"The Emerald Key" is the thirty-eighth episode of the Disney Jr. animated series, Sofia the First. It premiered on October 11, 2014, and is the fourteenth episode of the second season.
Overview
After a valuable emerald key from the kingdom of Hakalo washes up on the shore of the castle, Sofia and her family must figure out who the key belongs to when two girls arrive, both claiming to be the princess and rightful owners.
Plot
On a ship sailing across the sea on a stormy night, a cloaked woman heads to the stern and opens a small container and finds a key she plans to use to take over the Kingdom of Hakalo. A young girl named Lei-Lani attempts to stop her, but they both fall over with the key falling overboard. Lani calls for help, but nobody notices that she's right under their noses.
At the same time, the Royal Family of Enchancia is spending the day at the beach. When Roland notices a storm coming, Miranda tells the kids they're going home. As everyone packs up, Sofia finds the key and shows it to her family. She asks her parents if it's magical and Roland states they'll find out when they get back to the castle. Meanwhile, the woman who tried to steal the key is watching from tall grass and decides to trick them into giving her the key and uses a magical jewel to disguise herself, revealing herself as a sorceress.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, Sofia discovers that the key she found is the Emerald Key of Hakalo, a magical key that leads whoever processes it to the island Kingdom of Hakalo. Baileywick comes in and announces that they have a visitor: The Princess of Hakalo. After being introduced, Lani tells Sofia and her family how she came to the castle and asks that the Key be returned to her. Suddenly, a green-eyed girl comes in and claims to be the real Princess of Hakalo. Amber insists that the second Lei-Lani is the real Princess since she has a classical Princess look, but Sofia knows that appearances can be deceiving and insists that the two girls be tested. Roland agrees to test them with three challenges. For the first challenge, the two girls are expected to dance gracefully. Princess Look Lei-Lani wins only because she danced a waltz. For the second challenge, the two girls are required to gracefully receive a gift. Lani wins because Princess Look Lei-Lani throws a tantrum after discovering her gift is a snail. Since it's still raining, Roland decides that the third challenge will be held the next morning. Sofia spends some time with Lani, who tells her what being a true Princess is about and Sofia agrees. Sofia now knows that Lani is the real Princess, but Lani reminds her she still has to prove it to her family. Meanwhile, Princess Look Lei-Lani is revealed to be the sorceress who tried to steal the Emerald Key in disguise and makes Lei-Lani's bed lumpy to ensure she fails the final challenge.
The next day, Princess Look Lei-Lani greets Sofia politely, but throws a tantrum when she sees Clover, prompting him to say "If that girl's a Princess, I'm a skunk." Lani comes out of her room, bone tired. The third challenge is to see which girl can make it out of the maze first. Princess Look Lei-Lani wins because of her cheating and gains the Emerald Key, upsetting Lani. Sofia points out that Lani only failed because she didn't sleep well. Amber insists that she must not be used to sleeping in a castle, but Sofia suspects foul play. Sure enough, Sofia finds out that the reason Lani didn't sleep well is that her bed is lumpy and finds Princess Look Lei-Lani's ring under the mattress, verifying she made the bed lumpy. Since a true princess would never cheat, this discovery forces the Royal Family to discover that Lani was telling the truth all along.
They go after Princess Look Lei-Lani, who drops her disguise and reveals herself to be the sorceress who attempted to steal the Emerald Key. The sorceress informs the Royals "I am Mamanu! I was once the Royal Enchantress of Hakalo." Lani states "I've heard of you! My father caught you stealing magic crystals from the Royal Museum! He banished you from the Kingdom forever!" Mamanu retorts "But now that I have the Emerald Key, I will rule Hakalo. You and your parents will never see home again." The forest animals stop Mamanu from fleeing and Lani gets the Key back. Mamanu demands the Key back. Sofia shields Lani stating "You'll have to get past me first!" Sofia's family shield both girls with Roland stating "Past all of us!" Roland tells his guards to seize Mamanu, but she escapes. Later on, Lani is reunited with her family and, after saying their good-byes, the Royal Family of Hakalo uses the Emerald Key to return home.
Home Video Release
Cast
- Ariel Winter as Princess Sofia
- Darcy Rose Byrnes as Princess Amber
- Zach Callison as Prince James
- Travis Willingham as King Roland II
- Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
- Tim Gunn as Baileywick
- Abigail Mavity as Princess Lani
- Angelique Perrin as Mamanu (Rachel Pace voices her disguised form)
- Wayne Brady as Clover
- Meghan Strange as Robin
- Kevin Michael Richardson as King Kamea
- Monica Richardson as Queen Halia
- Jennifer Hale as Violet
- Keith Ferguson as Coachman
Transcript
The transcript for The Emerald Key may be viewed here.
Videos
Gallery
Trivia
- Viewership: This episode was watched by 2.381 million viewers on its premiere.[1]
- This is the first episode to premiere on a Saturday, as well as the first non-holiday or special episode to not premiere on a Friday.
- This is also the first episode to premiere on the anniversary of a previous episode; it aired a year after "Princess Butterfly".
- This episode premiered to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child.
- While on the beach, Sofia wears an alternate version of her Pirate outfit from "Baileywick's Day Off".
- The island Kingdom of Hakalo is possibly inspired by the Islands of Hawaii; the people wear native clothing and do Hula like dancing.
- Hakalo is the only known kingdom to be hidden away and only accessible by a mystical item.
- This episode is similar to the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. A princess is drenched in water when she comes to the castle, and she is tested. The test, though, was by putting a pea underneath several mattresses; in the episode, it wasn't a test and merely a cheat so the real princess wouldn't pass the test.
- A stag in this episode looks like Bambi's father, The Great Prince of the Forest.
- While Lani and Sofia's family chase Leilani in the rain, they show no sign of getting wet.
- Sofia gains a new enemy: Mamanu.
- Mamanu is very similar to Cedric; both are Royal sorcerers who desire a magical object so they can take over their kingdoms.
- However, there are differences between Cedric and Mamanu; Cedric is bumbling and rarely does anything right, but he has shown from time to time to have a heart and Sofia trusts him to the point where she regards him as a friend while Mamanu is truly evil and is a very talented enchantress who only cares about her selfish and greedy desires and Sofia knows she's an enemy and would never trust her even if her life depended on it.
- Kevin Michael Richardson, who voiced Captain Gantu in Lilo & Stitch and Samson's father in The Wild, voiced the King of Hakalo along with his wife Monica as the Queen of Hakalo as well.
- This is the first episode to open at night.
- This is the second time Prince James wears his swim trunks.
- The part when Lani says "She tried to steal my family's key last night" is incorrect. On that night, Lani was having trouble sleeping. Mamanu tried to steal the key the other night.
- This is the last episode where Zach Callison voices James.
- Moral: Don't judge others according to their appearance or your own preconceptions.
References
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (October 14, 2014). Showbuzz Daily's Top 25 Saturday Cable Originals: 10.11.2014. Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2024.