The Creator of “Sofia the First” Responds!

Recently, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek post asking ten burning questions regarding my daughter’s favorite show, Sofia the First. This morning, the show’s creator and executive producer, Craig Gerber, hopped on Twitter to say that he dug my post and to answer my dumbass queries.

My original questions are in italics, his answers are below in bold. Or you can check his Twitter page, @_CraigGerber (I’ve taken the liberty to use proper grammar and punctuation that was shortened for Twitter):

1. There is a sorcerer who lives in the basement of the castle. His name is Cedric the Sensational. However, in the early episodes, Sofia kept pronouncing it as “Seedrick,” even as he repeatedly corrected her. Why? And why did it just stop one day? For someone supposedly so clever, this made her look quite dumb.

A: I’ve seen kids (even smart ones) mispronounce the same words over and over. Ceedric is the word Sofia just can’t get right until she gets older. Also Cedric didn’t deserve to have his name pronounced correctly.

2. Amber is often jealous of Sofia’s amulet, even stealing it from Sofia’s neck one night in her sleep. This begs the question: why did King Roland give a magical amulet (that we later learn was owned by his sister when she was a child) to his stepdaughter but not his own biological child?

A: Roland didn’t know the amulet was magical when he gave it to Sofia. He thought it was nice jewelry.

3. Speaking of which, King Roland II is often referred to as the greatest king Enchancia has ever had. Why? He fucks up constantly and does very little to help those that aren’t also kings. One day, he lets his prepubescent son be king for a day so he can go relax. He’s the George W. Bush of royalty. How is he the best? Was Enchancia previously helmed by Stalin and Hitler?

A: Question #6 answered Question #3: Roland II is the people’s king. The kind of king people want to have an ale with.

4. What happened to Roland’s wife? Originally, I thought it was maybe a Henry VIII sort of thing, but he has a son, so that can’t be it.

5. On the flip side, what happened to Miranda’s husband?

A: Many have asked about the birth parents. One day, there will be answers.

6. While we’re on the subject, Roland met Miranda, a shoemaker, when she was summoned to the castle to give the king a new pair of slippers and it was love at first sight. How does a village shoemaker get such easy access to the king? What if she were dangerous? Is this why Roland is so beloved, because people can just approach him? I can’t even get an audience with my congressman.

(See Question #3.)

7. It’s obvious that Roland and Miranda get married very quickly after meeting. Why the shotgun wedding? Was she pregnant? What happened to the baby? Did she have dirt on the king that she used to blackmail him? Or is Roland a serial monogamist who needs to be in a relationship at all times?

A: Ha!

8. Why doesn’t Sofia meet her (step)father or (step)siblings until the day of the wedding? They never had a get-to-know-you dinner beforehand? What about the rehearsal?

A: Sofia met her siblings before the wedding. Sofia is formal in Once Upon a Princess because she barely knows them and is nervous and excited.

9. When Rapunzel shows up to help Sofia and Amber, she has her famous long blonde hair, which she uses to help them get out of a hole in which they’ve fallen. However, the last time we saw her, it had been cut off and turned dark. In fact, this was the reason there was no sequel (apart from the short Tangled Ever After). How?

A: Watch the Tangled TV series next year and find out.

10. Similarly, when Ariel shows up to help, she’s a mermaid, but at the end of The Little Mermaid, she has taken on a human form and married Eric. Again, how? (Update: according to my sister-in-law, an amateur Ariel scholar: “It’s basically the synopsis of The Little Mermaid II – at the end, her daughter Melody chooses to partake in the human and mermaid world so it’s reasonable to assume that she and Ariel can pretty much go back and forth as they please.”)

A: Already answered by Ariel scholar. 🙂

Finally, this isn’t really a question, but in some episodes Sofia is incredibly clever, insightful, and prescient, yet other times she’s completely naive or, worse, disbelieving. This is a girl that talks to animals and has princesses appear when she needs them, yet she’s still adamant that certain things can’t possibly be true. And she never learns from her mistakes. She is constantly betrayed by bad spirits and animals pretending to be good. I know this is meant to show how she has a good heart and believes in the human race, but I see it as a major character flaw.

You are right. Sofia’s biggest flaw is that she’s too trusting. It will take her a long time to learn this lesson. Hope this helps.

As I wrote to Mr. Gerber on Twitter, it’s amazing that he took the time to not only read my post, but also respond. It’s ridiculous to nitpick continuity, backstory, and character motivation of a children’s television show. I imagine it’s an incredibly difficult endeavor and it would have been completely understandable for him to have been annoyed or dismissive. But he wasn’t. He was a great sport about it.

These answers have actually spawned more questions, but I’ll save them for now. In the meantime, I’ll just keep watching the adventures of the royal family from Enchancia.

Christopher Pierznik’s nine books are available in paperback and Kindle. Check out more of his writing at Medium. His work has appeared on XXL, Cuepoint, Business Insider, The Cauldron, Medium, Fatherly, Hip Hop Golden Age, and many more. Subscribe to his monthly newsletter or follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

This article contains Amazon affiliate links. Any click may result in my receiving a commission