First she was finding out what it means to be royal, now she’s learning what it means to be magic.
Sofia the First is returning to Disney Jr., 14 years after the original show debuted. In the first iteration, Sofia, who is known as Disney’s “first little princess,” became royal when her mom married a king. In the new series, dubbed Sofia the First: Royal Magic, the titular character discovers that she is the most magical princess in the realm and must learn how to master her powers while making new royal friends.
“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 original programming and strategy at Disney Jr., of the show’s lasting appeal. “And then to take a little girl figuring out how to become a princess, it’s so aspirational for kids.”
Indeed, the kids who comprise Gen Alpha and the tail end of Gen Z grew up with the original iteration of the show, which debuted in 2012 with the animated television movie Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess, followed by the series premiere in January 2013. Sofia the First still holds the record for top 3 cable TV telecasts for the girls 2-5 demo and top 2 with kids 2-5. Disney Jr. says the series has also notched more than 1.2 billion views on its YouTube channel.
