Disney Returns to the Realm of Enchancia!

Now that Sofia the First has come home to Disney+, Disney has shared a big announcement today to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary. Sofia the First is getting a new spinoff! Series creator Craig Gerber announced earlier today "I am excited to be continuing my creative partnership with both Alyssa and Disney Branded Television. Together, we have produced three meaningful, diverse shows, and I am looking forward to broadening the scope of our collaboration while also championing new voices. It’s particularly thrilling to return to the enchanted world of ‘Sofia the First,’ where it all began 10 years ago, and create a follow-up series that is just as magical." The announcement comes as a surprise at a time when Disney Junior seemed to have been straying away from its princess properties.


It is not entirely clear whether the spinoff will feature the same characters as the original series as teenagers/young adults or a new cast of younger students attending Royal Prep. What we do know for certain is that this is not the first new series set in this universe. Elena of Avalor was the first spinoff to take place in the Ever Realm and featured a slightly older Sofia, James, and Amber making a cameo in the series finale, which aired only two years ago. As such, it is surprising that Disney plans to make a return to this enchanted world so soon after our last visit. I'm hoping it doesn't go in the direction of other inferior reboots that didn't give their original properties a chance to rest such as DC Super Hero Girls or Monster High. Sofia the First is one of my favorite shows of all time next to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, so I remain cautiously optimistic about this new offering.


The kingdom of Enchancia remains one of my absolute favorite fantasy universes of all time. It is a relatively safe world filled with enchanted jewelry, flying creatures of all sorts, magic portals, and beautiful fashions. The show also introduced a number of concepts throughout its four-year run, any of which could easily be developed into a spinoff. There were the Mystic Isles, a heavenly realm in the sky inhabited by faeries, unicorns, and god-like beings, the Enchanted Library, which allowed Sofia to enter stories from other magical worlds, and the fabled Amulet of Avalor, which transported characters from other Disney movies to visit Enchancia during times of crisis. Since the spinoff is also being produced by Disney Junior, it will likely be targeted at the same age group of preschoolers. Therefore, it could be a new magical academia show that takes place primarily at Royal Prep and introduces us to a new class. Among these options, learning more about the Mystic Isles holds the most appeal for me.


Sofia the First is not the only property being revived by Disney. The Hollywood Reporter announced this week that a new sequel is in the works for The Princess Diaries. Opinions will vary on this, but I greatly preferred the first movie to The Princess Diaries 2, and not just because it stuck closer to the Meg Cabot books. I felt like the second movie lost a lot of the charm that made the first one so memorable and even changed the main characters' personalities to some extent. It's hard to accept that a new film made so many years later would be able to correct that injustice, especially if Anne Hathaway isn't in it, a possibility that has yet to be confirmed. Combine that with the new Enchanted sequel coming out tomorrow, and it really does seem like there are no new ideas left in Hollywood.

Whether or not this new Sofia the First series captures the magic of the original remains to be seen, but Elena of Avalor has proven to me that it is impossible to capture lightning in a bottle twice. If the rumored Ariel series is also in the works at Disney Junior, we may be entering a second golden age of princess cartoons like the early 2010s, which will be a refreshing change since there are no princess shows airing in America at the present time. While the future of creative fairy tale shows is uncertain, we can continue being grateful for the past masterpieces for Thanksgiving this month. Not only is today the 10th anniversary of Sofia the First, but it is also the 33rd anniversary of Disney's original animated classic The Little Mermaid. Are you eager for more spinoffs, sequels, and reboots of Disney's fairy tale princess properties, or would you prefer to see something new? Let me know in the comments!

Comments

Lilly said…
I would love to see a show set in the world of Sofia like "Regal Academy" style, it was a kid friendly show but with teen leads and romance perfect for princess fans a bit older than preschool age who are no longer satisfied with just plots based on friendship!
I guess I wish someone would take the idea of ​​Disney's Star vs. (magical princess from another world comes to earth as an exchange student for new experiences) but this time it was a real princess show without the parody, silly plots or the ridiculous teenage mess, I guess I just want the basic idea but with a sweeter, more educational development and a less adolescent drama queen and kinder protagonist.
Harry potter style plots are always great people can't get enough of academies...regal academy, Winx club, all those shows about wizarding schools...they are always a hit.
Lisa Dawn said…
I suppose Ever After High and School for Good and Evil did something similar to that, but neither were full-length series.
lemon melon said…
I am really excited! I have a lot of faith in this show because Craig Gerber, the creator of Sofia the First, is going to be the showrunner for this instead of it being handed off to someone else. I think that Craig Gerber is an amazing creator, and I have a lot of faith in his works. He has a lot of diversity in the shows that he has created, Sofia the First, Elena of Avalor, and Firebuds all have felt like very different shows to me and all of them have consistently been high quality. In general with his new projects, he continues working with some people that he's already worked with and then brings on some new people, so I also think the creative team is going to be great. I am a little worried he'll be overworked- he's being the showrunner for this, and the showrunner for Firebuds currently, and he's being executive producer for another show with Kris Wummberly, so I hope he can keep the quality up between everything he's working on. Still, I have a lot of confidence in Craig Gerber from all of his previous works, and I am excited for this!
Lisa Dawn said…
Yes, he is very talented!
1. Since Royal Prep is specifically mentioned in the description as "the school where Sofia and her friends graduated", I assume there will be a new protagonist here that's about Sofia's age when the original show started. I would assume Sofia characters will appear, but not as the primary focus. This can also make you wonder how far in the future this show could be, maybe a few years or a big time skip.

2. Whenever someone has 2 or more shows airing at once from the same creator, there's usually a mix between shared crew and new members. Case in point, Shea Fontana (who developed the original 2015 DC Superhero Girls, though she didn't work on season 5) has 3 shows currently running (Polly Pocket 2018, Action Pack, and the new Monster High TV show). Some of them share crew members (such as Callie C. Miller and Lila Scott), but still have different crew members to help keep them together. It's the same thing with Craig's other shows, where some people from Sofia worked on Elena (like storyboard artist Francis Glebas and writer Rachel Ruderman) and people who worked on both Sofia and Elena are on Firebuds (Sofia writer Matt Hoverman is story editor and Elena storyboard artists Robb Pratt, Julius Aguimatang, and Kris Wimberly are all directors). I would assume that Craig will have some shared crew between Firebuds, the new Sofia show, and the new show from Kris Wimberly while still having new people.
Lisa Dawn said…
Huh, I didn't see Royal Prep mentioned at all in the article. All the quote says is "I am looking forward to broadening the scope of our collaboration while also championing new voices. It’s particularly thrilling to return to the enchanted world of ‘Sofia the First,’ where it all began 10 years ago, and create a follow-up series that is just as magical." That could mean just about anything.
Mateo said…
I have become a big fan of the singing dragons and sea monsters of the pallisades, and I have been thinking "There has got to be more to the story of the singing sea monsters than whats on the screen". Like "How did the sea serpents get the forever fountain? Did they steal it?", and "Maybe Coral, Dolphina, and Dorsal are tired of Aqualina being their leader and they want to be free to do what they want to do, and sing and perform to the world and become well-loved and treated like royalty". I really love the way the sea monsters sing the song "this island belongs to us"(its one of my favorite songs), and I say that there has got to be more lively beautiful songs sung by them, and other episodes with them. I would REALLY LOVE to want to see them again and to hear them sing again!
Mateo said…
I say that if there is a sofia the first secret library episode called "Tale of the Eternal torch", why not there be also a sofia the first secret library episode called "Tale of the Forever Fountain" which explains where the forever fountain came from and how the sea serpents obtained it in the first place. Maybe they stole it and Sofia has a mission to return it to its rightful place, or maybe someone else seeks the forever fountain and Sofia and has to stop him or her from stealing it, or maybe someone like the dragon leader the duchess thinks that dragons and sea monsters should not live side by side in harmony, and the forever fountain and the sea monsters should leave the palisades, and Sofia, the dragons, and the sea monsters have to stop her and convince her that everything is all right with the new Misty Palisades.

I also believe that one of the other new episodes that that have Aqualina the sea serpent and her group of singing sea serpents whose names are Dorsal, Dolphina, and Coral, should be called "Song of the Sea serpents". I have also lately been thinking up some stories for more episodes of Sofia the first with the sea serpents. Either way, I think the sea serpents of the Misty Palisades are really cool characters and such wonderful singers, and I really hope to see them again and hear them sing again! I am really exited to hear about this new sofia the first spinoff, and I have high hopes and a lot of confidence in Craig Gerber that he will create wonderful new songs and videos for this new sofia the first show!
Alexpuplove said…
I mean to be honest here, in the finale of the main series they've made it possible to continue the series, because in season 4 sofia was training to be a protector, and in the finale she became a full time protector in the end. So I would continue the series following after she becomes protector.
Angelo said…
Quisiera que haiga una temporada 5 de Princesa Sofía y que incluya un personaje llamado Angelo y tenga 14 años que esté enamorado de Sofía

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