Inside Disney’s New ‘Sofia the First’ Collection With New (and Acquainted) Faces, Twice the Songs and an Lovable Pet-Corn

First she was discovering out what it means to be royal, now she’s studying what it means to be magic.

Sofia the First is returning to Disney Jr., 14 years after the unique present debuted. Within the first iteration, Sofia, who is called Disney’s “first little princess,” turned royal when her mother married a king. Within the new sequence, dubbed Sofia the First: Royal Magic, the titular character discovers that she is probably the most magical princess within the realm and should discover ways to grasp her powers whereas making new royal mates.

“It’s a show that really captures so much of what preschoolers are going through, in terms of making friends and figuring out how to make sense of the world,” says Alyssa Sapire, head of authentic programming and technique at Disney Jr., of the present’s lasting attraction. “And then to take a little girl figuring out how to become a princess, it’s so aspirational for kids.”

Certainly, the children who comprise Gen Alpha and the tail finish of Gen Z grew up with the unique iteration of the present, which debuted in 2012 with the animated tv film Sofia the First: As soon as Upon a Princess, adopted by the sequence premiere in January 2013. Sofia the First nonetheless holds the report for prime 3 cable TV telecasts for the women 2-5 demo and prime 2 with youngsters 2-5. Disney Jr. says the sequence has additionally notched greater than 1.2 billion views on its YouTube channel.

Craig Gerber, creator and government producer of Sofia the First: Royal Magic, who developed and exec producer the unique sequence, has a concept on why the present has endured. 

“The character of Sofia turned out to be a very compelling, engaging character,” he says. “She is a princess who rescued herself, who rescued her friends. She is very kind, she is very brave, she is always going to try to do the right thing no matter what, and when she makes mistakes, she picks herself up off the ground and tries again, and so I think there’s a lot there for young kids to relate to as a role model.”

Winter, who’s reprising her position because the voice of Sofia, agrees. The adjective she makes use of to describes the princess embrace good-spirited, superb, form, empathetic, courageous and adventurous. “She’s got so many good qualities that over the years, it really influenced a generation in such a positive way; people just gravitated towards her,” Winter says. “When I was making the first series, I was learning from her. I loved voicing her because I was like, wow, it just puts me in such a good mood to be Sofia. Seeing how it impacted [young viewers] meant so much to me.”

As well as, whereas the present options magical components, it additionally stays grounded. 

“There are fantastic things that happen, but not anything can happen, and the reason we did that was so that kids could feel like they could live in that world,” he says. “It felt like a real place, even though there are flying horses and trolls and magic. So, all those things combined with the lessons of friendship and the that people got when they watched the show, I think those are all those things that create a feeling that kids then want to experience again later. It an escape. It’s a place where they feel like they can go and be and exist and be with those characters they fell in love with for a little while and forget all their other problems.”

Sapire echoes that remark, calling it “comfort food” for the technology who grew up with it.

“We really have the best fans,” provides Winter. “We have been so grateful and so lucky that everybody who has seen the show has really resonated with it and has loved it. That’s really all we can ask for. Being able to do this series again, but in a fun new setting and new [situations], it just means so much to get to have a whole new generation of kids be able to experience the magic that is Sofia. It is such an honor to be able to come back and do it again.”

The concept for the brand new present happened partly as a result of authentic sequence’ longevity with followers, as those that grew up with it continued to indicate their ardour for it and preschoolers found the present for the primary time and related with it.

“Because we had seen this continued connection with Sofia over the years, we felt like there were still many more stories to be told,” Sapire says. “And we saw [older kids] continuing to want to revisit Sofia and her family and her friends, and now we’re seeing it with the original target age group — new preschoolers who are engaging with it — and so we’re seeing this now across generations. Seeing that excitement and that enthusiasm, we really thought there were new stories to tell.”

Echoes Gerber: “Once everyone realized that Sofia was a show that had stood the test of time, that there were a lot of fans and that world had really connected with people, there was a desire to do another show in that world.”

Nevertheless, the brand new iteration really began as a by-product of Sofia the First (the present beforehand produced one other spinoff, Elena of Avalor, which Gerber additionally created; it premiered in 2016). The concept at first was to set the present at Royal Prep, the varsity Sofia attends, however with new characters. “I was involved with that because I loved the world and the characters, and I was happy to revisit that world,” Gerber says. “You create so many different elements of a world, that there’s always something you can go back and play with. But through the course of development, we realized that the story that really needed to be told were the further adventures of Sofia. Once we realized that, it became a matter of, well, what’s she going to do now?”

Gerber says he began excited about what would have occurred subsequent for Sofia if the unique present had continued on. Having graduated from Royal Prep, Sofia wanted a brand new place to make new mates and have new adventures. That’s when the concept for the Charmsville College for Royal Magic happened. 

“That’ll provide a fresh new hook for the audience,” Gerber says of his considering on the time. “That would appeal to both new viewers and potentially also old viewers if they want to see what happens next, but really give a fresh new starting-off point that separates from the original show, because you need to have a reason why the new show is happening, besides, let’s just make more episodes.”

Having adjusted to life as a royal, Sofia will now be taught what it means to be a magical princess, surrounded by new mates Pepper (voiced by Nate Torrence), a mixture between a canine and a unicorn, or a puppy-corn, and magical classmatees Layla (Mela Pietropaolo), Zane (Kai Harris) and Camila (Aaliyah Magcasi). Additionally becoming a member of the voice forged in recurring/visitor roles are Beanie Feldstein as Wildfyre, Sofia’s flying horse; Yvette Nicole Brown as Woman Saddlespur; James Monroe Iglehart as Lord Primrose; Jeremy Swift as Mr. Muddykins; and Tony Hale as Mimsy Fizzlewick. 

Reprising their roles from the unique sequence are Wayne Brady as Clover, Sofia’s bunny pal; Tim Gunn as Baileywick, chief adviser to the king; Eric Stonestreet as Minimus, the flying horse; Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda, Sofia’s mother; Travis Willingham as King Roland, her stepdad; Darcy Rose Byrnes as Amber, her stepsister; and Jess Harnell as Cedric, the royal sorcerer.

Sapire and Gerber say it wasn’t a tough promote to get the unique forged on board.

“It seemed to me that the the actors who played the characters who were coming back to do their voices had very fond memories of the show, and were both surprised and elated to be able to do it again,” Gerber says. There was some concern that maybe the forged who’d been youngsters throughout the first run may not be capable of nonetheless do the voices given they’re now grown-ups, however “once we realized they could still do their character voice, everyone has been so happy to be part of it. It’s been like a reunion, like a family reunion, of all these really talented actors and actresses who’ve grown up, and it’s nice to see them again so many years later. … Every single one of them — it was like they never stopped doing the character. They just picked up right where they left off.”

Winter says she came upon in regards to the sequel by means of a director with whom she’d labored on Sofia the First. “At the time, it was really just like a loose thought,” she says. “Nobody had contacted me because it wasn’t like set in stone.” After Winter acquired the decision, and the did a check for the community, she realized it was getting picked up. “I just was so excited because it was always one of my favorite projects I had ever worked on,” she says. “And there’s nothing that feels more positive and special than spending like some time voicing such a wonderful character and knowing the impact it’s going to have.”

As soon as she was again within the sales space, she was nervous however shortly slipped again into character. “I had kept Sofia alive, for myself, all of these years, because I would make voice memos for people’s kids or their cousin or little sister, little brother, anyone who would tell me that like they loved the show,” she says, sharing that she’d faux to be calling these youngsters asking in the event that they needed to have a playdate in Enchancia, for instance.

Winter has no hesitation when requested how lengthy she might proceed voicing Sofia: “I will play her as long as they let me.” 

Some of the memorable elements of the present has at all times been the music — from the catchy theme music to the songs featured in every episode. 

That’s the place songwriters John Kavanaugh, Keith Harrison Dworkin and Matthew Tishler are available. Kavanaugh additionally was a part of the unique sequence, incomes a Daytime Emmy for his work. The songs are “always intrinsic to moving the story forward,” Kavanaugh says. It’s additionally necessary that they attraction to each the goal youngsters demo and their dad and mom by not “dumbing it down,” he provides.

The brand new iteration will characteristic two 11-minute tales, vs. the 22-minute format of the unique. Sapire notes that this format is fairly commonplace in preschool storytelling. However there’s additionally the choice to inform longer tales sooner or later, together with a vacation particular or greater tentpole episodes.

Twice the story strains in every episode additionally means twice the unique songs. Fortuitously for Kavanaugh, Dworkin and Tishler have been introduced on board to assist with the additional carry. (“We’re working with three different songwriters rather than just one, because I don’t know how they’d sleep if we were working with just one,” Gerber jokes.) Every 11-minute section will characteristic a brand-new music. “There is no downtime,” says Kavanaugh. “We get a song, we start working on it, we demo it, we send it in.” The music will get accredited, or not, after which tweaking is finished if wanted, earlier than the forged data it. In the meantime, one other music is already headed their manner. “It’s a constant merry-go-round,” provides Dworkin, who can be the songwriter on Disney Jr.’s SuperKitties.

They credit score Gerber with having a transparent imaginative and prescient for the present for serving to them nail down the tunes. Gerber and the present’s writers ship lyrics to Kavanaugh, Dworkin and Tishler, who set about ensuring the melodies match the character and the tone of the story. They’re able to make options or modifications to the lyrics to suit the melody. “It became very clear to me early on that the success of Sofia is because of Craig’s clarity as a creator,” Dworkin says. “He really cares, he comes from his heart, he’s got a great brain, and it all just makes sense right out of the gate, and that’s not always the case across all projects. I can be pretty aggressive with how I rewrite the lyrics, and the grace that Craig and the other lyricists have given me has been really great. … In this line of work, confusing is the enemy, and there’s never any confusion with Craig.” Agrees Kavanaugh: “He’s very collaborative, and he knows what he wants.”

Kavanaugh additionally wrote the theme music together with Gerber and up to date the tune for the brand new iteration. (Hear the brand new model within the video beneath.)

Kavanaugh says maintaining the spirit of the unique was an intentional selection for a number of causes. “The network wisely wanted to not ignore the history,” he says. “I didn’t know this, but they sent us the information the other day — 130 million streams globally from that theme song. So they didn’t want to ignore that, but they wanted a new take on it to make it worth people being reinvested in it, or re-listening, and so the basic big idea is that the first half of the song is half-time, and it’s much more current, and sparse, in a way, and then when the chorus comes along, it’s much more like the original, with that energy and that magic. But it’s just got a fresh vibe to it.”

He notes that TV theme songs have a tendency to remain within the heads of youngsters who grew up with them, for instance, how The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Household themes nonetheless carry nostalgia to adults who watched these exhibits of their youth. The Sofia the First theme just lately sparked a viral development on TikTok. Given the fondness for the music, it made sense to not overhaul it fully or ditch it solely for a brand new tune — however Kavanaugh noticed no purpose to offer it an replace.

“I said to someone when we were producing it, you know, the first version is out there, and it’ll always be out there,” Kavanaugh stated. “So what’s wrong with doing a new version? It can only be a new version, you know? It doesn’t take anything away from what we originally did, or what the people originally heard. So, I think it’s pretty cool.”

For her half, Winter says the music has at all times been necessary to the present, and furthermore, it’s what retains the youthful viewers engaged.” 

“I was telling some of my mom friends, ‘You guys are going to absolutely love these songs,’” Winter says. “Because sometimes as parents, I feel like they listen to the music in the shows and they’re like, ‘OK, I’m gonna hear this song over and over and over again.’ And I feel like for our series, people have never really felt that way, but especially in this [iteration], we have so many different genres of music that we’re going to cross, that is so fun. I think people are going to love it.”

Winter additionally shares that the songs this yr discover new genres. Kavanaugh and Dworkin admit that’s the case, however doubtless because of Dworkin’s and Tishler’s involvement (“Having a couple different songwriters adds a little more spice and variety,” says Dworkin) — however there’s one style we could not see Sofia sort out, not less than not but. 

“We have not rapped yet,” she says with amusing. “That’s one genre we have not crossed yet.” Would she strive it, if requested? “I would give it a try,” she says. “It might be a little embarrassing, but I would give it a try.”

The present will proceed its custom of together with guest-starring spots from beloved Disney princesses all through the brand new iteration. Along with Rapunzel, Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora and Elena of Avalor (who was spun off into her personal sequence in 2016), Moana will make her first look on the present, voiced by the animated movie franchise’s star Auliʻi Cravalho.

Gerber notes that which princess seems is determined by what sort of assist Sofia wants. Within the first iteration, a specific princess confirmed up solely as soon as; this time round, we would see the identical princess greater than as soon as. Additionally, “there may be different reasons they show up; rather than the princesses coming to Sofia, Sofia might come to them,” Gerber says.

Echoes Sapire: “It really depends on the storytelling, and who of the princesses have the attributes, or the expansive stories, around them that can lend themselves so seamlessly into Sofia’s world.”

And, as Sapire notes, as Sofia learns about her magical powers, this provides extra alternative for extra Disney princesses to make appearances): “They have the experience and years ahead of her, so we felt like between bringing that mentorship in and having Sofia build a new world with some new friends,” she says. “At a new school, there was just a lot of places we could go with it.”

Nevertheless, Gerber provides that together with the enduring characters additionally comes with a bit of little bit of stress. “We now have to jot down these characters in our Sofia episodes, and you’ve got the burden of, ‘Am I writing this well? Is this writing worthy of that character?’ And so it’s an actual second of reality, [for example], when Auliʻi comes into the sales space and says the phrases that we wrote for her as Moana. You’re gripping the arm, the chair, hoping it sounds proper, and fortunately it sounded nice. After which to see her carry all that heat and humor to the phrases was extraordinary.

Sapire notes Moana wasn’t even a personality but when Sofia the First had its authentic run, “so we’re excited that we’re able to create these story opportunities to connect” Moana and Sofia. She provides that, in contrast to the unique run, by which the princesses appeared just one, this time round, Rapunzel, Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora and Elena of Avalor will seem in a couple of episode, “where it makes sense in the stories.”

Winter says she was excited when she heard Moana could be making an look. “I was super stoked for Moana,” she says. “Moana is just cool. She’s so amazing and strong.”

Likewise, the songwriters have the problem of writing tunes that match the princesses who make cameos all through the season. It’s necessary to suit the persona of every princess and keep true to the character, they are saying. For instance, “in the original, when we were writing for Jasmine, it was a very Aladdin-type of song — pop and full of energy,” Kavanaugh says. And when Mulan appeared, her music was “strong and energetic and warrior-like.” The upcoming soundtrack will embrace a music titled “Be Bold” that options a number of of the princesses singing collectively.

And, as Sapire notes, as Sofia learns about her magical powers, this provides extra alternative for extra Disney princesses to make appearances. “They have the experience and years ahead of her, so we felt like between bringing that mentorship in and having Sofia build a new world with some new friends,” she says. “At a new school, there was just a lot of places we could go with it.”

Gerber says that whereas the first intention is to entertain the goal demo, he and his crew attempt to make a present that folks and youngsters alike can get pleasure from collectively. “My goal in anything I make is to create a show that families can watch together,” Gerber says. “I know that sometimes it’s great to have something that kids can sit down in front of and give mommy or daddy a break, and I totally respect that. I lived it. But I also know that in this age where everyone could be on their own screen, you do remember the times when you sat down and watched something together. I actually still hear about that from parents: ‘Sofia was the show we’d watch together and then we’d talk about it,’ and they could cuddle and have family time while enjoying something together. So we try very hard, our whole team does, to create something that can be enjoyed by a child by themselves, but has enough going on in the story for a parent to also enjoy watching with them. That’s the goal every time.”

As you may anticipate, Disney will probably be launching a brand new product line within the U.S. after which globally. “There is an exciting, new line of product coming out,” Sapire says. “We do a lot of connecting with kids in understanding  how they play, how they want to engage with characters, when they’re not watching.”

Sofia the First: Royal Magic will premiere Monday on Disney Jr. and Disney Jr. on Demand, with the primary eight episodes out there to stream on Disney+ within the U.S. and choose worldwide markets the subsequent day.