The Curse of Princess Ivy

Sofia the First: The Curse of Princess Ivy is a television special of the Disney Junior animated series, Sofia the First. It premiered on November 23, 2014 on the Disney Channel as part of a family night special event.

Plot
In the royal gardens, Sofia is playing hopscotch with her animal friends while singing a rhyme about witches and wizards. Unbeknownst to Sofia, Amber is spying on her and hears her talking to them in a way that reveals she can understand what they're saying. When Amber confronts her about it, Sofia tries to convince her that it's nothing but Amber sees through her sister's excuses and proves her case beyond any reasonable doubt by stating she heard her tell Clover "his rhyme was funny." Realizing she's been caught, Sofia finally reveals the secret of her amulet. Hearing this, Amber wants a turn wearing the amulet, but Sofia refuses to take it off because she promised their father she would wear it always and never let it out of her sight.

Meanwhile, everyone is preparing the castle for King Roland and Queen Miranda's wedding anniversary ball. Amber asks her father why he gave Sofia "the best amulet in the kingdom," and demands one just like it to no avail. That night, Amber decides to have a sleepover with Sofia in her room, much to Sofia's surprise. Sofia states that she was mad at her but Amber claims to have gotten over it and it's okay if Sofia can't take off her amulet. Sofia agrees to have a sleepover with Amber: the two of them build a tent, play cards, and then go to sleep. But later that night, Amber reveals that she's still awake and has decided that if Sofia won't let her have a turn with the amulet, she'll have to take one herself but doesn't seem to have the courage.

In the morning, while Sofia is still sleeping, Amber decides to take one little turn and give it back when she's done. She takes Sofia's amulet, runs to her room and puts it on revealing she wants a princess to appear for her. She tries to summon Rapunzel, but instead summons a princess dressed in black and white known as Ivy. The two princesses greet each other warmly and Amber invites Ivy a tour of the castle, while magical black and white butterflies begin to change everything in the castle black and white. Meanwhile, Clover tries to wake up Sofia, but finds that she can’t understand him because her amulet has been stolen. Once Clover finally wakes her up and she discovers it's missing, Sofia panics until she realizes Amber has taken it and goes all around the castle looking for her while everyone else is dealing with the butterflies. Outside, Sofia catches Amber with her amulet, and Amber introduces her to Princess Ivy. Realizing that something's amiss, Sofia explains to Amber the amulet only summons princesses when there's an emergency and then sends them back. When Ivy hears this, she sends one of her butterflies to steal it from Amber. Princess Ivy reveals her true colors as an evil princess who was exiled to a deserted island when she tried to overthrow her older sister, who became queen of their black and white kingdom. Now that she is free she desires to claim Enchancia as her own kingdom and to make sure she never returns to her isolated imprisonment, she plans to destroy the amulet. Sofia calls for a guard to stop her but Ivy conjures up a dragonfly which zaps him. When Sofia sees his memory has been erased, Ivy explains the power of her dragonflies and warns Sofia to stay out of her way or else. Sofia angrily turns to Amber and tells her this is the worst thing she's ever done. Amber tries to defend her actions by asking why the amulet summoned an evil Princess. Remembering the amulet's rule, Sofia realizes that what brought Ivy here was actually a curse that the amulet put on Amber when she stole it.

The girls go to Cedric for help and tell him about Princess Ivy and her plans to take over the Kingdom and destroy the Amulet. Cedric tells them the Amulet is indestructible and the only thing that can destroy it is the fire breath of Enchancia's eldest dragon, Everburn. He also tells Amber in order to stop Ivy, she must break the curse the amulet put on her by returning it to Sofia. At first, Amber doesn't understand why she has to go after Ivy until both Cedric and Sofia remind her that since she's the person who caused this problem in the first place, she is the only one who can fix everything.

Unfortunately, Ivy's butterflies hear everything and fly away to tell her. When Ivy takes a coach and flies to the Blazing Palisades, Sofia, Amber and Cedric follow her in one of the old coaches. Upon arriving, they being to climb the mountain with Amber complaining about how steep it is, only to be silenced by Sofia who angrily reminds her she's the reason that they have to do this. Amber is shaken by Sofia's anger as she's normally forgiving. Cedric explains to her that since she stole her amulet, Sofia no longer has any trust or respect for her. He recalls his own sister who used to steal his stuff all the time, and although he never got over it, he's sure Sofia will get over it. The trio find Ivy trying to get Everburn to melt the amulet. However, with a bit of magic to distract them, Sofia gets back the amulet, but the curse is not broken. Sofia and Amber refuse to give Ivy the amulet and run out of the cave only to wind up falling down a chasm. Ivy's butterflies try to get the amulet, but Everburn tells her to leave them alone or he'll start roasting her butterflies, leading Ivy to go back to the castle. Everburn is too big to fit in the hole to rescue the princesses, and Cedric can't find his wand because his memory was erased by one of Ivy's dragonflies.

Down in the hole, Sofia remains mad at Amber for her actions and regrets trusting her. Finally, Amber comes to understand that Sofia trusted her with her secret and she let her down in order to get something she wanted. She sits beside her and apologizes for everything which makes Sofia finally forgive her and cause the amulet to glow and summon Rapunzel who helps them out of the hole with her long hair. Sofia, Amber, Rapunzel and Cedric climb onto the dragons and fly back to Enchancia. While flying, Amber confesses to Rapunzel that Ivy's presence is a curse on her because she stole Sofia's amulet. Rapunzel tells Amber that in order to break the curse and send Ivy back she must perform a selfless act made out of loyalty to Sofia. She wishes Amber good luck and returns to her own kingdom.

Amber and Sofia find the entire castle in black and white. Roland tries to command Ivy to stop but ends up being hit with a dragonfly, along with Miranda, James and Baileywick. Then, she hits Cedric with another dragonfly after he refuses to remove the amulet from Sofia. She then turns to Sofia and tries to hit her with a dragonfly but Amber saves her by letting herself take the hit. Her self-sacrifice breaks the curse, defeating Princess Ivy and sending her back to her island prison. The colors across the kingdom are restored and because the dragonflies erased everyone’s memories, no one but Sofia and her animal friends remember any of the occurred events. The royal family proceeds down the hallway to celebrate Roland and Miranda’s wedding anniversary, with Amber telling Sofia she is glad to have her as a sister.

Home Video Release

 * Sofia the First: The Curse of Princess Ivy DVD

Cast

 * Ariel Winter as Sofia
 * Wayne Brady as Clover
 * Ashley Eckstein as Mia
 * Meghan Strange as Robin
 * Darcy Rose Byrnes as Amber
 * Tyler Merna as Prince James
 * Travis Willingham as King Roland II
 * Robin Atkin Downes as Chef Andre
 * Tim Gunn as Baileywick
 * Anna Camp as Princess Ivy
 * Sara Ramirez as Queen Miranda
 * Jess Harnell as Cedric the Sorcerer
 * Mandy Moore as Rapunzel
 * John Michael Higgins as Flambeau
 * Sam Riegel as Smokelee
 * Gary Anthony Williams as Hobwing
 * Mick Wingert as Nitelite
 * Oliver Platt as Everburn
 * Keith Ferguson as a Scared Guard

Songs

 * A Kingdom of My Own
 * Smoke, Wings and Fire
 * Dare to Risk it All

Trivia

 * Rapunzel is the first non-traditional animated Princess to appear on the show. She is also the first Disney Princess to sing a whole song by herself instead of Sofia and Amber singing along.
 * This is the second time Amber takes the amulet for her own selfish desire, the first was "Princess Butterfly".
 * Amber mentions Princess Jasmine from "Two to Tangu", Ariel from The Floating Palace, Cinderella from the pilot and Belle from "The Amulet and the Anthem". She also mentioned Rapunzel for summoning while wearing the amulet before she came to help in the palisades.
 * Rapunzel is the eighth Disney Princess to appear on the show.
 * The first was Cinderella in Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess.
 * The second was Jasmine in "Two to Tangu".
 * The third was Belle in "The Amulet and the Anthem".
 * The fourth was Ariel in Sofia the First: The Floating Palace.
 * The fifth was Aurora in "Holiday in Enchancia".
 * The sixth was Snow White in "The Enchanted Feast".
 * The seventh was Mulan in "Princesses to the Rescue!"
 * This is the third Disney Junior special in the series, the first was Once Upon a Princess and the second was The Floating Palace.
 * Sofia gains a new enemy: Princess Ivy.
 * Rapunzel is the third Disney Princess Amber meets, the first was Jasmine in "Two to Tangu" and the second was Mulan in "Princesses to the Rescue!". However due to her memory being erased, she doesn't remember meeting Rapunzel, but the lesson she taught Amber seems to have stayed with her.
 * Everburn's voice is played by 2012 and Bicentennial Man star Oliver Platt, and Pitch Perfect and Bad Teacher star John Michael Higgins provides the voice of Flambeau. Higgins is also known as Bill Feingold in Bicentennial Man.
 * This is the first time the Amulet of Avalor summons two princesses, one of which is not a Disney Princess.
 * This is also the first time the Amulet summons an evil princess that is up to no good, although it was only a curse for Amber due to her thievery.
 * This is the first time Amber is seen wearing the Amulet.
 * Princess Ivy is the first villain in the show who wants to destroy the amulet instead of desiring its magical power.
 * Princess Ivy shares the same color scheme and name as that of Ivy De Vil, the niece of Cruella De Vil.
 * This is the second time the Amulet of Avalor unleashes a curse. But this is the first time it was because its safeguard against thieves was activated.
 * Amber is the second princess to be cursed by the Amulet of Avalor, the first was Sofia in "The Amulet and the Anthem". However unlike Sofia's croaking curse, which was meant to help her learn that actions speak louder than words, Amber's was much stronger and far more dangerous. This is because when she stole it, she activated its safeguard against thieves and betrayed Sofia's trust, which is why the curse of Princess Ivy was far worse than Sofia's croaking curse.
 * This episode is the third time the Princess the Amulet of Avalor summons helps out directly instead of just pointing Sofia in the right direction.
 * It's also the third time the lesson the Princess gives is directed at Amber. Rapunzel's lesson was to help Amber learn to think about her loved ones enough to put their needs before her own desires.
 * This episode reveals the reason that Cedric and Miss Nettle both kept trying to trick Sofia into giving them the Amulet is because when it's taken from its bearer by force, the amulet will place a curse on the thief who stole it. The amulet will not activate that safeguard if Sofia takes off the amulet or hands it over to someone willingly.
 * This is the second time Amber is seen in her nightgown, a little before and during the sleepover with Sofia. Not counting Amber's commoner nightgown on "The Baker King". The first was "The Big Sleepover".
 * This is also the the second sleepover of the entire series. The first was during "The Big Sleepover", joined by Sofia, Amber, Ruby, Jade, Hildegard, and Clio.
 * This is the first special where Cedric doesn't play as the main villain. However, he also does not steal the amulet for himself. Princess Ivy will be the second enemy he will oppose to protect the amulet, the first was Miss Nettle.
 * The Blazing Palisades were mentioned in the lyrics of the Enchancia Anthem just like the Ever Golden Glades in "King for a Day".
 * This is the first special that Sofia doesn't sing in.
 * The Amulet's weakness is revealed.
 * It is revealed that Cedric has a sister.
 * Wormwood does not play a significant role during this special.
 * No one but Sofia and her animals remember any of the events as their memories were taken by Princess Ivy's dragonflies.
 * This is the first special that the Amulet doesn't grant Sofia a blessing. This is also the first special that the amulet bestows a curse instead of granting a blessing.
 * This is the fourth time the plot focuses more on Amber than on Sofia. The first time was "Princess Butterfly", the second was "Two Princesses and a Baby", and the third was "When You Wish Upon a Well".
 * This episode takes place exactly one year after the events in Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess.
 * This is the fourth time Amber gets envious of Sofia.
 * The first was Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess.
 * The second was "Princess Butterfly".
 * The third was "When You Wish Upon a Well".
 * This episode marks the second time Darcy Rose Byrnes (the voice actress for Amber) and John Michael Higgins (the voice actor for Flambeau) have worked together, the first being in the Nickelodeon series The Legend of Korra (as Ikki and Iknik Blackstone Varrick, respectfully).
 * Moral: To make up for a misdeed, put someone else's needs before your own.

Goofs

 * Amber's fan mysteriously appeared when Sofia said that Ivy's presence was a curse the amulet put on her.
 * Sofia claimed that Amber was the only one she told about her amulet, but Amber was actually the second person Sofia told her secret to, the first being Oona the mermaid.