r/sofiathefirst

With Sofia The First: Royal Magic being primarily made for today's preschool kids (but still with elements for long time fans), many episode concepts from both the original series and other preschool shows are unsurprisingly being reused. "Kidding Around" is no exception. The general plot of a princess's parent turning into a child was done with the episode "Kid Triton" from the Disney Junior Ariel series. From the original series, this episode is similar to "Two Princesses And A Baby" (someone becoming younger) and "When You Wish Upon A Well" (a wish gone wrong). However, it's also similar to "Mom's The Word", which also looks into Sofia's relationship with Miranda. What I want to know is, between "Mom's The Word" and "Kidding Around", which one do you see as better? Let's go over them.

"Mom's The Word" focuses on Sofia feeling jealous about how she and Miranda have to spend Mother's Day with Amber and James since she's used to having her all to herself. With help from Lucinda (who still wants to be good) and her mother Marla, she uses witch magic to separate them from her siblings so that they could spend alone time together. "Kidding Around" focuses on Sofia wanting to spend time with Miranda, but she's too busy preparing for a kings and queens meeting. Thanks to a magic hairbrush Clover found, she decides to use it to spend more time with Miranda, but accidentally turns her into a kid. 

Probably a big deciding factor for whether you like "Mom's The Word" comes down to Sofia's behavior. This episode leans into her jealousy much more than "Four's A Crowd", which was just 4 episodes prior. She tries to purposefully drive a wedge between her mother and her siblings so that they can spend alone time together. There's an argument to be made that you do find her sympathetic since it's not easy for kids to adjust to something this big. We see this particularly with the "Me And My Mom" song. Plus, at least she didn't have Lucinda do anything too heinous. On the other hand, you have people thinking she went too far in her actions with how she seems very petty in keeping her to herself. I mean, she feels threatened by Amber and James' more extravagant gift rather than liking that at least they made her happy. 

"Kidding Around" goes for something a bit different, mainly showing a Sofia who's a bit selfish, but still more obviously likable. While her using the magic hairbrush to make Miranda spend time with her despite the dinner is a bit selfish, the episode shows her immediately trying to get Miranda to go back to preparing the dinner when seeing how kid Miranda just wants to play all day. Sofia's portrayal is someone who knows about the responsibilities, but is tempted by her own vices to do what she wants. You see this in the "Play All Day" song, where she does at least try to get Miranda under control, but then decides that it can wait since they both can have fun. 

Probably another major change in how the episodes are written comes down to Miranda's role. In "Mom's The Word", she is active in trying to get the family back together, but is more reactive when it comes to the personal conflict since she's mainly about giving good advice to Sofia. "Kidding Around" makes her more proactive in her choices with how she actively chooses to shirk her responsibilities since this is too much fun. In a way, she gets the episodes secondary character arc, much like Lucinda in the original episode. 

One final difference comes down to the writers. "Mom's The Word" is written by Michael G. Stern, who recently joined the show. He did write "The Enchanted Feast" with Craig Gerber, but thus is his first solo episode, and thus he probably didn't have the best grasp on the characters. "Kidding Around" is written by Isabel Galupo, who didn't write on the original series, but she is experienced with the new show since she already wrote four other episodes prior to this (Give It A Twirl, Royal Family Picnic, Zane The Hero, Crown Chaos).

And that's all I have. What do you think?

There's an interesting background detail I just noticed with Zaria that's actually funny. During the scene where Delwyn Dashing brings the decorations to life and chases the kids, she's actually excited for this. I mean, she's the only one with a smile on her face when the decorations chase them. Plus, when riding the giant spider, she actually looks thrilled. It's a subtle moment, but it's so funny.