I think the Sofia the First sequel show is actually such a good idea but I don't like a lot of what RM is doing, so here's my idea for what I would want from a sequel story.
VERY IMPORTANT: I would like to be clear that I am approaching this from the lens of what this was very originally marketed as, that being a "Sofia the First sequel show", I understand that now most of the new show isn't focused on continuing Sofia's character or story, but rather creating a new show with her as the lead. I think that's fine, I am not critiquing the show for how it is as a show, but as a follow up to the og. This comes purely because I got very excited at the idea of a follow up to the show, and was disappointed with what they actually ended up making. I also understand that most of my ideas likely wouldn't have flyed with Disney and are not realistic.
First, the problem with the new show as a sequel (from what I've seen): There's this weird insistence that it has to recreate aspects of the first show to be successful. It seems unsure of itself, and I think a lot of this disconnect comes from the fact that they've chosen to air it on Disney Jr, so they aren't really making a Sofia the First sequel show, they're making a Disney Jr show and they want to use Sofia as a hook for it. I think this is why they chose to keep her young with a very bright color scheme, as well as making everyone royal and keeping the premise very simple. I'll get into more of the specific problems and how I'd fix them in a minute.
First of all, I think my new pitch would be very similar to the Royal Magic show, which is that "After defeating Vor, Sofia heads off to her new school, Hexley Hall, to train as a royal sorcerer". Hexely Hall is the school for sorcerers that Cedric attended. I would have Sofia go there and not Ever Realm Academy or Charmswell for a few reasons:
She's always shown a special connection to magic, as well as a special interest in Cedric and his work, plus she and Amber want to stay close and work together, so I think her wanting to become a Royal Sorcerer would be a very logical path for her, as opposed to the boring job of advisor they set her up for, she's always been hands on and likes adventure, advisor wouldn't suit her
It would take Sofia out of her comfort zone and into a completely new type of setting, a brooding school of sorcerers is much more interesting than another castle school of royals/nobility, and a bolder departure from the og that would really allow the show to breath as a unique property
Hexley Hall is an already established magic school and it would make more sense for children who wish to learn magic, including Sofia and other royals, to just go there instead of a special "royals only" magic school run by more fairies- which is really indicative of the absolute entitlement of the royals and the unfair class divide that is somehow so gd prevalent in the og show (shoutout to @athenap-wow for pointing this out and now I see it everywhere in the Sofia universe)
Furthermore, I'd make the new show for Disney Channel, Disney XD, or even as a Disney+ Exclusive. I think it would still work as a kids show, but for older kids (9/10+), instead of the disney preschool demographic of Disney Jr. (3+). This would give them the freedom to age her up a bit like she is in the finale, showing that this is in fact a continuation of Sofia's story, which ended with . A redesign, maybe in stylized sorcerer robes, would really convey this. I also think that it would mean they could take a more serious tone with the story when they need to, and tackle more complex character dynamics and issues. As well as giving them freedom to have consistent plot points and serialized elements, like the og, but potentially on a much larger scale. I say all of this because I think that Disney Jr tends to limit all of these. They focus on programming for young kids, so they use very bright colors and quick pacing/editing to keep the kids engaged, try to make the characters little kid age so the kids can relate better (and specifically in Sofia's case, to make her more recognizable), and they are pretty much stuck with the same episodic formula, because preschool kids don't care about serialized stories or arcs.
I am very divided on whether or not there should be a new animation style. I do think redesigns for all the characters are necessary, mostly to show the new era of the world and to separate it from the og show. But when it comes to style, I'm divided. Personally, I don't love the style for the og show, I am very nostalgic for it, but I see it as very dated and can recognize that it doesn't look great looking back. That being said, I abhor the style of RM, it's very Disney Jr, everything, especially the characters are too clean and smoothed, which makes everyone look way too young (and kinda AI), the colors of the show are also way too bright and hurt my eyes. I think any 2D styles would be too offputting to audiences, so I think the best bet is a nicer version of the 3D styles, with a more muted color palate given the new setting.
I also think using Hexley Hall as the backdrop for the show would give them a lot more freedom with their characters and dynamics. For one, it would mean that the cast could have some more variety in their backgrounds than the original and the new show have. Having it be mostly sorcerers would be such a departure from the usual mostly-royal cast. Maybe there's a character that comes from poverty, or one whose parent was one of those underappreciated royal sorcerers who resents Sofia, or another royal who tries to use magic to stand out from their sibling/s, or someone who comes from a long line of sorcerers. There's so many new motivations and complexities you could have Sofia interact with. Even the new characters from RM, who have pretty good designs in my opinion, could be integrated into this new backdrop as non/royals.
(Also, it would solve some of the issues I have with just how many kingdoms have the same system of royalty with kids Sofia's age, it's unrealistic to me tbh, and so introducing a new cast of sorcerers means we get new characters and we keep this a little more possible when it comes to how many kingdoms exsist, as well as who in the family can be considered a "prince" or "princess")
You could still have Miss Nettle as the new headmaster, maybe she took over after Grimtrix was taken to the royal dungeons and it's the first fairy to run the sorcerer's school, and it's a new status quo at the school too. Or it's a new status quo because Grimtrix is back pretending to be good, which has the bonus of giving Sofia a consistent minor antagonist for the show. Either way, I think the mood of the school could be a lot lighter than we see it in the og show, mostly so this show doesn't have to be dark and gritty, I think focusing on the beauty of the magic they're learning would be a better hook for a Sofia the First show tonally.
Hexley Hall could also be used to explore more of the dynamics and history of sorcerers and magic in the Sofia universe, similar to how Elena of Avalor did it with their magic system and lore. I feel like there's a whole unexplored world of magic that we start to understand, but never really comes together. The school looks very old and dark, so I could see it holding a lot of secrets and answers as to the history of sorcerers, and the other characters could give insight into the modern state of magic users in the greater Sofia universe. Specifically the sorcerer community always felt so distinct to me, and I'd loooove to see that explored through more young characters. (Oooh, you could also bring back Calista)
Sofia dealing with such a unique environment would be a great catalyst for personal growth and new arcs. In a way it could be almost a mirror of her starting at Royal Prep and messing up a lot, but for a new reason: instead of going from normal to royal, she's going from royal to magic. I also think it would be a nice transition/connection for her to really take on the role of Cedric's apprentice, or at least see him help her come into her own as a magic user. Or there could be a storyline where Sofia helps Calista start at the school, mirroring her and Cedric. I could see this show going for a couple seasons, ending in a graduation like the first show, maybe with the big moment being Sofia choosing her sorcerer's name, like Sofia the Sincere, or the Spirited.
Personally, I would just drop and ignore the Isles, like, keep them in the lore, but explain away why Sofia's time there was cut short, or I'd have her have a storyline where she realizes she can't juggle both things at once and she gives her position as the Protector to a new character (mb James?). (and yes, that would invalidate a lot of S4 of the og show, including parts of the ending, but genuinely, I feel like the Isles were the worst part of the og and I feel like Sofia would be a much stronger character without needing a magic destiny from them, and overall, I just want to write it away, and it's my fake pitch, so I fucking can). Also, I'd do something similar with the Storykeeper stuff, I don't remember how that ended in the show, but I'd just fucking ignore it. No ending.
I still think you could keep the family, and the princesses, and specifically I would love to see how Sofia's amulet affects her ability to use traditional magic. Idk, I'm getting really tired and don't have much more than this. I think my last little thing is this: I do not think this show pitch would be even that reasonable, due to how I feel it would be too different to the og show for anyone to like it or for it to be picked up. Personally, this is what I'd want from a Sofia follow up show, but I think everyone else would absolutely hate it if it was real, y'know.
Idk, give me your thoughts, I'd love to hear what people have to say about this idea I had.
Edit: I'd also give it a unique theme song, and keep the music more classic/broadway style songs, like the original.
