Into the EverRealm: Breaking Down Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor

Content Warning: This blogpost will cover full series spoilers for both Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor. If you don't want to be spoiled, please do not read this post because I'm picking this show apart.

So you'll see, August only had six blog posts, compared to more active months where I do twice that. As I mentioned before, I had covid for about half the month. However, there's also another reason I was unable to discuss Disney Cartoons, and that is because I was thinking too hard about Disney Cartoons.

Specifically, I was finishing up and thinking really hard about Elena of Avalor, and god it's so good. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor are two Disney Junior shows created by Craig Gerber that take place in the same world, known as the EverRealm (granted, Enchancia and Avalor are on opposite sides of the planet). Sofia the First is a show about a middle class girl who marries into the royal family and has to learn all the important skills needed to be a princess. Meanwhile Elena of Avalor is a show about a girl of Royal Blood whose country was taken over and she was imprisoned in an amulet (owned by Sofia!), and once she was freed she had to learn all the important skills needed to be a queen. Though both shows were on Disney Junior, it felt like Elena of Avalor was intended for the same audience as Sofia the First, which had grown up.

Discussing Sofia First, the show really started out on one gimmick: Disney Cameos, particularly from the princesses. This was a big deal especially in season 1, with the first special episode having Cinderella talking and singing about how she regretted not reconciling with her sisters. (I presume Sofia the First takes place not necessarily in the Redeemed Anastasia Universe, but in a universe where Anastasia has a potential for redemption.)

Honestly, in my eyes, the princesses showing up weren't all that interesting. I remember the songs from Mulan and Rapunzel better than the others (the latter being because "The Curse of Princess Ivy" is one of my favorite episodes). And I think Snow White showing up to teach Sofia to trust her gut was a good moral. Also Olaf showed up instead of either of the Frozen princesses and that's kind of funny.

Really if any crossover characters stand out to me, it's Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, who act as teachers at Sofia's school and are more important to the plot, as they play an important role early on in teaching Sofia to be a princess.

Also in the first season, Sofia is 8, but she gets older as the seasons progress, getting up to about 11 or 12. The biggest sign of this is how she refers to Cedric. Throughout season 1, she mispronounces his name as "See-dric", but once season 2 hits, she finally gets it right, "Se-dric." 

Season 2 is where the show got really good in my opinion. While season 1 had some really good episodes like "Princess Butterfly" and some good songs like "Blue Ribbon Bunny," season 2 had greater animation, more really good episodes ("The Enchanted Feast," "When You Wish Upon a Well," "Mystic Meadows," "Baileywhoops," "The Curse of Princess Ivy," "Substitute Cedric").

Actually, I wanna talk about "When You Wish Upon A Well."  It's a pretty basic "be careful what you wish for" episode, with Amber being jealous of Sofia spending time with her dad, King Roland, and wishing he wouldn't be around her as much. This causes Sofia to turn into a cat, which King Roland can't spend time around because he's allergic to cats. Pretty silly stuff. What makes the episode interesting is that King Roland does not trust the wishing well, and we eventually learn it's because he made a wish in the wishing well before. In the finale, "Forever Royal," we learn that his wish was for children, and it came at the cost of his wife's life.

Season 3 keeps a lot of the quality from season 2, with one particular addition. Sofia's Aunt Tilly, who owned the Amulet of Avalor before her, passes onto Sofia the role of "Story Keeper," and some of the season 3 episodes focus on Sofia solving problems in The Secret Library. I'm... a bit ambivalent on this change.

A lot of Disney Junior era shows have changes in the later seasons to either setting or what it is the characters do. I'm not sure if it's driven by executive meddling or if everyone just thinks of these ideas they think are really good, but it's pretty common. In the Lion Guard season 3, the cast goes on a journey around the world. In Doc McStuffins season 4, Doc's grandmother gives her a magic stethoscope that teleports Doc to McStuffinsville, where Doc works at the hospital. In Puppy Dog Pals season 3, Puppy Playcare opens, and instead of going on missions all the time, Bingo and Rolly spend a good amount of time playing with the other dogs at Puppy Playcare. Miles from Tomorrowland season 3 is about space colonialism.

Ultimately, I think The Secret Library is kind of pushed to the wayside unless they need an excuse to put Sofia into a situation, which is a good way to go about it. Sofia's adventures in Avalor and the Mystic Isles are fun, and The Secret Library gives a pretty solid excuse to go there.

Before discussing season 4 and even some season 3 episodes, it's important to talk about the themes in Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor, because they start to become really important.

Naturally, there's the theme of what it means to be "royal." Since Sofia the First is a show for babies, it usually means being a good person or doing what's right. As the finale song "One and All" states, "Being royal means being loyal to those who count on us." Pretty succinct. There's plenty of episodes that focus on treating others right and standing up for them. 

Elena also follows this philosophy, as she's ready to jump into battle to defend her people. I have to link the fucking hamilton song now don't I. Fucking fine. "The Right Thing To Do" shows Elena with the same ideals as Sofia in "One and All," wanting to defend her people as she sees it as her duty as crown princess. This is challenged by Esteban who argues that the princess ought to be kept safe, which makes sense. In chess, usually attacking with or developing the queen early on is seen as foolish, and results in the queen being lost. Avalor can't afford to lose its crown princess. Esteban also argues for a more collectivist approach to taking down threats in Avalor. The Royal Guard can take care of it, rather than the individualist Elena who wants to do it herself. There's actually a lot of tough decisions like that in the show, and it empathizes more of those tough decisions than just "being a good person."

Another theme both Sofia and Elena get into is family. Both shows feature non-nuclear families. Roland and Miranda are both on their second marriage, while Elena lives with her sister, maternal grandparents, and cousin. 

Sofia is learning to get along with her new step-family, which is best highlighted with her relationship to Amber. Honestly, Amber has some of the best character development in the series. She starts off as a typical bratty character interested in jewels and glamour and typical high life princess things. And she kind of stays that way throughout the entire series, save a newfound interest in astronomy and becoming increasingly closer to Sofia as the show goes on. Like take episodes like "The Big Sleepover," where Amber sees Sofia as somewhat annoying even if still her sister, to the love but also envy she feels toward Sofia in episodes like "The Curse of Princess Ivy," to Sofia helping her realize she's intended to be a great leader and Amber greatly respecting Sofia's input in episodes like "The Royal School Fair." James is also there. 

Okay. James is actually important, and you realize late in the series that he shares a lot of the core traits Amber does, particularly being spoiled and envious. He just sort of hides it better because he's a typical little boy in his element at the palace, and he's a good familial segue into the other end of the familial spectrum: Power.

In "A Royal Wedding," James' grandmother tells him and Amber that Amber is next in line for the throne since she is the older twin. James and Amber, along with Roland are shocked, assuming the role went to the first born son in the family. (Roland's older sister opted not to take the throne.) The rest of the episode has James enviously trying to sabotage Amber in order to get the title of future king back. Really the only other episode where James is challenged like this is "Camp Wilderwood" where we kind of figure out James does not respond well when things don't go easily for him. It's kind of wild seeing James as this power hungry kid, but it really puts him in a tough situation and we see how much he changes from it, especially in the song "Meant to Be."

Almost every villain in Sofia the First can be broken down to this base desire. Cedric desires the Amulet of Avalor for its untold magical power (power we see a fraction of in Elena, and in healthy doses from Sofia). Miss Nettle is constantly searching for magical artifacts in an attempt to get untold magical power. Princess Ivy attempted to overthrow two kingdoms in order to become queen. Slickwell wants to be the Steward of Enchancia due to its increased status. Even Wendell Fidget uses his magical powers in order to get what he wants.

Many of these villains get their redemption, particularly through learning about friendship and respect. Miss Nettle finally was acknowledged as the creator of a popular plant in Princess Hilda's kingdom. Princess Ivy and Miss Nettle become friends. Wendell and James become friends. Fuck Slickwell I don't think he ever shows up again.

Really the most important redemption arc is Cedric's as he's the main recurring villain of the series. "Hexley Hall" for example sets up a really good internal conflict in Cedric. As a character driven by power and respect, we see Cedric interact with Sofia, who respects him greatly but does not grant him any power, and the Wizards of Hexley Hall, who promise him great power, but don't respect him whatsoever. In "Day of the Sorcerers," Cedric, upon reaching his goals, realizes that Sofia treated him with the respect and friendship he yearned for for years. Cedric's redemption was actually really interesting, because he not only mended the relationships of those who he betrayed such as King Roland in "In Cedric We Trust," but he also mended the relationships of those who looked down upon him and caused him to go down this path of villainy, such as his sister Cordelia in "Through the Looking Back Glass." Back to the theme of  family once again.

One of my primary criticisms with Sofia the First is how its final villain really doesn't fit into this mold all that well. The last villain of Sofia the First is Vor (yes that is her actual name), and while she does take over Enchancia, it feels less because she desires power and more because she is the embodiment of evil. I believe it's said in canon that many of the Disney villains got their evil from Vor. That's stupid. Like I get it was part of the Disney gimmick but it was stupid and the show had outgrown that. Also, "On Your/My Own" feels kind of weak for a final showdown because Sofia always seemed pretty independent even if she did get help at times. Maybe I'd allow it if the show ended after season 2, but now I'm involved in the themes of the show, dagummit.

Elena of Avalor shares the same themes of family and power that Sofia the First has. I'd argue that Elena's driving force is love for her family. Most of Elena's grand council is family members. Elena goes out of her way to make sure her sister is doing alright. Hell, one of the first things mentioned in the theme song is that her family is by her side! There's honestly a ton of episodes that focus on the relationship the royal family has with one another. "Model Sister" focuses on Elena's struggle between being crown princess and being there for her sister Isabel before ultimately deciding family comes first. "Sugar Rush" focuses on Elena's grandmother Luisa wanting to rekindle the family spirit and re-opening the family chocolate shop. "Día de las Madres" shows Esteban's first Mother's Day without his parents and how he's taking it, highlighting his relationship with Luisa in particular. Even outside the royal family there's episodes like "Spirit of a Wizard" where Mateo meets his grandfather Alacazar and they have a great time together or "The Family Treasure" where Elena and Isabel help rekindle the brotherhood of the Agama brothers.

Family coming first is a big thing in Elena of Avalor, and Elena would do anything for her family, especially considering what happened to her parents.

It's been 41 years since her parents have died, but the way being trapped in an amulet works (she's conscious but sort of trapped in an inert unaging state as far as I can tell, not to mention her situation constantly reminding her of what happened), Elena hasn't really been able to cope with the loss. She misses them every day. She's vengeful toward anyone she considers directly or indirectly responsible for their deaths, considering what they've done to be personal. Of course, anyone directly or indirectly responsible for the death of the King and Queen of Avalor must be some degree of power hungry, right?

Enter Shuriki's accomplices: Cristóbal, Victor, and Esteban.

While Cristóbal was not directly involved in Shuriki's invasion, he did profit from it, and ultimately attempted to help Shuriki re-seize control of Avalor in exchange for wealth. What makes this interesting is that Cristóbal and Elena are cousins, which is emphasized in the song "Familia Forever." It's kind of a familial version of "Love is an Open Door," actually, as that song mentions that Hans has been searching for his own place, but the song is ultimately a lie. In "Familia Forever," there's something similar. Cristóbal mentions in the song that Nueva Vista is lacking on funds, while a lot of the stuff about family is a lie. It has been 4 decades since he's seen most of these people after all, and wasn't as close to them as they all were to one another.

Going a bit off topic, Victor Delgado was one of the two people who helped Shuriki get into Avalor in exchange for power, but ultimately got betrayed and banished from Avalor. Yet, he still yearned for the power that was taken from him. Naturally after being betrayed by Shuriki, he goes back to Shuriki, instead of asking for political power, he asks for the power of magic, hoping that he and his daughter can be transformed into malvagos (which are basically just evil wizards). Unlike Cristóbal, who quickly chose power and wealth over family, Victor is presently dealing with this struggle. He cares deeply for his daughter Carla, doing things for her sake, and despite loving his wife Ash, tends to question her devotion to her family, questioning why she left them for ten years in "Not Without My Magic."

Finally, Esteban Flores. He was the only member of the royal family living in the castle who was not killed or imprisoned within a magical artifact when Shuriki, the woman who killed Elena's parents, invaded Avalor. For 41 years he has been working as a chancellor, and ultimately doing a balancing act to keep Avalor's economy and world standing afloat, along with keeping Shuriki happy. And he's living with the consequences of his actions.

In "King of the Carnaval," we are introduced to the aforementioned Victor Delgado and his daughter Carla. Victor is an old friend of Esteban and Elena, but being banished by Shuriki while Esteban got to live in the palace for four decades left a bad taste in Victor's mouth, so he blackmails Esteban. Turns out Esteban was the other of the two people who helped Shuriki get into Avalor, and now if Esteban doesn't want his secret leaked, he has to steal the royal jewels, especially Elena's mother's tiara.

This episode is the first in which we see that Esteban Flores has something deeply, deeply wrong with him.

He has a song in this episode, "Something I Would Never Do," which is a song about justifying his actions. What really interests me is that the first chorus.

I must protect my family's heart
I cannot break their world apart
Hurting them is something I would never do

And I absolutely love the irony and lack of self awareness here. Of course, the royal jewels have great monetary value, but the royal family is rich, so this means little to Esteban. But when you remember that the primary target is Elena's mother's tiara, something with such intense sentimental value to Elena, that it serves as a metaphor for her parents' lives in future episode "Dreamcatchers," Elena is going to be hurt by this. A lot. Also if you're like 6, stealing is bad I guess.

The second verse and chorus focuses less on the family and more on himself, and is probably the first battle of family and power we see in the show. When Esteban was a child, he did not feel like part of his family, so he sought after power. However, in the present he very much embraces his family because he knows they love him and he loves them back. There's just this one problem of him causing Shuriki's invasion that they can never ever ever know about. And, in Esteban's defense, he was literally neurodivergent and a minor at the time. The second chorus also speaks to his personal desires, rather than protecting his family.

I must protect my troubled heart
I cannot break my world apart
Losing them is something I could never
So I must do something I could never
Yes I will do something I would never do

And that just makes you think more about Esteban as a character. He's essentially spent the last 40+ years alone. He had no family left, no romantic prospects, and most of the friends Esteban had are more of friendly rivals like Doña Paloma. He's had his taste of power soaked in betrayal and loneliness and now after years his family is back and they haven't aged a day, and he wouldn't give them up for anything in the world.

Another topic I think is worth discussing is that Esteban is surprisingly immature for a man of his age. Considering how long the royal family has been gone, that would put him in his late 50s to early 60s, but he does not act like it. Now a lot of this comes from how children shows portray some adult characters as somewhat childish (examples include Pizza Guy from Higglytown Heroes, Robbie Rotten from Lazytown, and Donald Duck from the Mickey Mouse CGI shows), but I think there's an in universe explanation too, and I realized it... From a Ghost and Molly McGee episode?

"Twin Trouble" focuses on Pete (who is kind of a Jerry from Rick and Morty or Doug from Future Worm type of character) and his visiting older siblings who pick on him relentlessly. Throughout the episode, Pete gets increasingly more immature as the episode goes on and he spends more time around his family. I think Esteban is going through something similar as Pete from the ghost show, with the added caveat that he was only 17-18 when he lost the rest of family, so he really didn't get to have those years of young adulthood, which he is making up for now. (Indeed, Esteban laments on his wasted youth in the episode "Fountain of Youth.")

I've mentioned outside this blog that I would love to watch a show like Elena of Avalor from Esteban's point of view. This morally grey protagonist living a life of regret and solitude trying to cope with the family that he hasn't seen in 41 years returning and not aging a day. It'd defintely be interesting. Apparently if I would like a show like that I'd also like Better Call Saul. I have no idea how accurate this claim is, but if Elena of Avalor is like Better Call Saul I can only presume Sofia the First is like Breaking Bad. I am not taking criticism.

Victor and Esteban are very fun characters to compare because they want to have it both ways. Victor wants the power that comes with being a malvago, but he also loves his daughter and wants to be a happy family. On the inverse, Esteban loves his family and is getting closer to them, but he desires status and spends time early in season 1 undermining Elena in attempts to leverage power from her. They foil each other well, but it's more they're on opposite sides of the same coin. Esteban, despite being a petty jerk, is ultimately on Elena's side while Victor is against her. Victor's "redemption" so to speak takes place during Esteban's descent.

And I haven't spoken a bit about Carla Delgado huh... When we're first introduced to her, she's something of a spoiled girl, which is driven by the same desire for power as her father. Carla is convinced you can have it both ways, having money and power, and this is especially seen when her mother, Ash, enters the picture. Much like Esteban, Carla also hasn't seen her mother in a long time (10 years), and begins to act with childish enthusiasm when her mother returns. In "Not Without My Magic," we learn that Victor and Ash put on a loving face when Carla is around, only to argue when she leaves. In "Sister of Invention," after Victor is imprisoned, Carla's priority is rescuing her father, while her mother prioritizes finding the crystal well and unlocking its untold power. Carla goes along with it, assuming she can have it both ways. Finally, in "The Magic Within," she loses everything. A fight between Victor and Ash results in Ash turning Victor to stone. Carla is horrified and immediately realizes family doesn't do this, and decides to turn herself in, ultimately choosing family over power, but for a while, having neither.

Compare this to Esteban, who spends a lot of season three post-"The Magic Within" somewhat witlessly sided with Ash, but ultimately looking out for himself and trying to serve as a mediator. However, in "Dreamcatchers," what little chance he had of reconciling with his family is thrown out the window, as Elena disowns him. While Carla lost her family and ultimately chose it regardless, Esteban lost his and finally got pushed over the edge, choosing power.

Semi-related but this is probably the one perfect shot of Elena of Avalor. 

Anyway, I haven't talked much about "The Magic Within" have I? So let's talk about Sofia the First again.

In the Sofia the First episode "The Curse of Princess Ivy," Amber is jealous of Sofia's amulet, especially once she finds out that Sofia can summon princesses with it. So, she steals the amulet and replaces it with a decoy (something Cedric was unable to do to this point, which is kinda funny to point out). However, in the early seasons of Sofia the First, Elena acts as something of a gatekeeper for the amulet, so anyone who does a bad deed while wearing the amulet is cursed. Amber's curse comes in the form of a summoned princess, Ivy, who plans to destroy the amulet so she can't be sent back to where she came and then take over Enchancia. She sings "A Kingdom of my Own," a song that reflects the sibling jealously Amber shows off in this episode... But I noticed something...

So I hatched a plot to bring her down
Show them who should wear the crown
They caught me and without a trial
Marooned me on a desert isle

In the Elena of Avalor episode "The Magic Within," the royal family finally learns of Esteban's involvement with Shuriki. As I mentioned earlier, Esteban was driven by a desire for power and a feeling of inadequacy, similar to Ivy's desire for power and need to prove herself. Esteban is eventually tried in front of the rest of the grand council (unlike Ivy), and Elena suggested he be exiled to Soledad Island (like Ivy!).

Something that really interests me about Elena of Avalor is its rotating arc villains. It's always a group and I love that. We start out with Shuriki and the Delgados, who are then joined by Fiero. Then we get Troyo, Cruz, and Vestia. Then Troyo fucks off and dies at some point. Cristóbal joins the team for a hot minute, Shuriki gets killed, and Fiero turns to a statue. 

Keeping score?

Cruz and Vestia decide they are over this and want to go home, then Ash Delgado is introduced to the party. Ash's mentor, Zopilote helps out but isn't a part of the team yet. The Delgado family is arrested. Esteban is sentenced to exile and decides to work alongside the Delgados in an agreement to help them all escape. Ash turns Victor to stone. Carla gets upset and turns herself in. Ash returns to Zopilote in order to train her magic further and Esteban's because he is magic too now. Zopilote dies. Ash and Esteban free Chatana from her prison, giving them access to all of Chatana's crazy little animals, such as Pili, who always hangs on her shoulder. Then they get a magical talking bat named Tziloco to join their team.

Lost yet? Don't worry. We're almost done.

Ash summons the Shadows of the Night, but ultimately falls into the spirit world with Elena. Chatana, Pili, and Tziloco get captured and imprisoned (presumably for good). Ash wins a game of Olaball and remains in the spirit world forever. Meanwhile the Shadows of the Night, now renamed The Four Shades of Awesome (Hetz, Yolo, Vuli, and Cahu), are convinced Esteban freed them and work for him now. Hetz gets killed on screen by Isabel. Yolo and Vuli get paralyzed. Therefore our final villains are Esteban and Cahu. Or rather just Cahu, because it's another Esteban gets betrayed by a woman after the kingdom episode.

Anyway remember how I was talking about Cinderella's song at the beginning? From the very first episode of Sofia the First? "True Sisters?" Well...

But ever since I wed the prince
And left my hurt behind
There's one regret I won't forget
That weighs upon my mind

A large part of Elena of Avalor has Elena preparing for a test that she must pass or she will never become queen. She spends a lot of time stressed out about it, or celebrating that she's passed her test once a major arc development happens, but whenever she sees Quita Moz, the sunbird oracle, he tells her that the test hasn't come yet. She arrives at her coronation and her test still hasn't come around. Or rather, she hasn't passed it yet. 

After the events of "The Magic Within," Elena is particularly angry at Esteban. Shuriki is dead and that death doesn't bring back her parents or stop the hurt. Since Esteban indirectly caused Elena's parents to get killed (despite him being promised no one in his family would get hurt, a rule he stands by even in his darkest of hours), Elena's hurt is now directed toward Esteban. This tends to result in Elena's dress turning orange and things starting to fly in the air in rage whenever she is around Esteban or even thinks about him. She even disowns him and some points and lets her anger toward Esteban distract from her goal.

If only we had tried to see
A way to start anew
We may have found that this time round
Our friendship only grew

Elena learns a lot about Esteban after he is disowned, and even learns to not necessarily forgive Victor and Carla, but allows herself to tolerate being around them. In addition, she learns how to forgive herself and stand back up when she's made a mistake. (I hate to give this just a footnote, but the themes in "Never Too Late" are honestly so good. It kind of reflects how I've felt in some of my own darkest hours.) Anyway, it gives Elena the proper buildup to pass her test. Elena confronts Cahu and just before Elena's fate is sealed, Esteban takes the blow for Elena. After mourning her cousin's sacrifice Elena finally passes her test, forgiving him, and allowing their relationship to grow once again.

What a fucking bookend! Anyway Firebuds comes out September 21st!

Of course, I'm not necessarily saying forgive those who've wronged you, especially if it was a tough hurt and especially especially if they haven't changed. It's honestly a lot harder than that, and I'm usually pretty critical of these sorts of things. However, I'm also naive as hell and I want to believe people can change and friendships can blossom where the past was desolate and terrible if they both try at it. Sofia and Amber try at it, and so do Elena and Esteban.

Man, I really do love Elena of Avalor. It takes upon the themes of Sofia the First and really makes you think more and adds onto them. You can tell how much I gush about it, it's in my top five for a reason. Anyway the entire reason the show is not any higher is because of Flo. 

Flo is a character who first appears in "The Magic Within" when Elena discovers her emotion based magic and is happy to be alive. That feeling unfortunately brought Flo, a float model of an alpaca-coati hybrid to life. Flo not only represents the oversaturation of funny animal mascot characters in Elena of Avalor (we have the jaquins, the jaquin babies, the chanul, the zanies, the noblins, Chatana's creatures, just about every species in Vallestrella, and of course, Flo), but she also actively ruins every scene she's in. Recall she's in "The Magic Within." The scene where the family finds out Esteban's secret. She's there. Esteban's trial. She's there too. She's also there for the death of a character we grew close to and absolutely ruins the mood. I don't usually get mad at characters enough to the point where I yell at them every time they do something that ruins the tone, but I am man enough to admit I did it a few times with Flo.

I probably should not have done a two parter for this post. It's my longest one yet, breaking the 5000 word barrier, but what can I say? Sofia the First is in my top 10. Elena of Avalor is in my top 5. These shows overlap so much not only in characters and universes, but also in themes and takeaways. I've mentioned in the past that every Playhouse Disney or Disney Junior show is about something different, including those made by the same creators. But Sofia and Elena's stories are so tied together that Elena of Avalor feels like a continuation of Sofia the First.

Overall Rating for Sofia the First: A Tier

Overall Rating for Elena of Avalor: S Tier