In an animated world that’s become more willing to reboot and revive old shows, it’s not surprising that Sofia The First would be part of this trend. May 25, 2026 saw the release of Sofia The First: Royal Magic on Disney Junior, followed up by a Disney Plus release on May 26. It’s actually the second Disney Junior show to be a Disney Plus original after Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, though this only applies outside the United States. Still, you can tell it’s designed for Disney Plus given how the episodes are apparently designed to be dropped in batches. This series is definitely an interesting followup. I’d say it’s a good show, but you do need to go into it with different expectations in order to enjoy it. Let me explain in this review while also talking about how the show embraces what’s seen in modern preschool shows.
Let’s start with the premise of the original series and the new series. Sofia The First was a Disney Junior show that ran from November 18, 2012 to September 8, 2018. The show focused on a young Dunwiddie village girl named Sofia (voiced by Ariel Winter) who becomes a princess when her shoemaker mother Miranda (voiced by Sara Ramirez) marries the king of Enchancia, King Roland II (voiced by Travis Willingham). She navigates princess life with the help of her new siblings Amber (voiced by Darcy Rose Byrnes) and James (voiced by Zach Collision, then Tyler Merna, then Nicolas Cantu, and currently Yonas Kibreab), the castle steward Baileywick (voiced by Tim Gunn), antagonistic sorcerer turned friend Cedric (voiced by Jess Harnell), and her bunny friend Clover (voiced by Wayne Brady). After graduating Royal Prep, a school for princesses and princes, at the end of the original series, the new series sees her attend the Charmswell School Of Magic to master her magic when she discovers that she’s the most powerful princess in the Ever Realm. She makes friends with Princess Layla from the kingdom of Mezzouk (voiced by Mela Pietropaolo), Princess Camila from the kingdom of Marinda (voiced by Aaliyah Magcasi), Prince Zane from the kingdom of Gloomshire (voiced by Kai Harris), and a puppercorn (puppy unicorn hybrid) named Pepper (voiced by Nate Torrence). The school is run by antagonistic fairy turned friend Ms. Nettle (voiced by Julie Nathanson rather than Megan Mullaly and Anna Vocino from the original show).
1. Soft Reboot Continuation And My Own Expectations
Let me address one of the elephants in the room. While this is a revival, it’s more of soft reboot continuation rather than a full direct continuation. Seasons 3-4 of the original show had story arcs involving Sofia basically being an action hero thanks to The Secret Library and The Mystic Isles. The arc that started during season 4 was finding articles connected to Disney villains called The Wicked Nine. This then culminated in Sofia being a full fledged protector in “Forever Royal”. While almost all of the elements from the later seasons are still here, such as Cedric and Ms. Nettle being good, everyone knowing about Sofia’s magical amulet, and Amber being at EverRealm Academy, this new series ignores the major hero developments, and emphasizes a “fish out of water” side to her again despite her other experiences still being acknowledged. This is mainly because of executive meddling.
Series creator Craig Gerber said how he tried pitching more direct sequel ideas involving the protectors and the Secret Library, but they were shot down by executives who wanted to have the show appeal more to younger kids who hadn’t seen the original show. I mean, he did also pitch the show as a spinoff taking place at Royal Prep, but with new characters, but this stands out more. As such, the premise of the series, with Sofia going to magic school, seems to ignore that development since she’s back to learning magic again. Granted, he said that these elements could come back if the show gets another season, but we’ll have to see. I mean, the official explanation he gives is that Sofia is taking a break from being a protector, but nothing from the protectors or the secret library is ever mentioned in the show. You even see this effect of executive meddling in a TV Insider interview that Ariel Winter took part in on May 29.
The interviewer explicitly brings up Sofia defeating Vor, and being protector of the EverRealm, something that’s never been mentioned to the general public since the show ended, but she just barely talks about it before immediately focusing on the new series. There’s also a video that Youtuber Athena P. (whose videos aren’t for kids even though she talks about kids shows) made when discussing the teaser trailer, where she wanted to show a clip from a livestream that had a clip of Sofia defeating Vor in the original series finale, but had to cut that part out because of Disney. I’ll talk about this again when I’ll talk about this again in the final section, but this makes me think of this series as a combination of the Pokemon: Black And White anime (at least in concept), Dora And Friends Into The City, and the later seasons of both Cyberchase and Polly Pocket 2018. However, I also get a little bit of Pokemon: Sun And Moon and Batman Beyond thrown into the mix. Let me explain.
The Black And White portion of the Pokémon anime was made to promote the Black And White video games, which were a soft reset for the franchise, by initially not showing any Pokémon from other generations, mimicking generation 1. The anime reflected this by resetting Ash’s skill level to rookie status even though he ended Diamond And Pearl defeating two legendary Pokémon, and not showing older generation Pokémon outside of his Pikachu. Granted, Sofia in this series isn’t a rookie like Ash in that show since she still has good magical power and remembers everything else, but it’s still the same idea by emphasizing some kind of beginner status. When it comes to Dora And Friends Into The City, that show took the main character, and put her in a radically different environment with a new friend group, much like this show, and got a polarizing reaction from the fandom. As for the Cyberchase comparison, it’s mainly from how the show’s storyline involving finding a cure for Motherboard’s virus that was caused by Hacker was basically abandoned starting with season 9, when the retool took place after a 3 year hiatus. More emphasis was placed on environmental issues and teaching lessons in order to appeal to a younger audience, with Hacker being significantly toned down into more of a relatively harmless jerk and nuisance with some decent moments.
As for the Polly Pocket comparison, the first season had the Grandes as antagonists who were after Polly’s magic locket since their ancestors were after it. Season 1 ended with a 2 parter that set them up for bigger things, but season 2 onwards, which skews for a younger audience, never uses them again outside of a speaking cameo in the season 5 finale and some silent cameos in season 6. Showrunner Shea Fontana mentioned on her deleted Twitter account about how this wasn’t her decision. Even if the new show was a Mystic Isles continuation, there’d probably be more emphasis on relatability by adding a school story or other slice of life stories in order to keep things accessible to new kids. Sofia isn’t just a protector, but also a young girl still figuring out her life, which executives for preschool shows always want to emphasize, a sense of learning. It’s either that, or if the show was a spinoff as originally intended, Sofia being a protector could be directly acknowledged, but it wouldn’t be the focus since the focus would be on the new main character and her friends.
All these factors in mind definitely add up to a show that has a strong element of disappointment to it. I mean, a followup show about Sofia being a protector sounds like it could be amazing. However, then I realized that this also echoed my feelings of disappointment of season 4, which is my favorite season of the original show. There was definitely a sense that the executives didn’t like how the original show got a serious story arc given how only 4 episodes showed Wicked 9 artifacts being found before “Forever Royal” shows that they were all gathered off screen. Even with that sense of wasted potential, I still love that season because everything else about the show was still good, like the characters, songs, and messages, and thus still looked forward to the new show. As such, the question I asked myself was “Can this show still capture the good qualities of Sofia The First in a way that older audiences and newer audiences will like?”. To that, I say that it did.
This is where the Batman Beyond element comes in. WB president Jamie Kellner wanted a new Batman show that appealed more to kids by focusing on a teenage Batman. This is because he thought Batman: The Animated Series didn’t appeal enough to kids. This wasn’t exactly something that the creative team initially wanted, but they turned things around by focusing on a new Batman, the teenage Terry McGinnis, and changing the setting to Neo Gotham. I get this same feeling here, turning a creative constraint into a strength. I mean, this series does involve a bit of ignoring of past lore, and goes in a much lighter direction, but still builds upon everything else that made the original show great. The Pokémon: Sun And Moon comparison comes from how the anime shifted to be more local and slice of life, doing away with the Pokemon League arcs of the previous shows, at least at the beginning. This show proved polarizing at first, but eventually got a dedicated fandom that liked it since it still respected Pokémon by not being afraid to lean into new things while still honoring what made the other shows work. I mean, Ash finally won a Pokémon league because he basically went to school and embraced being part of a community, much like Sofia going to school here. I can see her education here being important to her character development.
2. Animation:
Now it’s time to address the other elephant in the room, the animation. This is definitely interesting. The original series was animated by Toiion Animation Studios, and occasionally Sunwoo Entertainment. This new series is animated by Icon Creative Studio, a Canadian animation studio who are no strangers to working on Disney Junior shows. They animated Goldie And Bear, Elena Of Avalor, TOTS, The Rocketeer, Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, Firebuds, Star Wars Young Jedi Adventures, Ariel: The Little Mermaid, Minnie’s Bow Toons: Pet Hotel, and the upcoming series Cars: Lightning Racers. I remember a good deal of controversy when very early character models were leaked back in January. This wasn’t helped by official clips of the series confirming that the series will have a much cuter look, unlike the original series having a more regal, fairytale look. The fact that Sofia is in her original purple outfit rather than her later pink outfit, along with early character designs from Phillip Light showing an older Sofia, adds to this. It unsurprisingly sparked complaints about the show blending in with most other CGI preschool shows. As someone who’s watched a lot of Disney Junior shows, I think the animation here is pretty good, but I’ll talk about this more later. For now, I want to talk about how the backlash for the animation is reminiscent of the backlash in regards to the Shrek franchise’s animation. Let me explain.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish was a massive visual glow up for the Shrek franchise, showing a stylized animation reminiscent of the similarly action oriented SpiderVerse movies while still feeling like it belongs to the franchise. Many people thought this would apply to the Shrek franchise as a whole when Shrek 5 comes out, but that’s not the case. When the teaser trailer for Shrek 5 came out in early 2025, with another trailer in June 2026, there was backlash towards the new animation. Some thought it looked too clean. Some thought it looked uncanny. Many thought it should’ve taken cues from the aforementioned Puss In Boots movie by being more stylized to look cool. This series is in a similar situation. The two brief appearances of Sofia The First characters in Elena Of Avalor (Gwen’s cameo in Class Act, and the appearance of the royal family in Coronation Day) showed quite the glow up, and showed how Icon Creative Studio could more closely mimic the look of the characters without being too cute. It’s especially notable for the latter given how it’s the first and only time in the franchise in which Sofia, Amber, and James visibly look like teenagers. When looking at the preschool series animated by Icon Creative Studio, it’s usually the kids, small animals, and more kid centric locations like school where the cuter look is emphasized. The show looking like this isn’t surprising.
Now, why do I think the animation here looks good? Now yes, it reuses character designs and assets from their other Disney Junior shows. Layla looks like a taller version of Rosa from Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, while Pepper looks like a less fluffy version of Mopsy from the same show. Camila and Zane look like softer versions of Cruz and Iggy from Firebuds. Princess Thandi (voiced by Are Elizabeth Johnson) looks similar to Princess Inaya from Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures while having a hairstyle similar to Alanna from the Ariel show. Her movement as a more nature themed princess reminds me of Treena from Action Pack, which is a Netflix show. Oddly enough, Miranda’s slightly darker skin tone and reddish pink dress make her look more like Elena from Elena Of Avalor. However, there’s a level of professional polish that makes it work, much like Icon’s other shows. It does have a more toyetic look, but it’s not a bad thing. The show has quite the visual scale that makes it all work to maintain the fairytale aesthetic of the original. Plus, like all of Icon’s other shows, the animation is very expressive and bouncy. One particular scene I like is a scene in “The Royal Family Picnic”, where Amber accidentally poofs ants into James and Roland’s pants, and their extreme itching is really funny to watch. Another example comes from “Magic Mayhem”, where the “Most Magical Me” song has Camila playfully jump on floating books as she flies around. The show keeps the designs simple yet fancy enough to make the animation move pretty smoothly. I also like the little quirk in the end credits where you see different symbols at the bottom. For example, the first episode shows the castle banners while the second episode shows Sofia’s wand and Layla’s bracelet.
One thing I’ve noticed with recent preschool princess shows is the characters having a base of sorts where lighter and brighter shades of blue are shown, which carries over to this show. In Princess Power, based on the Princesses Wear Pants book series, the main princesses gather for missions at Punchbowl Treehouse, unlike in the books, where they gather at Penny’s kingdom, and blue is a color seen in the main room. In the 2024 Ariel series, much of the palace is bright blue. Ariel and her friends also frequently gather at the Crystal Cavern, which has blue walls. This series has quite a bit of this. Cedric’s classroom, which Sofia is in, is predominantly blue. It’s different from the other classrooms, where you see other colors like yellow or pink. Of the three castle clubhouses at Charmswell, our main characters hang out in Castle Merryweather. In Sofia’s castle at home, the hallways were revamped from the original series to be predominantly light and bright blue. It’s particularly shown during the song “Castle Home”, where Sofia says how her family makes the castle feel like home. I think it’s to help establish these areas as safe havens of sorts. They’re meant to have a calming effect on the mind to show that these are places where you can just show off who you are without much in the way of walls.
3. Format:
The format of the series is very interesting. In contrast to the 22-24 minute format of the original series, episodes of this series are made up of 2 11 minute segments. Some would think that this works against the series, and think that it will lack narrative depth. The episodes are a bit faster, simpler, more lesson focused, and more comedic. It’s also not uncommon for episodes to be similar to ones from the original show, like “Magic Mayhem” having a similar story to “Cedric’s Apprentice”, which involves a character wanting to learn from Cedric. I think the format works here, but I’ll explain why in a bit. One thing I do like is that the show at least starts off with a 24 minute episode, “Welcome To Charmswell”. We spend a few minutes with the royal family to get general audiences up to speed with them to some extent before spending the rest of the episode showing off Charmswell settings (like the castles named after Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether) and the new characters. It definitely helps in making you attached to everything. What really surprised me was the ending. We get the return of Rapunzel (voiced by Belle Adams instead of Mandy Moore), where she tells Sofia how she’s part of a princess council that meets up every now and then. She tells Sofia how she’s the most powerful princess in the EverRealm, and that she needs to master her magic in order to protect her friends and family from villains.
Yeah, this definitely makes me think that the show was meant to be a Disney Plus original in the United States since no other preschool show in this decade that has a story arc goes for a hook this big in the first episode unless it’s a streaming show. The fact we’re going to see some princesses more than once, as well as more specials, as confirmed by Craig Gerber, adds to this. It reminds me of something like The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish, where it’s obvious that it was originally supposed to release first on Netflix given how it’s rare for Nickelodeon comedies to do story arcs, and that the show’s advertising after it ended was done almost exclusively by Netflix, with the chances of revival being determined by its Netflix ratings. There’s also how you see “A Nickelodeon Production” when watching the show on USA Netflix, when Nickelodeon projects made for Netflix say “Netflix Presents A Nickelodeon Production”, much like how this series has the Disney Plus logo outside the United States.
When it comes to the regular 11 minute format of the show, it’s actually done in a clever way. Starting with episode 4, “Magic Mayhem/Royal Mix It Up”, the show does a thing where only 1 segment, usually the second, has all of Sofia’s friends while the other segment either only has some of them or none of them. It’s kind of like RoboGobo in that regard, with Sofia appearing in both segments, but only 1 segment has all 4 kids. Not only that, you get some episodes where both segments are at Charmswell or Enchancia, or one segment is Charmswell and one segment is Enchancia. I actually like this format. It allows both locations to be prominent as a way to show that Sofia views both locations as important to her development. You get a little bit of Enchancia in Charmswell, and a bit of Charmswell in Enchancia as a way to help show how Sofia likes hanging with her friends in and out of school. Variety is the spice of life for this show. In the case of this specific episode pairing, where both segments are at Charmswell, the first segment has Camila be the only one of Sofia’s friends to appear, and we get Cedric in a supporting role. The second segment briefly starts in Enchancia as Sofia talks about her school life to Clover. She brings her favorite snack, royal crispies, which is used in the climax. The tone is a mix of early season elements with later season developments. Episodes that take on similar ideas to the original show also do things to mix things up, like “Cedric’s Apprentice” being about Cedric learning to care for Sofia while “Magic Mayhem” focuses on Camila wanting to impress Cedric. You have episodes that lean heavily into giving messages like in seasons 1-2 (though the show always gave messages in all seasons), but still pulls from all the seasons in some way to make the older audience happy. I mean, to give an example, dazzleball was only done once in “A Tale Of Two Teams” from season 2 of the original show and mentioned in “Princess Jade”, but is a plot point in “The Royal Playdate”, and mentioned in “The Green Eyed Monster” and Zane’s short, making it feel normalized.
4. Roles Of Legacy Characters:
When it comes to how the characters from the original show are written, I think they’re written pretty well, but we do have some tweaks to make them fit into this new format. Starting with Sofia, she’s mostly the same as she was in the original series. She’s kind, compassionate, caring, and always willing to do the right thing for others. You can very much see this in the first episode, where she’s immediately willing to comfort Layla when she says how she just became a princess, and doesn’t hesitate to save Camila when she almost falls out of the sky when teleporting to the school. The second thing I just mentioned earns Sofia her first power in the series, super jumping. You see this again in episodes like “Sleepy Time Spell” and “Zane The Hero”, where she’s not afraid to encourage Layla and Zane in those respective episodes, and help them open up, and be more accepting of themselves. One thing that does seem different here is that she’s a little more headstrong and kind of impulsive. Like, in the first episode, when one of the students, Devin, brags about how his team could win the carriage race and get the unicorn, Sofia is very bold in proclaiming that their team will win, which her friends are surprised by. This kind of behavior does show up in some other episodes, like “Give It A Twirl” (where she tries showing how her scepter routine is better than Layla’s routine in a somewhat stubborn way) and “The Lilygnome” (where she’s initially stubborn in not following all the instructions to plant the titular flower since she’s not good with gardening). Her competitive side in “Give It A Twirl” is surprising given episodes like “Blue Ribbon Bunny” (where she learned to value friendship over competition) as well as both “Tri Kingdom Picnic” and “The Enchanted Science Fair” (where she helped others be less competitive).
Even in “The Royal Playdate”, which has Layla messing up since she thinks she can’t be herself towards Amber, when she does learn her lesson at the end, Sofia has a slightly smug, confident look when she shows her congratulations, as if she’s proud of being right. Admittedly, this moment made me laugh, and she had some similar behavior in “The Big Sleepover”. The literal first scene of the show is Sofia quickly flying the family carriage to Charmswell, and Miranda asking her what the rush is. She’s not unlikable or out of character, but they definitely show behavior that you don’t usually associate with her character. At least her sense of doing right is still strong since there’s still emphasis on her helping others and not wanting to let others down. One could say this behavioral change comes from how she’s more experienced as a hero, and less prone to doubting herself, although it still comes up at times. It could also come from writing her more like a little girl like in the earlier seasons, and thus a bit more prone to messing up, unlike how the later seasons emphasized her maturity, and made her mess up much less. I remember sometimes hearing a complaint about how she got too mature in the later seasons, and was more like a mini adult. I don’t agree with this complaint, but I can understand why it would be made.
When it comes to her new magic powers, the way it’s earned is interesting. She gets her first power, super jumping, when trying to save Camila, which fits with how the amulet gives you powers when you do good. Her second power, conjuring force fields, was given to her in “Abracadazzle”, when she accidentally defends herself against furry creatures called jeebles. This seemed to come about because she was more focused on doing a good job and defending herself, and less about competing with others. The fact that the show leans more into her magical side makes me think of the challenges Elena from Elena Of Avalor did as she became more magical. I mean, her dress changes colors when she makes the force field, much like how Elena’s dress changed colors depending on the strength of her current emotions. Probably the only thing to complain about is that “The Lilygnome” says how she’s not good with gardening even though she shows some skills in episodes like “Make Way For Ms. Nettle”, “One For The Books”, and “The Crown Of Blossoms”. It’s also odd since Ms. Nettle is a gardener, and thus she could’ve learned from her. I mean, it’s a good episode, but the slightly bumpy beginning holds it back. At least she’s still written well since her love for Miranda is still prominent.
When it comes to other original series characters, Amber, Ms. Nettle, and Cedric stand out the most. James and Miranda somewhat do, but I’ll talk about them later. When it comes to Cedric, I like how the show continues showing how he’s a good guy by having him be a teacher at Charmswell, and still acting like an uncle figure to Sofia. It’s a natural evolution of his character given how episodes like “Cedric’s Apprentice” and “Substitute Cedric” showed how he’s a good teacher. He went from being a butt monkey most people outside of Sofia treated poorly to being a respected sorcerer everyone loves. He’s still a bit of a butt monkey, mostly from accidents, and has some ego when criticizing others, but he’s at least able to show his skills and help the kids. One thing I find interesting is that he’s more a Charmswell character rather than an Enchancia character now. In his first appearance in the episode “Abracadazzle”, Miranda says how she knows a magic sorcerer to help her out. Cedric magically poofs in, and gives her a special wand. This is his only appearance in the castle. For his other appearances, he’s a teacher at Charmswell, where all the kids look up to him. While he’s still a butt monkey, it’s largely because of accidents caused by the kids, unlike how his butt monkey status in the original was from his ego, but moreso from other characters that weren’t Sofia or Callista looking down on him. It seems like, while he’s still the royal sorcerer of Enchancia, he thrives in an environment away from the castle, but with people like Sofia who look up to him.
Ms. Nettle is in a similar boat. Her first appearance in “Make Way For Miss Nettle” showed her pretending to be a friendly teacher when trying to take down Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether. With her heel face turn in “The Secret Library: Olaf And The Tale Of Miss Nettle”, and her helping Sofia deal with Ivy in “Ivy’s True Colors”, it makes sense for her to be a headmaster here to help others. She has a bit of a vanity and doesn’t mind messing with others or allowing chaos, but does still want to help everyone succeed. “Ivy’s True Colors” from the original series also established how she good royal connections given how she was the one who was appointed by the family to cure the deep sleeps. As such, even if this school wasn’t mentioned in the original series, they would trust her since she’s known for getting results in an unusual way.
As for Amber, I’d say she’s pretty good, but she does seem to lean on old habits more akin to the earlier seasons. She’s the one character from the original series besides Sofia who’s had some focus episodes so far, which fits with how the writers always seem to love her character the most in Sofia’s family. “Royal Family Picnic” focuses on her being jealous of Sofia when she inadvertently takes away the family’s attention with her magic since she’s the most magical princess in the realm. “Veggie Good Deed” has her try to use Camila’s magic so she can speed up doing her good deed assignment for EverRealm Academy, picking vegetables with Ruby and Jade (once again voiced by Diamond White and Isabella Acres), so she can try on a new tiara at home. They’re similar things she went through in the original show. Much like Sofia, she’s still likable since we at least understand the reasons for her decisions, and she at least learns her lesson in wanting to be a proper future queen. Still, she is used for easy comedy in these 11 minute episodes given how the diva archetype is pretty easy to lean on for comedy, including preschool shows. I mean, in “The Royal Playdate”, the thing that makes Layla really nervous about showing Amber her true self is when Camila tells her that she has a caterpillar on her dress, and she flails her arms in an over the top way. Of course, even with leaning into easy comedy for her, the series still shows how she’s developed to be more likable. She acts friendly towards Ruby and Jade, reflecting her season 4 development, and not regressing her to her season 1 personality where she was more critical of them.
When it comes to how James is treated, he’s not treated poorly, but the narrative treats him strangely. His friendly, fun loving personality is still intact. However, similar to the original series, there’s more preference for Amber over him. I mean, in season 3, he only had one focus episode (“Camp Wilderwood”), while Amber had 2 (“Princess Adventure Club” and “Her Royal Spyness” as well as some big supporting roles (“Dads And Daughters Day”). In this show so far, he hasn’t had any focus episodes, and his most notable supporting roles are interacting with Zane as king of the birds in “The Royal Playdate” and helping Sofia and Layla catch the titular Lilygnome flower (voiced by Max Mittleman) in “The Lilygnome”. Contrast with Amber having 2 focus episodes (“The Royal Family Picnic” and “Veggie Good Deed”) and 1 major supporting role (“The Royal Playdate”). “The Royal Playdate” is interesting in how the synopsis and first few minutes make you think Layla wants to impress both Amber and James, but once Amber gets a caterpillar on her dress and she freaks out, we focus on Layla wanting to impress just her.
Another thing to talk about is his goal. In the original series episode “Royal School Fair”, he decides to go to Chivalry Hall so that he can become a knight, something that was built up over a few episodes. The first episode of this series, “Welcome To Charmswell”, reveals that he and Amber go to EverRealm Academy, the place she wanted to go. Some would say this undermines his development, but that isn’t the case. That episode ended with Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether making it a rule that anyone could change their mind on where to go to school. Plus, Craig Gerber said on blue sky how Roland can make him a knight whenever he wanted, which seems reasonable enough. It’s also why Sofia isn’t at EverRealm Academy given how she made the promise about initially going there in a joking manner, not a serious manner. Even with this in mind, he still isn’t used as often.
There’s also two weird jokes that seem to imply he is looked at somewhat less favorably. In the first episode, Roland looks visibly nervous when James asks what he thinks of him after saying how Sofia is magical and Amber is queenly, and James naively assumes he’s his favorite. In “Sleepy Time Spell”, there’s a scene where Layla runs off crying before she says what she accidentally did, bringing her stuffies to life. As Sofia and Camila go to comfort her, you have Roland and Miranda saying how it’s at least not as chaotic as James’s last sleepover, implying his behavior is always like that. He’s still written well, but these moments stand out. I think there could be an artistic direction for his character given how he’s developed a fascination with carving wooden dragons.
Something interesting I noticed with Miranda is that the show seems to subtly place more importance for her over Roland. She gets the first line of the series when she asks Sofia why she’s rushing. “Abracadazzle” begins with her waking up Sofia since she has a message from school, and she gets Cedric to give Sofia a new wand. She’s also the only original series character besides Sofia and Ms. Nettle to interact with him so far. While she doesn’t appear in “Magic Mayhem”, her presence is still felt. Cedric is initially reluctant to let Camila help him and Sofia clean up the classroom until she brings up her mother’s advice about things going faster by working together. The “My Castle Home” song from “The Royal Playdate” has Sofia hugging her mother while Roland just waves hello to her and her friends. “Sleepy Time Spell” has one scene of Miranda gently telling the girls to get to bed, as well as another scene where she tries comforting Layla when seeing how sad she is. “The Lilygnome” has Sofia try to plant the titular flower as a gift for her, and her initially not following the instructions to put the flower in the shade is because of how she wants her to see more of the flower’s beauty. The song “Play All Day” comes from an upcoming episode where Miranda turns into a kid (voiced by Andrea Rosa Guzman). My guess is that this is a way to tie back to Sofia’s village roots more consistently, but it’s hard to say. It’s just too much to dismiss as coincidence. Roland does at least get a nice moment in “Royal Family Picnic”, where he compliments Amber on saving the family, but he doesn’t do as much in the show so far.
5. How The New Characters Fit In:
When it comes to the show’s new characters, I think they’re all pretty well written, especially Sofia’s new friends Layla, Zane, and Camilla, as well as the puppercorn Pepper. Starting with Layla, she’s definitely a sweet, enjoyable, and sympathetic character. She’s basically a mirror to Sofia in how she recently became a princess, and is thus quite nervous about getting it all down. It’s shown in episodes like “Show And Spell”, “Sleepy Time Spell”, and “A Royal Playdate”, where she questions if she’s good enough to be royal for class, and around others in royal situations outside school. This could easily get annoying, but they make it work since they also emphasize the traits that make her unique, like her competitive side, taking everything to the extreme, and a love of enchanted gardening. She’s someone who’s all about being the best when showing her true self, and isn’t afraid to help others when she senses some kind of danger her knowledge can be used for. Even if she’s someone who’s often anxious, she can also be confident when she’s in a situation that she has familiarity with. She reminds me of Vivian from the original series, but if her initially anxious characterization was emphasized more. The way Layla is set up seems to imply that she’ll play the biggest role in the friend group. I mean, unlike Camila with her wand or Zane with his mandolin, the show dedicates an entire episode, “Show And Spell”, the second segment of episode 2, to showing off the mechanics of her necklace that sprouts butterfly wings. I mean, the fact she randomly discovers the powers of them similar to Sofia in the first episode adds to this. Plus, she’s had the most focus episodes of the new characters so far. Even though her nervous side is pronounced, we see episodes like “Give It A Twirl” and “The Lilygnome” where she’s not afraid to be more prideful or give Sofia advice rather than the reverse, which helps show how she’s her own person.
Camila can basically be considered the opposite of Layla in how she has a more ambitious goal, being the first sorceress queen, but is much more mellow about life. Unless it’s for a problem she accidentally caused (like her only focus episode so far, Magic Mayhem) or where others get really hurt, she takes everything in life in stride. I mean, you have moments like her finding mischievous puppercorns adorable in the first episode, or her initially liking that Layla accidentally made her stuffed animals come to life in “Sleepy Time Spell” before Sofia says that they would wake up her parents. She can often cause magic problems, or at least not think of the consequences, yet still has a sweetheart attitude in how she’s willing to help others, and even impart some wisdom, like to Sofia in “Abracadazzle”. I think there’s some seeds planted for an arc where she learns to assert herself a bit more. I noticed some moments where it seems like she wants to avoid confrontation. “Welcome To Charmswell” shows her looking visibly nervous and backing away when she’s surrounded by the magical thrones, as if she doesn’t want to get in their way. “Give It A Twirl” has Sofia and Layla ask everyone about which scepter routine was better, and she nervously says she likes both. “Veggie Good Deed” has her looking sad as Sofia asks why she brought the veggies to life, implying she would’ve taken the blame for Amber if she didn’t confess. She’s still chill afterwards, but it’s an interesting angle for her non-confrontational behavior. I think what she really excels is being unconditionally supportive when she’s able to sense a problem, and has an idea of how to help.
Zane is, as others call him, The Prince Of Pep. He’s very much there to be the life of the party with how he makes anything fun, particularly with his magic mandolin that can influence how people feel. Of course, he’s actually quite insecure of himself since he’s not sure if he’s good at everything potentially challenging. A good example comes from how he has trouble making potions in “Green Eyed Monsters” when Zaria inadvertently shows him up, and he goes overboard in trying to catch up by accidentally making goo monsters (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). What makes him work is how he’s really fun, yet also sweet. He has this unwavering loyalty to his friends along with a sweet attitude that makes him very likable, fitting in with how preschool shows often have a male character who’s sensitive and sweet. He’s great at seeing things that others can’t immediately see, such as using the sense of sound to find a ballroom when the map gets destroyed in the first episode, or him seeing that Ember is causing trouble since he can’t see.
Pepper is also fun even if there isn’t much to him. He’s basically a more hyperactivite Clover in how he’s fun to be around, likes to eat, and is loyal to his friends. He’s a bit mischievous, but still nice to watch. Let me move onto everyone else. Among the Charmswell staff and students, the two that stand out are Prince Devin Of Thistlebury (voiced by Matthew Lamb) and Zane’s younger sister Zaria (voiced by Eva Ariel Binder). Devin is interesting in how he’s a jerk rival character who often looks down on others as he flaunts his skills because he’s been doing magic since he was born. You usually don’t see this character archetype in preschool shows that have a school as the main setting. Characters usually get along well even with occasional conflict. This does add a good deal of conflict to episodes in how he doesn’t deliberately try to sabotage others, but is also stubborn as to what he thinks is right. A good example comes from “Zane The Hero”, which involves a dragon named Ember (voiced by Richard Kind) accidentally causing problems at school since he can’t see. Whereas Sofia and Zane try to reason with him, Devin still sees him as a perceived threat despite their protests. He fills a similar role to Hugo from the original series did before his character development, but is more of a constant presence.
As for Zaria, I immediately thought she would be similar to Hildegard (a snooty girl in blue) and Amber (the more stuffy sister to the male main character). However, she’s actually much friendlier than I thought she would be. She’s like a mix between Priya from Turning Red and Maud Pie from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. They’re both characters that are blunt and sarcastic and often look dour, but are actually friendly to other people, and even occasionally expressive, even if they act a bit weird. You definitely see this in “Royal Mix It Up”, where they’re assigned by Ms. Gigglesby (voiced by Grey DeLisle) to spend time with each other. While they do struggle to get along, you still see Zaria put in effort to befriend Sofia even if she’s a bit unusual, particularly her liking for horror and other dark, yet never puts down Sofia for her likes. She seems to fill the friendly gothic character archetype, albeit on a preschool level, which is probably a holdover from Zane originally having a goth like design. I’d say she’s my favorite student outside the core friend group. Going back to the animation, her design that’s dark blue on the bottom but light blue on top shows how, while she’s a bit weird, she’s ultimately a nice person to be around.
Finally, while she hasn’t shown up in the series yet, I want to talk about the villainous sorceress Zandrya (voiced by Eden Espinosa). She’s said to be an entitled sorceress who deeply craves power, but believes that magic should simply be handed to her rather than worked for. Driven by this entitlement, she actively tracks down powerful magical artifacts to augment her own abilities, like Sofia’s magic amulet. Because she’s grown increasingly confident in her own magical capabilities while attending the Charmswell School for Royal Magic, Zandrya faces a constant challenge in trying to outsmart her using various disguises. We mainly just have an image and a song so far, “Unstoppable”, but she oozes evil charisma in a way that makes her fun to watch. She looks like Zeta from Shimmer And Shine mixed with a younger looking Shuriki. I can’t wait to see her.
6. New Crew Affects Show:
One thing that probably contributes to the different feeling of the show is that it has a mostly different crew from the original series. While it does feature some returning crew members, namely series creator Craig Gerber, storyboard artist Eugene Salandra, and theme song composer John Kavanaugh, it doesn’t feature any other crew members from the original show, like Erica Rothschild, Jamie Mitchell, Michael G. Stern, and so forth. It’s instead a mix of people from Craig’s other shows, Elena Of Avalor and Firebuds, as well as other preschool shows both inside and outside of Disney Junior. This does contribute to the different vibe here, sharing some tonally similarities to Princess Power in how it starts out fairly light, friendly, and positive with no real antagonist, and while still staying that way, escalates to include a little more danger later on, as represented by Zandrya here. Of course, I’ll also talk about it more in other categories, but let’s start here.
When it comes to the writers, it definitely pulls from the Firebuds crew, namely co-executive producer and story editor Krystal Banzon and writers Jeremy Shipp and Walinase J. Mbekeani. You can definitely see that influence here given how the episodes are more explicitly moral driven like that show. Now, there’s a bit of a catch for some of them. I mean, Jeremy wrote on non-preschool shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 and Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure before he became writer and co-story editor for that show. Walinase mainly wrote on Ariel, which Craig Gerber didn’t work on, after she did Firebuds. Still, you get the more lighter feel of that show carrying over to here. Some other notable writers include Francisco Paredes (writer on shows like Shimmer And Shine, Muppet Babies 2018, and Baby Shark’s Big Show) and Isabel Galupo (who’s done non-preschool shows like Transformers EarthSpark, but she’s better known for preschool shows like Little Ellen and Princess Power). They’re all good writers, and I like these shows, but since they worked on more modern preschool shows, which can either place more explicit focus on morals or lighthearted entertainment, they bring that mentality over to here. They also bring a bigger emphasis on characters being friendlier with each other, much like in modern preschool shows, even if they still write good conflict. This is definitely different from the original Sofia writers. Those like Laurie Israel and Rachel Ruderman were the only preschool show writers to work on all 4 seasons. Those like Erica Rothschild and Doug Cooney as well as Craig Gerber himself had non-preschool backgrounds before the show. Even those better versed in preschool shows like Michael G. Stern, Matt Hoverman, and Krista Tucker had some big background outside of it, like being an author or a playwright. It’s because of these backgrounds that the characters were a little more willing to be confrontational, or at the very least, act more rugged.
It’s basically a case of the original show’s soul being preserved, but the people doing it have a different idea of how to preserve it. A good example comes from comparing “The Princess Stays In The Picture” from the original series to “Royal Mix It Up” from this series. They’re both episodes about Sofia having a hard time playing off a princess dressed in blue who’s vastly different from her. The former episode leans into Hildegard’s ego a lot when she and Sofia are trapped inside a painting before ultimately revealing her reasoning later on, where she feels she has to act this way in order to get people to like her because of being influenced by her older sister. The episode definitely tests the audience’s patience in a way that doesn’t sit well with everyone, and thus you think she’s either well written or not if you believe her motivation enough. With the latter episode, it goes out of its way to make Zaria likable despite her unusual personality. She immediately likes the fact that she’s paired up with Sofia, and never criticizes her for her interests or hobbies even if they aren’t her thing. They’re both good episodes, but the former is about testing the characters where one has to earn likability while the latter is about helping already likable characters connect and find common ground. Like, when they sing the “We Have To Be Friends” song, she looks genuinely sad when it seems like she can’t connect with Sofia.
When it comes to the directors, we have Kris Wimberly as our supervising director in place of Jamie Mitchell (who has animation experience going back to the 1980s), and both Janice Seungmee Rim and Arielle Yett as episodic directors. Kris is someone who has a background in both preschool and non-preschool shows, but he’s definitely made a name for himself in the former in recent years. He was a storyboard artist on Elena Of Avalor season 3, and made his directorial debut on Firebuds as an episodic director. Janice was a storyboard artist on TOTS, Stillwater, The Chicken Squad, and Alice’s Wonderland Bakery before she made her directorial debut on the TV special Mickey And The Very Many Christmases. Arielle was a storyboard artist on Elena Of Avalor before she later made her directorial debut on The Chicken Squad, and directing the majority of Alice’s Wonderland Bakery episodes. Many of the projects, particularly Alice’s Wonderland Bakery and Firebuds, have a faster paced, comedic vibe that emphasizes expressive animation and strange ideas. Like, “Veggie Good Deed”, an episode where vegetables magically come to life, feels like something out of Alice’s Wonderland Bakery. The directors are talented, but they’re just approaching the show from a different perspective compared to Jamie Mitchell’s more cimeatic direction of the original show.
One more category to talk about are the storyboard artists. The show has plenty of storyboard artists who worked on all kinds of good shows, but I want to highlight 4 of them in particular. As mentioned, Eugene Salandra is the one storyboard artist from the original show working on the new show. He’s had decades of experience Disney Television Animation. He started out with shows like 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Kim Possible, and American Dragon: Jake Long before later doing Disney Junior shows. He helped elevate the look of the original show by not being afraid to make more dynamic shots. He carries the same grand feel to here, but filtered through the lens of comedic shows he worked on, like Fancy Nancy and Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, to make the comedy land harder. While Julius Aguimatang didn’t work on the original series, he was a storyboard artist on Elena Of Avalor, and an episodic director on Firebuds. Combined with his experience working on action oriented projects like Mulan and GI Joe: Renegades, he knows how to make storyboards for a show with a fantastical scenes and fun whimsy. I actually want to talk about a duo that completes each other, Cat Harman Mitchell and Kelsey Wooley. Cat is mainly known for working on 2D Disney Channel shows like The Owl House, Big Hero 6: The Series, and Hailey’s On It. She’s never done a CGI Disney Junior show. Kelsey has preschool experience since she worked on shows like Action Pack and Santiago Of The Seas, but she’s never done a Disney Junior show either. As such, you get the balance of Disney magic and preschool whimsy when they work together.
7. Secrets No More
The first episode has Rapunzel tell Sofia how she’s the most magical princess in the EverRealm, which makes her visibly nervous. The only other person she told this to is Minimus (voiced by Eric Stonestreet) at the beginning of “Abracadazzle”, the first segment of episode 2. At first, I thought that this was going to lead to a bit of an arc where she keeps it a secret, and everyone finds out much later in the season, but that’s not the case. In “Royal Family Picnic”, the first segment of episode 5, Amber casually tells Sofia that everyone at both their schools knows how she’s the most powerful princess. The crazy part is that Sofia didn’t tell anyone else this, implying Rapunzel or someone else on the princess counsel told them without telling her. What this made me see is that preschool shows that involve protagonists hiding some kind of big secret isn’t being done as much, or at least has much of the big drama addressed earlier on. Like, in the original series, the only human character that knew about Sofia’s magical amulet was Aunt Tilly, which was revealed in season 3. Amber finds out early in season 4 (and keeps her memory, unlike in The Curse Of Princess Ivy). The rest of the family fully knows in the series finale, which is reflected in the first episode here, where Sofia doesn’t hesitate to show her new friends her amulet powers. A similar thing happened in The Lion Guard season 2, when Scar returned, and the team tried hiding it from everyone in the Pridelands, but they find out at season’s end. I’m guessing it’s to encourage a message on how you shouldn’t keep secrets from others, namely your loved ones, but also know that you have support if it is a secret.
I mean, when you look at later shows like StarBeam, The Rocketeer, Spidey And His Amazing Friends, and Team Zenko Go, you have some other characters that immediately know about secret identities since episode 1, and are willing to help keep it secret. Even a show like Dew Drop Diaries, which involves three inch fairies doing good deeds for their human hosts in secret, the stakes are mild, and they usually have help from animals. There’s also a show like Dee And Friends In Oz, where Dee secretly goes off on adventures to Oz, and it’s heavily implied her grandmother knows since she takes everything she says about Oz at face value. Then you have shows like Iron Man And His Awesome Friends, where heroes, villains, and civilians know the identities of the heroes. I’m guessing Sofia The First joins that trend so that she doesn’t have to deal with this revelation alone. It’s definitely in line with more modern preschool shows putting heavier emphasis on collaboration and teamwork without anyone questioning anything too strange, especially when a unique gimmick is involved. It’s about emotional honesty.
You can see a bit of this when looking at episode 1, where nobody questions why she went into the forest and suddenly has a frying pan. You see this more pronounced in “Zane The Hero”, the second segment of episode 7. During the “Royal Heroes” song, she mentions the events of “Let The Good Times Troll” before playfully saying how she saved the Everrealm twice. Everyone praises her for it for a bit before moving on. Another element that shows how the show has evolved with the times is with the episode’s plot of Sofia and Zane mutually working together to find out why Ember is causing trouble, and openly acknowledge her ability to talk to animals as a way to help out. It’s in stark contrast to an episode like “The Secret Library: Tale Of The Noble Knight” roughly a decade prior, which also has a conflict of Sofia and a male character (James) trying to solve a problem involving giant creatures (dragons and sea serpents). Because James just so happened to see Sofia leaving without knowing that it’s a Secret Library mission, and because these dragons and serpents can be understood by everyone, she never needed to reveal that this is a secret mission. This episode also reminds me of “The Ghostly Gala” from the original series, in how a character who’s seemingly a threat is actually quite decent. Granted, Sir Dax the ghost from that episode does intentionally scare Sofia’s family out of the castle, but he’s also trying to see his family, who he can only see every 100 years. That episode ended with him and Sofia combining their parties together, but eveyrone just assumes they’re just party tricks. That would definitely not be the case today, where she could just say that the person doing this is nice, and people would accept it.
8. Music:
Music is undoubtedly a highlight of the original show, which this series also excels in. It’s definitely different though. The music in the original show was produced by stage musical composer John Kavanaugh, who also produced the theme song with Phineas And Ferb veteran Danny Jacob. He would also write the songs with Craig Gerber and each episode’s specific writer. Kevin Kleisch composed the score. As such, much of the songs felt like they were taking cues from Disney movies and Broadway shows. While John still does the theme song for the show, it’s very different musically. The songs in the series are co-written by Keith Harrison Dawkins, who worked on projects like Uglydolls and Superkitties, though he has a similar background to John. The score is composed by Tony Morales, who also did the score for Elena Of Avalor. This results in the music having a good deal of variety. For example, Camilla’s songs, “Be Awesome” and “Most Magical Me”, have similar Latin vibes to Elena songs, mainly their energetic and upbeat tones. You have songs that definitely feel like something right out of the original series, like “Time To Shine” and “Royal Heroes”. The fact that the former is over 3 and a half minutes long, and is the first song we have in the series helps in conveying the wonder of the school properly. Then you have songs that feel more edutainment rather than epic, like “Lullaby For Layla” from “Sleepy Time Spell”. There’s a bit of techno flare infused into some of the songs, notably the theme song, which helps update it well. It’s just really nice.
9. A Mix Of The Methods
Something I’ve noticed with preschool shows that take place at a school is that they seem to follow a mix of methods used in traditional classrooms mixed with the Montessori Method, which shows here, even if it’s unintentional. Let me explain. A traditional classroom environment involves teachers giving assignments in classrooms, and giving lectures. The Montessori Method is a child-centered educational approach focused on self-directed activity, hands-on learning, and collaborative play. Developed in the early 1900s by Dr. Maria Montessori, Italy’s first female physician, it is built on the belief that children are naturally curious and capable of driving their own learning when provided with the right environment. The former can get pretty boring in a show if there isn’t a hook to grab kids’ attention, especially in a preschool show. At the same time, some kind of clearly defined goal and structure is needed to maintain order for older kids, which the Montessori Method is often criticized for lacking. As such, elements of both are used.
Preschool shows taking place at a school that use both is pretty commonplace, as seen with shows like Super Monsters, Action Pack, Hero Elementary, Dee & Friends In Oz, and even Kindergarten: The Musical. They get the sense of structure and discipline to keep things manageable, but also the ability to make their own choices when deciding how to go about it. Ms. Nettle seems to use both ideas when running the school. In the first episode, she sets up the rules everyone has to follow, go to specific places in the school grounds to get banner pieces, but doesn’t say how to do it. We see things like Sofia using Layla’s gardening knowledge to help free Zane from a Cuddling Croqus flower, everyone holding hands and dancing together to navigate magic thrones, and Sofia turning into a puppercorn to outrun Devin when he poofs up a wall that she just jumps over. She sees all of this offscreen, and calls it a great way to start the school year. Another example comes from “Give It A Twirl”, where she tells Sofia and Layla how only 1 person can be be the leader of the scepter twirling parade, and doesn’t do anything to refute them when they insist on leading together. They mess up or face unusual external factors, but they think outside the box in order to navigate it. I feel this is fitting given how “Ivy’s True Colors” from the original series showed how she may be good, but doesn’t mind doing a bit of chaos to get results, like breaking into Ivy’s lair.
One example not related to Ms. Nettle that I can think of comes from “Royal Mix It Up”, where Ms. Gigglesby tells everyone how they have to learn to befriend people from other kingdoms, and thus she pairs everyone up randomly. She gives the assignment, but is hands off in how the kids get to know each other since she just wants them to do an activity together. While not explicitly said, as long as they’re on school grounds, they can do whatever they want. I mean, the climax involves Sofia and Zaria finally befriending each other when they work together to save Zane from Chomping Carnations, which she would most likely approve. Zaria even being a student here is another factor here. Montessori schools have mixed age classes, and she’s able to attend the same classes as Zane even though she’s younger than him. The environment of the school is also another factor. While we have traditional classrooms, the students also have their castle clubhouses that act as a safe space for them to just hang out and have fun, something that Royal Prep doesn’t have. I mean, they have built in slides. How awesome is that? The school is designed in a way where they get to learn under a system that has rules and guidelines, but also have fun learning in an environment that gives them agency to do what they like, make mistakes, and learn from them.
10. The Evolving Relationship Between Royal And Non-Royal Characters
One thing you notice when watching a lot of preschool shows starring princesses after the original series is the emphasis on royalty helping out non-royal characters, particularly in the community, and making them feel more integrated. It’s not exclusive to preschool shows, but is more pronounced in them. It’s sometimes called the princess’s people trope, where much emphasis is placed on taking charge and directly helping the people. You don’t really see this much with the original series early on given how it was more about Sofia adjusting to royal life and how she can keep parts of her old life in her life now. It wasn’t focused on integration to make royals and non-royals feel like equals even if she never hesitated to help others regardless of status. It was about a commoner adjusting to royal life and not trying to feel left out. Outside of episodes like “The Baker King” and “Mystic Meadows”, it’s not common. This also affects Ruby and Jade given how episodes in seasons 1-2 focused quite a bit of them struggling to their best friend being a princess, and them not seeing her as often. They’re absent from season 3, and appear only three times in season 4.
There’s also episodes like “Baileywick’s Day Off” and “Baileywhoops” which show how devoted he is to his job to the point that he won’t give himself or others a break, and the castle staff occasionally expressing comments in early episodes on not getting the best treatment. There’s even an episode like “Carol Of The Arrow”, with Carol’s grudge against the royal being how they don’t help people enough. When you look at the Secret Library and Mystic Isles episodes from the later seasons of the original series, they seem to have Sofia act as a community leader outside of Enchancia given the missions she has to help people usually take place outside her home. This helps to show how she’s an influence on others outside Enchancia, but the mindset isn’t shown at home given how her home adventures are given less priority in these later seasons when they’re at the forefront, and most of her adventures back home in seasons 3-4 almost exclusively involve royal adventures. It’s mainly because of Amber getting the leadership arc where she learns to be a better person when she becomes a queen that serves others while more importance for Sofia’s arc involves how powerful she becomes even if she still values helping everyone regardless of status and maintaining her morals.
This is definitely different from what you see in later preschool shows. Elena Of Avalor, the spinoff to Sofia The First, definitely differentiates itself from its predecessor by having Elena make Naomi, the daughter of a sailor, part of her royal counsel, as well as having multiple episodes where she helps the community. Elena’s younger sister Isabel goes to regular school with regulad kids, unlike Sofia going to Royal Prep. Nella The Princess Knight is self explanatory in how Nella is both a princess and knight who’s not afraid to leap into action when her people need her, and isn’t afraid to come down to their level. Princess Power is a very obvious example since the girls dedicate their whole lives to helping regular people and forming relationships with them by being directly involved with their issues. There’s the Crystal Key Quest arc from that series, which is a much lighter version of the Wicked Nine arc due to being a macguffin quest, with the main message being about doing what’s right, and putting other people first in order to get into a school that prioritizes doing the right thing. The 2024 Ariel show really leans into this. We have the royal family treating Sebastian well, Ariel and Triton not being afraid to do chores like cooking, Lucia and Fernie just being able to come to the palace very easily whenever they want, and multiple episodes about trying to help people in the community. Even non-princess shows with a princess character show this. Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures has a recurring character named Iyana, a princess who’s friends with one of the main characters, Nash. While her first episode was about Nash coming to see how there’s another side to her princess title, her second episode shows a more natural relationship where Nash isn’t afraid to question her yet will unambiguously support her in helping her get to a library opening ceremony her parents are holding. I think what caused the show to change quite a bit is the premise of an ordinary girl adjusting to this kind of a status is a “lightning in a bottle premise”. You can’t really recapture the specific element that made the original show so good, a fish out of water commoner adjusting to royalty without repeating things, and thus other princess preschool shows star girls that are already princesses from the start, and are designed to be more aspirational because of how they live a glamorous lifestyle, but are also kind hearted because they actively help out people regardless of status.
Now how does this changing mindset apply to this show? Well, while not a main focus, I notice some little details that support this new mindset. We don’t see any castle staff outside of Baileywick, implying that the royal family is a bit more proactive, and doesn’t want to overwork anyone. Like, “Abracadazzle” starts with Miranda waking up Sofia and telling her it’s time for school, something that would usually be done by the maidens if this was an early original series episode. The “Royal Heroes” song from “Zane The Hero” has Layla, Camila, and Devin mentioning doing these respective heroic deeds, those being saving someone from bees, saving a duke with broken knees, and saving someone trapped in ice. We then get an interesting moment with Sofia where she mentions the events of “Let The Good Times Troll”, where she helped improve human and troll relationships. I figured she would’ve mentioned the events of “Just One Of The Princes” by making sure that both boys and girls can do flying derby since that is her first big accomplishment, but given how you don’t see kids shows doing plots about sexism anymore, at least not as often, this seems fitting to bring up. She then makes a nod to the audience with how she saved the EverRealm twice. It seems to get across that doing good things that involve a connection is honorable no matter the scale. It reminds me of what Bea from Princess Power said in the episode “Princess Bon Voyage”. When Kira doesn’t want her older sister Karina to leave for some princess exchange program, and eveyrone tries to help her out with this plan by getting her to help them in their fruitdoms, she says “Our communities can always use princessing, even when it’s not a big emergency.”, basically saying that doing good for others is always good regardless of scale. It’s actually supported later in the episode, where Ms. Nettle says to Devin how true heroes care for others.
What actually made me notice this is “Veggie Good Deed”, the first segment of episode 8. It’s about Amber helping Sofia and Camila helping Ruby and Jade pick vegetables from the community garden, something created for the show, for the village feast. This is part of her assignment at EverRealm Academy, where she has to do a good deed, basically saying that it’s mandatory for princesses to always do what they can to directly help people no matter the size of the task. On top of that, there’s also the matter of how Camila wants to help Sofia given how, when she first poofs into the castle but before Amber joins them, Sofia says how they’re both helping them out. Camila helping out is quite interesting given how she’s the third royal character not from Enchancia to be in Dunwiddie. The others are Vivian and Desmond in “Forever Royal”, but that’s in the context of helping Ruby and Jade helping Sofia distract Vor, not community work. It’s similar to how the princesses on Princess Power always go to each other’s fruitdoms to help each other out regardless of how big the task is. Of course, we see Amber being a bit behind the times given how she initially thought that this was Ruby and Jade’s garden until the latter pointed out how it belongs to everyone in the village. You’d think she’d know this given how Roland most likely ordered this, but that’s not the case. The idea of a royal character helping non-royal characters with everyday tasks and communal events seems to reinforce the modern message that her true heart lies in how much she can just be a regular person that isn’t afraid to come down to the level of her people. Status isn’t as important as character.
11. The Show Isn’t A More Direct Continuation Most Likely Because Of Miranda And Ratings
And that is my review of Sofia The First: Royal Magic. It’s a show that I recommend if you go into it with the right mindset. Kids will obviously get a lot out of it. Adults can also enjoy the show if they view it less as a continuation of season 4, and more just extra adventures with the characters people love. Of course, that begs these two questions: “Why did the series turn out this way?” and “Why is this not a continuation involving Sofia as a protector?”. I know executives wanted the show to appeal to younger audiences, but there’s always more than one side to every story. Well, there’s various factors at play, but I have two that are most likely. Miranda can be considered the in universe explanation while ratings on various platforms are the real life explanation. Let me elaborate.
A common theory in the fanbase is that Miranda forbade Sofia from being a protector until she was older, and lived a normal life by making new friends and going to school. This is mainly because of a scene in “Forever Royal”, where, after Sofia becomes a protector, Miranda nervously asks what they do, implying she’s not fully onboard with the idea. Some would call this unusual since Sofia has had independent moments away from the family before, but it actually makes sense. A lot of the times in which Sofia isn’t with the family that Miranda would most likely approve of are usually either in nearby places like the village where they grew up, or if she’s with a trusted adult like a parent or teacher that would be able to help out. The most notable example comes from “Pirated Away”, where she forbids Sofia and Amber from seeing a constellation that’s faraway unless she comes along, which Amber takes issue with, but Sofia doesn’t. Before that, you have episodes like “The Buttercups” (where she trusts Sofia to take care of herself since she’s also part of the buttercup troupe, and will be guided by Ruby’s mother Helen) and “Too Cute To Spook” (which involves Sofia going with Cedric’s niece/Cordelia’s daughter into the village for Halloween at night, and she says she told her parents what houses she’s going to). Plus, considering how Sofia never told anyone else in the family about her protector and Secret Library missions outside of Amber and Aunt Tilly, she would be understably weary of her doing dangerous missions in a faraway place while still young on a regular basis. Like, “Forever Royal” had the family be brainwashed by Vor without Sofia around to protect them. They were in quite a bit of danger, and she couldn’t immediately help them. It seems like this mentality carried over to Sofia here given how she’s visibly nervous over being told that she’s the most magical princess in the realm, and only calms down when Rapunzel says how she just needs to learn all she can.
If you want a non-preschool point of comparison, look at the middle of Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur season 2. When the rest of Lunella’s family finds out that she’s Moon Girl, it’s only her mother Adria that forbids her from being a hero before later developing a distant relationship that lasts for a few episodes. It’s not the exact same thing here since Sofia and Miranda still have a good relationship, but the point still stands. Since this is still a preschool show, it means listening to her since there’s always strong emphasis on writing adults, particularly parents, as good role models, or at least people you should listen to. This also means that, even if stuff involving the protectors and the Secret Library is brought back somehow, the modern day preschool show dictates that Sofia needs to listen to Miranda by going to school and making friends as a normal girl in order to earn them back.
Now let’s talk about the ratings. As a show goes on, ratings naturally start to decline, and this series is no exception. The first 3 seasons had episodes averaging anywhere between 1.5-2.9 million views, with special events like “The Floating Palace” and “The Curse Of Princess Ivy” getting much bigger views. While some season 3 episodes dipped closer to 1 million, and in some cases, went under it, the ratings still mostly stayed closer to 1.5 million views at least. That’s not the case with season 4. The only episodes of the season to get at least 1 million views are “The Mystic Isles” (which had 1.34 million views), “The Mystic Isles: The Princess And The Protector” (which got 1.16 million views), and “The Royal Dragon” (which got 1.13 million views). Besides that, every episode this season got less than 1 million views. While some episodes were closer to 1 million views (such as “The Mystic Isles: The Mare In The Mist” getting 0.98 million views, “The Birthday Wish” getting 0.86 million views, and “Forever Royal” getting 0.83 million views), most episodes dipped closer to 600,000-750,000 views. While some episodes from earlier in the season like “Princess Jade” and “Ivy’s True Colors” barely got above 600,000 views, these lower numbers became more commonplace starting with “The Mystic Isles: The Falcon’s Eye”, where the season’s main villain Vor was introduced. It ended up getting 600,000 views. Episodes with Mystic Isles in the title usually got much lower ratings, such as “The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies” being the lowest rated episode of the series, clocking in at 510,000 views.
The only episodes after Vor’s introduction that aren’t the finale to get at least 700,000 views are “The Birthday Wish”, “The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassailia” (which got 750,000 views, most likely since it’s a more lighthearted Christmas episode), and “A Royal Wedding” (which got 700,000 views). The ratings for “Forever Royal” are actually a bit unclear since we only have ratings for its September 8 premiere on the Disney Junior channel, not the September 10 premiere on the Disney Junior block. For all we know, it could be higher, but the 11:30 am time slot that day doesn’t inspire confidence. Yeah, looking at these numbers, it’s not surprising that Disney Junior executives would think that a continuation involving the Mystic Isles would not do well. It’s not a surprise that, when the original series re-aired on the Disney Junior channel from February 2 to May 17, they completely skipped season 4. Of course, it doesn’t help that most of season 4 premiered at 11:30 AM. Preschool shows that regularly air premieres between 8:00-11:00 on their designated preschool blocks on their main channel are generally treated better, as was the case with Sofia’s first three seasons. Anything airing much earlier or much later is often treated poorly. Royal Magic is unsurprisingly getting good treatment and ratings since Disney Channel regularly airs the show weekdays at 9:30. It probably wouldn’t surprise me if some Disney Junior executives looked at these numbers, and thought a more serious series in line with the tone of season 4 wasn’t worth it. Craig Gerber did mention online earlier this year that if the new show somehow didn’t do well, it can’t exactly go back to the tone of season 4 since the show would otherwise be canceled.
It’s often said that kids aren’t watching TV as much anymore, and migrate towards places like Youtube more. Surely Youtube views and Youtube reviewers could’ve helped in getting executives to see that the Mystic Isles are worth investing in right? Well, that’s not really the case. When it comes to Sofia The First’s reputation as a preschool show that anyone can enjoy, it doesn’t really translate to Youtube viewership, a major thing executives usually look at when determining a show’s lifespan. While there were some lore and theory videos talking about the show in the 2010s, it was never on the level of shows that are more obviously aimed at older audiences like Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Star Vs The Forces Of Evil, Voltron Legendary Defender, and more. You definitely couldn’t escape people talking about those shows, and doing discussions and theory videos about what’s happening next. Sofia very rarely got these kinds of videos until 2022 since they usually talked more about the big events, like Disney Princess cameos or connections to greater Disney canon, and not much else. I’ll talk about this again later, but if executives see that there aren’t enough people talking about the more lore heavy aspects of the later seasons created by the show, why would they invest in it?
There were actually comments on various Disney Junior Youtube videos theorizing about more mature stories for the show, but then COPPA came in early 2020, and thus any videos marked “for kids”, like what you see on Disney Junior, were disabled, throwing away years of theory crafting and discussions since the executives can only look at the numbers each video gets. Of course, ratings among adults probably don’t matter that much to Disney executives. Craig Gerber talked about the target audience of Elena Of Avalor in a 2019 interview with the Podcast Princesses. He said how it was made by Disney Junior, but originally aired its first few episodes on Disney Channel first since executives saw the potential in reaching an older audience. However, since 70% of the ratings came from the Disney Junior audience, it was marketed more to the Disney Junior target audience despite getting darker later on. This can also apply to Sofia The First, where they look more at how many kids are watching the show, and see that as the top priority.
When it comes to videos uploaded to both the Disney Junior Youtube channel and the Disney Kids Youtube channel (formerly known as Disney Junior UK), the videos that get significantly higher viewership are mainly those from the earlier seasons, or videos that emulate the tone of the earlier seasons. A good example comes from the Disney Junior clips released for “Forever Royal”, which came out September 8, 2018. The trailer, which came out August 25, is a pretty serious trailer that has 3.4 million views. Vor’s villain song “Get Wicked”, which is also serious, was added September 16, and has over 4 million views. “Such A Big Day”, a lighthearted and positive song, was uploaded on September 9, and has over 15 million views. The highest viewed video from Disney Junior is a compilation video from November 18, 2019 showing Sofia with the princesses, which has over 100 million views. Yeah, it would make sense as to why Disney Junior executives would see season 4 as a failure if more serious videos get less views. A lot of the videos with significantly high viewership are mainly from earlier seasons, or where the Disney Princess cameos were more prominent. Just look at the Disney Kids Youtube channel. The videos that get more than 100 million views are from “The Floating Palace” and “Sofia The Second”, the former of which has a guest appearance from Ariel. You can see this with Royal Magic itself, where the teaser trailer and theme song struggled to get half a million views in weeks, or even months, but the official trailer, which shows Rapunzel, got 5.7 million views in 3 days. “Welcome To Charmswell” got 1 million views in 3 days, and 3 million views in 1 week.
Probably the final thing that determined how the new show turned out as it did was because of its streaming relevance. You’d think one of Disney’s flagship shows would hit Disney Plus within one year of its existence, but that’s not the case. It took until October 12, 2022, almost 3 years after Disney Plus launched, to hit the service. It also took until February 27, 2026 for the pilot movie to hit Disney Plus. Why did it take this long? It’s because of streaming rights. In 2015, the first season hit Netflix, with the remaining seasons hitting the service one by one, and the whole series (minus Once Upon A Princess) being available to watch on October 8, 2018. Netflix had the rights to stream the show for 4 years afterwards since it ran for 4 seasons. This unfortunately meant that the show couldn’t reach a wider audience.
With a streaming service as big as Netflix, it’s hard for the kids shows that they pick up to get significant attention since it has to compete with so many other shows from other companies. Contrast this with being on Disney Plus, where Disney themselves can push the show to the audience. If the show hit Disney Plus within 1 year of its existence, and if the adult audience saw it, and heavily pushed the Mystic Isles arc upon watching the episodes, there could’ve been a revival that followed up on it. Even with the show hitting Disney Plus, it’s still Princess Sofia that’s pushed, not Protector Sofia that’s pushed. When you look at full season 1 episodes uploaded to YouTube compared to modern “Forever Royal” clips, the difference is night and day, most likely influenced by how Disney Plus pushed it. Some short clips for “Forever Royal” uploaded in early 2025 have about 1.8-2 million views. Contrast this with the season 1 episodes uploaded during the second half of 2023, where they have views anywhere between 9 million (Finding Clover) and 44 million (Princess Butterfly). The pilot movie, uploaded on August 25, 2024, has over 60 million views. If that doesn’t show how well the show’s earlier seasons do, as well as projects that emulate the earlier seasons, I don’t know what will.
And that’s all I have. What do you think about the show?
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