofia the First series. The movie features five original songs ranging in musical styles from contemporary pop in songs like "Rise and Shine" and ballads like "I'm Not Ready To Be A Princess" to those with more of a traditional classic Disney feature film style like "Royal Prep" performed by Fauna, Flora, and Merryweather; "True Sisters" performed by Sofia and Cinderella; and "A Little Bit of Food", a fun, upbeat song performed by Clover that uncovers the mystery of why woodland creatures have been hanging around princesses for years.
Songs[]
- "I'm Not Ready To Be A Princess"
- "Royal Prep"
- "A Little Bit of Food"
- "True Sisters"
- "Rise and Shine"
Cast[]
- Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
- Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
- Wayne Brady as Clover
- Tim Gunn as Baileywick
- Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
- Zach Callison as Prince James
- Travis Willingham as King Roland II
- Jess Harnell as Cedric the Sorcerer
- Ashley Eckstein as Mia
- Meghan Strange as Robin
- Barbara Dirickson as Flora
- Russi Taylor as Fauna
- Tress MacNeille as Merryweather
- Jennifer Hale as Cinderella, Suzette, Marcie
- Jim Cummings as Wormwood, Professor Popov
- Isabella Acres as Jade
- Fiona Bishop as Ruby Hanshaw
- Maxim Knight as Prince Zandar
Gallery[]
Production[]
On December 12, 2011, Disney announced that Sofia the First would first be broadcast with a television film in the fall of 2012 before debuting as a regular series in early 2013.[2] On September 19, 2012, a preview for the film was released on Disney Jr.'s YouTube channel, revealing its title to be Once Upon a Princess and its premiere date to be November 18.[3] The official press release was published the following day.[1]
Reception[]
The special got the 5th most viewers for the week, with 5.151 million viewers, the highest for any Disney animated special since Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! in 2009. It was #1 or #2 for several areas: Top cartoon, non-sports program, top 1-hour show, and top Disney show. It has the largest 2-5 crowd (1.5 million) since Atlantis SquarePantis from 2007. It was also Kids 6-11 (1.6 million/6.7 rating) and was the #2 scripted cable TV telecast in Total Viewers (5.2 million). Notably, the movie became the #1 cable TV telecast in 5 years in preschoolers 2-5 and in 10 years in Girls 2-5 (954,000/12.2 rating). On IMDb, the special has a 6.6 rating from 1,084 users. It also had 1.4 million adults watching it, and for Live + 7, it received 8.17 million viewers.[4][5] The special's rival programs are America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC), The OT (7-7:30pm) and The Cleveland Show (7:30-8pm) (FOX), NFL (7-7:30pm) and 60 Minutes (7:30-8pm) (CBS), Football Night in America (NBC), and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (CBC & SRC, but in SRC's case it was followed by Et Dier Créa A Laflaque at 7:30pm).
Trivia[]
- This is the first Disney Jr. pilot special since Our HUGE Adventure from Disney's Little Einsteins, released in August 23rd, 2005.
- Jennifer Hale, the voice of Cinderella from Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, did her own singing in the special, as Tami Tappan (the singing voice of Cinderella from A Twist in Time) was unable to make the recording.
- Ironically, on December 7, 2012, shortly before a rerun of this special, the Disney Jr. channel aired Cinderella, on December 8, the special was followed by Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, and on December 9, it was followed by Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
- Sofia is now the second Princess of Enchancia and the Royal Family's youngest member.
- Sofia receives the Amulet of Avalor after Elena.
- Cedric begins his first plan to steal the Amulet of Avalor and take over Enchancia.
- Sofia learns her amulet's rule.
- This is the first time Sofia's amulet grants her a blessing.
- Sofia gains the power to communicate with animals.
- Miranda becomes the Queen of Enchancia, King Roland's second wife, and the Royal Family's matriarch.
- This special premiered to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 84th birthday.
- Cinderella's coach is seen near the end of the special.
- This foreshadows Cinderella's appearance in the special.
- Production on the special started in early 2011.
- A preview for the special was shown during the double-length premiere of Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Jake Saves Bucky on September 19th, 2012.
- The early screening took place on November 14th, 2012.
- Sofia meets Clover, Robin, Mia, and Whatnaught, who become her animal friends.
- Cinderella is the very first Princess summoned by the Amulet of Avalor.
- The DVD was released on March 25, 2013, while the read-along storybook and CD were released on July 30 that year.
- Flora and Merryweather's fight about the color of King Roland's shoes is a nod to them fighting about Aurora's dress in Sleeping Beauty.
- For unknown reasons, this special is not available for streaming on Disney+.
- However, on August 25, 2024, the first day of that year's "World Princess Week", the special was released on the Disney Jr. YouTube channel as a Special Edition and remastered version, one exact decade/10 years after one of its airings on Disney Channel, which was also part of the same event.
- For a second thing, this special will soon be ready to stream on Disney+ in February 27th, 2026 as a plan to celebrate Disney Jr.'s 15th anniversary and promote the new series Sofia the First: Royal Magic.
- This is the only Sofia the First episode/special to feature five songs until Sofia the First: Forever Royal. Those two specials began and ended the original series, respectively.
- Moral: Everyone deserves a second chance to shine.
Goofs[]
Cedric's imaginary wristwatch.
- When Sofia arrives at the Enchancia Castle and gets out of the carriage, she is dressed as a commoner, but shortly afterwards, she wears her new signature outfit as princess.
- When Sofia arrives to her first class at Royal Prep, Jade is sitting to the right of Princess Jun, in the back of the room.
- When the princes pick up Sofia's books for her, her amulet is missing.
- After trying to take Sofia's amulet for the first time, Cedric points to an imaginary wristwatch. None of the characters in the entire series has a wristwatch.
- The lyrics of the song "True Sisters" imply Cinderella was never able to make amends with Anastasia and Drizella, even though she did make amends with the former in the Cinderella sequels.
- The amulet most likely summoned Cinderella from before the events of either sequel (or at least before "An Uncommon Romance"; the third and final story from Cinderella II: Dreams Come True).
International premieres[]
- April 13, 2013 (Italy)
- May 4, 2013 (Brazil)
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bibel, Sara (September 20, 2012). Disney Presents its First Little Girl Princess in 'Sofia The First: Once Upon a Princess' Sunday, November 18 on Disney Channel. TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (December 12, 2011). Disney to Introduce A Little Girl Princess, 'Sofia the First,' in Animated Series and Movie on Disney Channel and Disney Junior. TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ↑ Disney Jr. (September 19, 2012). Sofia the First - Once Upon a Princess Official Trailer - Disney Junior. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (November 19, 2012). Disney Junior's 'Sofia the First' Crowns Glory with 5.2 Million Viewers. TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (December 4, 2012). Disney Channel's 'Sofia the First' Crowned #1 Cable TV Telecast Ever in Kids 2-5. TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2024.