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Meet Sofia. She was just a girl in the village doin’ alright, then she became a princess over night when the King met her mother and swept them away to live in a castle and a storybook world in Enchancia. Now she is working on how to do “royalty right,” as Sofia the First. My family was selected to screen the new DVD available in stores on September 17th. At first, I wasn’t so sure my twins would be into the series, having it be about a princess after all, so thought I would be watching it with my 7 year old daughter. How incorrect I was. My twins love the entire Disney Jr. Playhouse series– all of them Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, and of course the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Not only do they adore all the characters, but they also love to sing along. And, I’m not kidding when I say they totally get into it- arms up, dancing, shouting back at the TV, they love all of it. Including Sofia the First. The photo below is a bit grainy, but it is the boys at the new Playhouse Disney Jr. at California Adventures in Anaheim, California. They were the groupies of the show, treating every act like they were rockstars!

Playhouse disney jr

What is so great about this particular DVD release is the short film addition from Frozen. The boys laugh aloud at the moose. They think he is just hysterical. And, the animation is pretty cool. Which of course, gets me excited to see the animated film this November when it comes out. There is also a Sofia dress up doll kit that my daughter snatched up right away and began putting together on her desk. Immediately I felt like the whole family was involved in the Sofia the First DVD. 

Here is the synopsis:

Your favorite little princess-in-training returns for more music, majesty and magical fun, so get ready to have a ball with Sofia the First! Becoming royalty overnight is every girl’s dream, and Sofia is eager to prove she can be a true princess. Visit an enchanted circus, meet a pet dragon and soar through desert skies with Sofia and Amber on a magic carpet ride!  But when their high-flying adventure veers off course, it’s special guest Princess Jasmine to the rescue with inspiring advice about trying new things, staying strong and trusting yourself. Sparkling with extraordinary song, unforgettable characters and thrilling surprises, Ready to Be A Princess opens the door to a whole new world of kindness, helping others and being the best you can be!

The dvd itself has 5 different episodes and features cameos from some of your favorite Disney Princesses like Jasmine. The episodes explore everyday experiences like honesty, loyalty, courage, independence, compassion and grace, characteristics of a true princess, and depicts them in a way children can relate. As a mother, I’m often struggling with how to teach my children how to posses these qualities and understand why they are important to practice. The episodes on the DVD certainly help as a guide in some of the intangible parenting issues. There is one episode in particular, “A Royal Mess,” where Sofia takes the blame for an accident her brother James caused. Common sense gets you thinking, “wow, that’s really sweet she did that for her brother,” then as the story goes on, the lesson begins to hit as to why that is really not a good thing to do. I love that story because I know with four children, something like that is bound to happen, if it hasn’t already. 

Sofia_the_first_disney_dvd

As usual, the voice casting is terrific as only Disney can do. I love trying to guess the actors to the voices, but sometimes I need a cheat sheet:

Ariel Winter (ABC TV’s “Modern Family”) as Sofia, Sara Ramirez (ABC TVs “Grey’s Anatomy”) as Queen Miranda, Wayne Brady (TV’s “Let’s Make A Deal”) as Clover & Tim Gunn (TV’s “Project Runway”) as Baileywick

The episodes available on this DVD:                   

                                  1- “A Royal Mess”

                                  2- “The Shy Princess”

                                  3 – “Blue Ribbon Bunny”

                                  4 – “The Princess Test”

                                 5 – “Two To Tangu” (Jasmine Episode)

Take a trip to Enchancia with Sofia the First and see what being a true princess is all about! You can learn more about Sofia the First by visiting the Disney Junior Website.  FTCDisclosure

Run Time:                  Approx. 110-minutes 

Rated:                       TV-Y 

Aspect ratio:             1.78:1 Widescreen (Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions) 

Sound:                       2.0 Dolby Digital

Languages/              English, French & Spanish