Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and
roses as Enchancia was threatened by numerous evil forces; some of whom wanted
Sofia’s amulet for themselves and their own ambitions. Among them was the bumbling
royal magician, Cedric
(Jess Harnell), who wanted
to overthrow the royal family; Princess Ivy (Anna Camp), who took over
Enchancia and wanted to make it as devoid of color as her own kingdom; Prisma (Megan Hilty), an evil crystal-conjurer
determined to outclass her sister, Azurine (Rachel MacFarlane), no matter
the cost; Glacia
the Ice Witch (Phylicia
Rashad), who bestowed anyone that brought her a gift with magic; Vor (Paty Lombard), an ancient
enchantress imprisoned in the Locket of Vor for spreading
evil throughout the world in order to conquer it and manipulated Prisma to get free; Slickwell (Christian Borle), a young steward
that sought to replace the royal steward, Baileywick (Tim Gunn); Miss Nettle (Megan Mullally & Anna Vocino), a fairy that sought to surpass
her former mentors, the good fairies; and Morgana (Catherine O’Hara), the egocentric
arch-enemy of Merlin (Jeff Bennet) who sought nothing
more than to defeat him, among others.
Sofia, Amber, James and Miranda.
The series was
created by Craig Gerber
after he was approached by Nancy
Kanter at Disney
Junior for an idea for a show about a princess targeted to 2 to 7-year-olds.
Gerber took inspiration from his life and
family to create Sophia. His son, Miles, liked to play pretend and emulated
fantasy characters he didn’t really have anything in common with. Gerber
decided that his character should go through a lot of the same life situations
Miles would, to serve as a “magic mirror” that would allow him to enjoy the
fantasy while identifying with the scenarios on the show. He also incorporated
his own childhood experiences of being from a blended family and posited what
if Sofia wasn’t always a princess, but became one overnight. It was a way to
modernize the princess dynamic and allow Sofia to be bold and curious as she
explored her new role and the world around her.
Vor manipulating Prisma for her freedom.
Sofia
the First debuted with a Disney Channel
television movie, Once
Upon a Princes, on November 18, 2012. It was the 5th
most-watched program for the week, and the highest for a Disney animated
special since 2009’s Phineas
and Ferb Christmas Vacation! The series proper debuted on January 11,
2013 on Disney Junior.; becoming one of the top 3 broadcasts for girls ages 2-5.
The series ran for four years, picked up Emmy and Humanitas awards, and spawned the
spin-off series Elena of Avalor. For the series’ 10th
anniversary n 2022, a sequel series was announced on social media called Sofia
the First: Royal Magic; which was officially
greenlit in 2024 and set to debut in 2026 (as of this writing). The
original Sofia continues to air in reruns on Disney Junior and on the
official Disney
Junior YouTube channel, and is available to stream on Disney+.
Developed
by Elena of Avalor story editor Becca Topol, Mira, Royal
Detective was a CGI-animated mystery series that took place in the
fictional kingdom of Jalpur; which resembled 19th century India.
Mira (Leela Ladnier) was appointed the royal detective by Queen Shanti (Freida Pinto) after solving a
mystery involving Prince
Neel (Kamran Lucas). Mira
traveled around the kingdom helping out royals and commoners with the aid of
her two mongoose sidekicks, Mikku (Kal Penn) and Chikku (Utkarsh Ambudkar).
Sometimes aiding her was Neel, a talented inventor in his own right, and her
cousin, Priya (Roshni Edwards), who was
clever and creative. The series was designed to highlight critical thinking and
encourage deductive reasoning.
Mira with Mikku and Chikku.
Mira,
Royal Detective debuted on Disney Junior on March 20, 2020; the first to
feature a South Asian protagonist. The series was highly influenced by South
Asian design and culture, with IW Group’s
Shagorika Ghosh Perkins
serving as a cultural consultant. Producer Sascha Paladino had stated that
they watched a lot of Bollywood
films to prepare for the show, and decided to emulate the musical numbers often
featured in them. Bollywood choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan coordinated
and recorded the dances for those musical numbers with assistants, and the
animators would then work off of these to render the routine on screen. Deepak Ramapriyan and Amritha Vaz composed the music for the
show. Art director Dorothea
Gerassimova took great inspiration from Indian art and architecture in
designing the look of the series. Further adding authenticity to the series was
that the cast was of South Asian descent. The characters were designed by Michelle Lin and David A. Cardenas B. Animation was
handled by Wild Canary Animation and Technicolor
Studios.
VAMPIRINA (Disney Junior,
Disney Channel, October 1, 2017-June 28, 2021) Brown Bag Films
Vampirina
is a computer-animated series created by Chris Nee, creator of Doc
McStuffins, based on the Vampirina Ballerina
series of books written by Anne Marie
Pace, illustrated by LeUyen
Pham, and published by Disney-Hyperion.
Consisting of four books released between 2012-17, the series focused on Vampirina,
a young vampire who had aspirations of taking up ballet while overcoming the
fact that she is, y’know, a vampire and also has stage fright. The animated
series takes loose inspiration from the books, with Vampirina Hauntley
(Isabella Crovetti) and her
family—mother Oxana
(Lauren Graham), father Boris (James Van Der Beek), and werewolf-transforming
dog Wolfie (Dee Bradley Baker), omitting the siblings
she had in the books—moving from Transylvania to open a supernatural-friendly
bed and breakfast called Scare
B&B in Pennsylvania. They had to learn to adapt to their new
environment so as not to alert the normal humans to their vampiric origins and
scare them. Along with the Hauntleys, the series featured Demi (Mitchell Whitfeld), a ghost who
loved with them; Gregoria
(Wanda Sykes), a 473-year-old
gargoyle who acted like Vampirina’s sidekick; Poppy Peepleson (Jordan Alexa Davis), Vampirina’s
human best friend; Edgar
(Benji Risley), Poppy’s
older twin brother who was a monster enthusiast and ran the vlog “Weekly
Weirdness”; and Bridget
(ViviAnn Yee), Vampirina’s
other human friend. Together, Vampirina, Poppy, Edgar and Bridget had a band
called the Ghoul Girls.
Vampirina, her friends and family welcoming a guest to the Scare B&B.
Doc
McStuffins was a computer animated series on Disney Junior that
followed the adventures of Dottie “Doc” McStuffins
(Kiara Muhammad & Laya DeLeon Hayes) as she
pursued her dreams of becoming a doctor by practicing on her menagerie of
stuffed animals. A magical stethoscope allowed her to bring toys to life, and
following Toy Story rules they behaved like toys around other people. In
the 4th season, her grandmother (Dawnn Lewis) gave Doc her own
magical stethoscope that transported her to McStuffinsville, a city populated
by living toys where Doc became the head of the hospital there.
So it was
only natural that Doc would end up meeting Disney’s
most famous stuffed animal: Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings). In the episode
“Into the Hundred Acre Wood” written by series creator Chris Nee Pooh found himself
carried into McStuffinsville via a handful of balloons by a blustery day (a
common occurrence in the world of Pooh, it seems). Doc and her friends gave
chase to try and get Pooh down, but didn’t succeed before his stomach got torn
on a tree branch in the Hundred Acre Wood. Fortunately,
one quick trip to the hospital was all that was needed to get Pooh back up to
snuff. Not only was this the first episode to feature hand-drawn animation in
Pooh’s flashbacks, but it was the first time that Peter Cullen had voiced Eeyore since 2010. This also
marked a rare instance where Pooh and his friends being stuffed animals was
acknowledged outright.
The Rocketeer is a comic book
character created by writer and artist Dave Stevens.
Set in 1938 Los Angeles, the Rocketeer was the alter ego of Cliff Secord: a
racing pilot and barnstormer who stumbled upon a rocket pack stolen from Howard
Hughes and stashed in his plane by two German spies while on
the run from the police. He decided to use the pack for a spectacular stunt
that would get him the money he believed he needed to keep his girlfriend,
Betty, and enlisted the help of his mechanic friend Ambrose “Peevy” Peabody to
design a helmet that would act as a rudder. However, selfish desires turned to
heroism when Malcolm, a local drunk, decided to cover for Cliff in the air show
when he was running late, and Cliff had to use the pack to save him. That, of
course, put him on the radar of both the federal government—the rightful owners
of the rocket pack—and the Nazis
who wanted it back for their own government.
Dave Stevens' original depiction of the Rocketeer, his plane, and Betty under siege by gangsters.
Pacific Comics
publisher Steve Schanes had approached Stevens during a 1981 convention to do
two supplemental fill-in stories to pad out the second and third issues of his book, Starslayer.
Given complete freedom on the content, Stevens submitted a drawing of The
Rocketeer—which was used as the back cover of #2—to show his intended idea. He
then worked out a story to go around it. The character was an homage to the
Saturday morning matinee serials from the 1930s-50s and took particular
inspiration from King
of the Rocket Menand Commando Cody.
The
character proved popular, due in large part to Stevens’ art (he was a
self-proclaimed perfectionist and would work on a piece until he felt it was
perfect), and became one of the first successful entries in the growing
independent comics movement. Stevens was also credited for helping reignite
interest in 1950s pin-up model Bettie
Page,
having drawn numerous pictures of her and using her as the basis for the
character of Betty.
Cliff convincing Peevy to help him in his scheme.
The Rocketeer continued on in
the first two issues of the anthology series Pacific Presentsand
concluded in 1984’s Rocketeer
Special Edition, which was published by Eclipse Comics after
Pacific went bankrupt. A final three-part adventure penned by Stevens was
published by Comico
for two
issues in 1988 and 1989, and then Dark Horse Comicsfor the third
in 1995, as well as the collection Cliff’s New York
Adventure (research and Stevens’ meticulousness led
to the extensive delays). The remainder of Stevens’ career was generally
devoted to pin-up work until his death from hairy
cell leukemia in 2008.
The Rocketeer teaser poster.
Stevens had always viewed The
Rocketeer as a character primed for a film adaptation. A film version had been
in production in some form or other since 1983. Steve Miner purchased
the rights first, but strayed too far from the original concept and they
reverted back to Stevens. Stevens then offered writers Dany Bilson
and Pauil
De Meo a free option on the rights in 1985 after liking
their movie serial approach. They considered making it a low-budget affair, but
when they took on William
Dear
to write and direct they set their sights higher. The Rocketeer was
pitched to major film studios throughout 1986 but they had no interest in an
expensive comic book movie (clearly, a very different time in Hollywood).
Enter: Walt
Disney Studios, who saw the toyetic potential for the
character and agreed to make the film after a series of rewrites. Because of
the numerous delays in getting to production, Dear was forced to exit the
project and was replaced by Joe Johnston
as director.
The Rocketeer, an all-American hero.
The Rocketeer largely adapted
the initial four-part story, adding in the character of actor/Nazi agent
Neville Sinclair (Timothy
Dalton) as the primary villain. The character was based on
movie star Errol
Flynn and the fabricated biography written by Charles
Higham that accused him of being a Nazi spy. Brought over
from the second story was the character Lothar (Tiny Ron Taylor),
a hulking man modeled after journalist and actor Rondo Hatton
who once worked at a carnival with Cliff (that shared history was abandoned for
the film). Because of Disney’s involvement, certain things had to be rendered
more family friendly; in particular, Betty was changed from a nude model to a
struggling actress and was renamed Jenny (Jennifer Connelly)
to avoid comparisons to Page. Finding an actor for Cliff proved difficult for
the studio, with the likes of Dennis Quaid,
Kurt Russell,
Bill Paxton
and Emilio
Estevez auditioning for the role and Vincent D’Onofrio
turning it down. It ultimately went to Billy Campbell
after Stevens and Johnston convinced Disney he was perfect for the role.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have the same luck for Peevy when their choice, Lloyd Bridges,
turned it down. Alan
Arkin ended up with the role instead. Stevens himself had a
cameo as a Nazi rocketeer who was blown up by their own experimental pack.
The Rocketeer was released on
June 21, 1991, opening up in fourth place at the box office. It received
generally positive reviews from critics, but in the end only managed to bring
in $46.6 million in the United States making it a commercial disappointment.
Stevens, Bilson and De Meo had envisioned the film the first of a trilogy and
Disney hoped it would give them their own Indiana Jones-type
franchise (which Disney would end
up owning decades later, anyway), but the box office combined
with the falling out Johnston had with the studio resulted in the notion of a
sequel being squashed. The film was nominated for a Hugo Award
and several Saturn
Awards, ultimately winning the one for Best Costumes.
The Rocketeer gets the Funko POP! treatment.
In the years following, The
Rocketeer film had developed a significant cult following while Stevens’
original comics were still very much in demand. New merchandise, such as poseable
figures and replica
helmets, were made, and in 2011 IDW Publishing
began releasing all-new
Rocketeer comics. In 2012, Disney reversed its
earlier decision and began revisiting the idea of a new Rocketeer. In
2016, Disney announced it would be making
a reboot sequel set six years after the original, with a
Black female pilot taking up the mantle when Cliff goes missing.
Kit Secord gets a very special birthday present.
In the meantime, Disney also started
work on another project: an animated series. Developed by Nicole Dubuc,
The Rocketeer followed the same premise as the new film; except this
time around the new Rocketeer was Cliff’s great-granddaughter, Katherine “Kit”
Secord (Kitana Turnbull), who was obsessed with aircraft and flying (guess it
runs in the family). On her seventh birthday, Kit was gifted a mysterious box
containing the Rocketeer’s helmet. Upon showing it to her grandfather, Ambrose
(Frank Welker), he followed his father’s instructions and gave her a box
containing the rocket pack, making her the new Rocketeer.
Along with the occasional
happenstance like boulders blocking the train tracks and aerial accidents, Kit
often found herself protecting the town from a variety of criminals. Laura and
Harley (patterned after comedy team Laurel and Hardy,
voiced by Maria Bamford
and Kari
Wahlgren, respectively) were bumbling thieving sisters;
Sylvester Slapdash (modeled after quick change artist Sylvester Schäffer, Jr.,
voiced by Maurice
LaMarche) was known as the “Costumed Bandit” for his tendency
to use disguises in his thefts with the help of his pet ferret assistant,
Lillith (Welker); The Great Orsinio (based on an acquaintance of Cliff’s from
the comics, voiced by Charlie
Adler), a magician that wanted to incorporate the rocket
pack into his act; Deany (a play on Harry
Houdini emphasized when characters ask “Who? Deany?”, voiced
by Parvesh
Cheena), Orsinio’s hapless assistant with a background in
engineering; Rolland Poly, aka Doctor Doodlebug (Luca Padovan),
a kid genius in pill bug-themed armor that created inventions out of garbage he
stole and was advised by his watch A.I., Newton (D.C. Douglas);
Xena Treme (a play on “extreme”, voiced by Stephanie Lemelin),
an extreme sports athlete who did whatever it took to stay on top; Cast-Iron
Chef (food author and television host Ted
Allen), a food truck chef who constantly sought to steal
great recipes to improve his business; and Norman Sinclair (Raphael Alejandro),
the descendant of the film’s villain who wanted to become the Rocketeer
himself.
Confronting Doctor Doodlebug.
The Rocketeer debuted on Disney Junior
on November 18, 2019. Disney approached Dubuc about helming the show while she
was still working on programs for Hasbro.
As a fan of the movie, Dubuc accepted the gig and became a showrunner for the
first time. The series was co-produced by Disney Junior and Wild Canary Animation,
with computer animation duties handled by Icon Creative Studio,
Inc.
based off of the “steam pop” style—a bright, arts-and-crafts visual with
elements of machinery—developed by art director Max Miceli.
Character, background and prop designs were handled by Chad Frye,
Brent Gordon,
Michelle Kowalski,
Diana Ling,
Corey Loving,
Quintin
Puebla, Jeff
Purves and Bryan
Sims.
Kit with her mother and father.
Each
episode contained two 11-minute stories, with two episodes having a story that
spanned across both segments. As with other Disney Junior shows, a member of
the cast would recite the story title instead of it being displayed on screen.
The series was written by Dubuc with Kendall Michele Haney,
Brain Hohlfeld,
Greg Johnson,
Claudia Silver
and Kristofer
Wellman, with Johnson serving as story editor. Dubuc wrote
the lyrics to the theme song with music by Beau Black,
who also composed the music heard during the stock “suit-up” sequence whenever
Kit donned her flight gear. Dominic
Lewis composed the rest of the series’ music.
Casualty of action.
The
Rocketeer was well-received, praised for its writing, characters
and diversity. In 2020, it was nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards, although it didn’t
win any. Since the season finale has aired, there has been some question as to
whether or not the show was renewed for a second season—especially considering
it’s no longer listed on the Disney websites. Dubuc has stated on
social media that because of non-disclosure agreements she’s not permitted
to confirm or deny anything until the network makes any official announcements.
The entire season has been made available to stream on Disney+ and for purchase on YouTube.
EPISODE
GUIDE:
“First
Flight / Pilot Error” (11/8/19) – Kit is mysteriously given the rocket pack on
her birthday, making her the next Rocketeer. / New hero Kit must stop the sister
thieves Laura and Harley from robbing the jewelry store.
“Ground
Control to Rocketeer / Save the Statue” (11/15/19) – Tesh’s improvements on his
bike don’t pan out quite the way he hoped. / Kit and Tesh raise money to repair
the Rocketeer statue.
“Carnival
Caper / Songbird Soars Again” (11/22/19) – The Great Orsino sets his sights on
acquiring Kit’s rocket pack. / Kit befriends an old pilot and helps her return
to the skies.
“Downhill
Derby / Flight Class Heroes” (12/6/19) – A scheming young inventor plans to
ruin the downhill go-cart race with his weather machine. / Stranded in a
pilotless plane, Kit’s flight class has to work together to land safely.
“Hypnotic
Hughesville / The Piggy Bank Caper” (12/13/19) – The Great Orsino manages to
hypnotize the entire town. / Sylvester Slapdash steals Kit’s piggy bank when looking
for a special coin.
“X-Treme
Hero / Hot on the Trail” (1/10/20) – Kit introduces Tesh to his extreme sports
idol after rescuing her. / A hike with Tesh turns into a need to stop Laura and
Harley from stealing a precious gemstone.
“Valerie
the Valkyrie / Follow that Bulldog” (1/17/20) – Jealous of the Rocketeer,
Valerie creates her own alter ego. / The Cast-Iron Chef steals Kit’s family
cookbook in order to spice up his repertoire.
“Recipe
for Disaster / The Critter Gang” (1/24/20) – Cast-Iron Chef makes another
attempt to steal the Secord family recipes. / Kit investigates wild animals
robbing the town.
“Underground
Doodlebug / Bruce Goose” (2/21/20) – The Rocketeer sets out to find a
mischievous kid inventor. / Rocketeer teaches a goose that bonds with Bruce how
to fly and reunite with its family.
“Runaway
Lilith / The Hughesville Howler” (3/13/20) – Sylvester Slapdash’s pet ferret
runs away to join the Critter Gang. / Sylvester Slapdash plans to use the
legend of the Hughesville Howler to clear out the town and make it easier for
Lilith to steal things.
“Friends
and Family Picnic / Lights, Camera, Action Hero!” (4/3/20) – Rocketeer sets out
to ensure Valerie’s dad can make the Friends and Family picnic. / Tesh’s camera
goes missing, and it contains footage of Kit’s identity.
“Special
Delivery / The Hunt for Hughesberries” (4/10/20) – Tesh asks the Rocketeer to
ensure his father will arrive in time to see the birth of his new sibling. /
The Cast-Iron Chef returns to steal all of the town’s Hughesberry pies.
“Super
Deany / Dr. Doodlebug’s Fair Game” (4/17/20) – The malfunctioning jet pack ends
up in Deany’s possession and he uses it to play hero, unaware of its problems.
/ Rolland’s latest invention may ruin Kit and Tesh’s art projects.
“The
Valkyrie Cleans-Up / The Bank Job” (4/24/20) – Villains infest the town looking
to claim the reward for finding the stolen Rocketeer statue. / Kit helps Tesh
earn enough money to buy a new skateboard.
“Big
Top Problems / One Trick Pony” (7/4/20) – The circus is in town, and thefts
always seem to happen during The Great Orsino’s show. / Xena Treme cons Valerie
into flying for her new stunt despite Kit’s warnings.
“Pack-A-Doodle
/ Sitti’s Visit” (7/11/20) – Roland invents a device to help him win a new
merit badge. / The Cast-Iron Chef tries to steal Sitti’s cookbook.
“The
Haunted House / The Halloween Heist” (7/16/20) – Kit uses a haunted house to
keep Orsino from getting his hands on the rocket pack. / Kit has to stop a
stampede used to cause a distraction from a theft going on in town.
“The
Christmas Star” (7/17/20) – Sylvester Slapdash plots to steal all of the town’s
Christmas presents.
“Scarlett’s
Search / Rocketeer Day” (7/18/20) – Kit’s Aunt Scarlet comes for a visit to
find where her grandfather’s plane crashed decades ago. / Sylvester Slapdash
plans to impersonate the original Rocketeer on Rocketeer Day in order to steal
the Rocketeer’s watch.
“Heart
of a Hero” (7/25/20) – Kit turns to her foes for help in order to reclaim her
rocket pack from Norman Sinclair.
