The Secret Library

"The Secret Library" is the fifty-eighth episode of the Disney Junior animated series Sofia the First. The episode premiered on October 12, 2015 and is the sixth episode of the third season. It is the first installment of The Secret Library story arc.

Plot
At Enchancia Castle, Sofia is having a flying derby race with her friends, when suddenly Aunt Tilly arrives and pays a visit. Upon arriving at the castle, Aunt Tilly asks Sofia how she's doing with the book she gave her and reminds her to read Chapter Seventeen, which is her favorite. Sofia later goes to her room and reads more of the book and finds a small blue book that tells her about secret passages inside the castle. Clover comes in and shows the secret passageway he uses to get in the castle. Suddenly, Sofia's amulet glows a bright blue, to her surprise. She uses her shrinking ability to get inside then back to normal. She then follows a set of stairs that lead her to an underground river. Sofia climbs aboard a magical boat that takes her through a tunnel, passing settings that reference the worlds of the Disney Princesses. She reaches another staircase that leads to a gate, and using the blue book as a key, opens the gate, allowing her inside a place called The Secret Library, where many books have missing endings. Aunt Tilly welcomes her to the library and reveals to Sofia that she has been chosen to become the next Storykeeper. Thirty years ago Tilly became the previous Storykeeper of the Secret Library after the Amulet of Avalor led her there when she was still a little princess, tasked to find happy endings for the unfinished stories. Now she hopes to pass that job onto Sofia.

The library then chooses her first story called The Tale of Wildwing Valley, the story of how Minimus's brother Mazzimo wished to live free as a wild horse and left his family behind to find Wildwing Valley, a magically hidden valley where magical creatures roam free. Unfortunately, he was captured by the greedy Prince Roderick of Borrea. After the story, Aunt Tilly tells her she needs to find a better ending for Mazzimo, which is to free him from Prince Roderick's captivity and grant his wish. Sofia rushes to Minimus and, after explaining the mission, they head out to rescue Mazzimo with Aunt Tilly and her flying horse Athena.

They reach Borrea Castle, where Mazzimo is caged in the Royal Stable. After Sofia and Minimus sneak in and find him, an argument breaks out between Minimus and Mazzimo. Suddenly, Prince Roderick shows up with his stable master Gavin. Sofia tells him that Mazzimo doesn't like the stable and wishes to be free, but Roderick doesn't listen and plans to test fly him. However, Aunt Tilly intervenes, allowing Mazzimo a chance to escape. Roderick and Gavin chase them, and during the pursuit Sofia falls off Minimus because he is too busy arguing with Mazzimo to pay attention to where he's going. Aunt Tilly catches her but ends up losing her bag, while at the same time Minimus and Mazzimo are captured by Roderick and Gavin. While Aunt Tilly and Sofia search for the bag, Sofia becomes doubtful of being the Storykeeper when her amulet begins to glow and Merida appears. She hopes that Merida can help her find her aunt's bag, but Merida tells her she doesn't need it, all she needs is to believe that she can save them herself. At first, Sofia still feels doubtful that she can do it but with a little more encouragement from Merida, she finally gains confidence that she can save Minimus and Mazzimo and fulfill her task as the Storykeeper. She takes Athena and flies off to the rescue.

Meanwhile, Roderick and Gavin are heading back to the castle with Minimus and Mazzimo. Sofia flies in and frees Minimus before defeating Prince Roderick with Tilly's umbrella. They later free Mazzimo at last, find Aunt Tilly's bag and head to Glittering Gorge, with Tempest and Ellegra wanting to join them, leaving Roderick and Gavin stranded in the woods. They arrive at Wildwing Valley and Mazzimo is given a warm welcome to his new home. Sofia, Aunt Tilly and Minimus bid him farewell, completing The Tale of Wildwing Valley. With Sofia's first story complete, she now waits for the next unfinished story to finish.

Cast

 * Ariel Winter as Sofia
 * Bonnie Hunt as Aunt Tilly
 * Eric Stonestreet as Minimus
 * Ruth Connell as Merida
 * Cary Elwes as Prince Roderick
 * Hugh Bonneville as The Narrator
 * Dean Norris as Mazzimo
 * Wayne Brady as Clover
 * Fred Tatasciore as Gavin
 * Abigail Mavity as Tempest
 * Grey DeLisle as Ellegra
 * Jessica St. Clair as Athena

Song

 * Save The Day

Trivia

 * In this episode, Merida is the first and only Pixar character to appear in the series to aid Sofia.
 * Bonnie Hunt is known for her Pixar roles, and Merida was right next to Tilly in the end of "Save the Day".
 * This is the fifth time Sofia and Minimus go off on a mission together. The first four times were in "Finding Clover", "Princess Butterfly", "The Leafsong Festival" and "Carol of the Arrow".
 * Sofia wears her Storykeeper outfit for the first time in this episode.
 * Tilly is revealed to have a flying horse named Athena in this episode.
 * Instead of being voiced by Kelly Macdonald, Merida is voiced by Ruth Connell who provided her voice in the Disney INFINITY game series.
 * Prince Roderick is the second villainous prince on the show, the first being Prince Hugo. However, unlike Roderick, Hugo reformed, making Roderick currently the only villainous prince on the show.
 * Merida is the tenth 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!".
 * The eighth was Rapunzel in Sofia the First: The Curse of Princess Ivy.
 * The ninth was Tiana in "Winter's Gift".
 * ​Merida is the second non-traditional animated Princess to appear on the show. The first was Rapunzel.
 * Merida is the third princess to not sing after Aurora and Snow White.
 * She is the first Princess to give her lesson in the instrumental bridge of the episode's song instead of singing it or just giving it.
 * She is the third Princess after Jasmine and Mulan that doesn't disappear magically after aiding Sofia.
 * She is the third Disney Princess not to be shown in her redesign, instead wearing her normal princess dress. The first two were Ariel and Mulan.
 * She is the first princess to fire a weapon near Sofia to get her attention.
 * Tilly ride a flying horse for the first time in this episode.
 * Tilly meets a Disney Princess for the first time in this episode. While it was the first time onscreen, she probably met others before and perhaps already met Merida before since she's a previous wearer of the Amulet of Avalor.
 * Cary Elwes, who voices Prince Roderick, is also known for his portrayal of Lawrence Gordon in the Saw Series, Wesley in The Princess Bride, Captain William Boone in the 1994 live-action Jungle Book and the titular character in the Mel Brooks film Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
 * It is revealed in this episode that the Amulet of Avalor has the ability to act as a compass to the Secret Library when the one wearing it has the magical book that's the Secret Library's key. Unlike the Amulet's other abilities, which make the amulet give off a purple glow, this ability makes the amulet glow blue.
 * Sofia uses her shrinking ability for the second time in this episode.
 * Tilly reveals she knows the truth of Sofia's Amulet due to being the last person who wore it before her.
 * Minimus is revealed to have a brother named Mazzimo.
 * This is the second episode to be narrated the first being Once Upon a Princess.
 * This is the fourth episode which has a different background in the credits, the others being "Holiday in Enchancia", "Ghostly Gala" and "Winter's Gift".
 * There are Disney Princess easter eggs in the secret tunnel to the library.
 * The Wishing Well and the Cottage of the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
 * The Castle clock, the Pumpkin Coach and the Glass Slipper from Cinderella.
 * King Stefan's Castle and the Spinning Wheel from Sleeping Beauty.
 * The Blue Lagoon from The Little Mermaid.
 * The Enchanted Rose from Beauty and the Beast.
 * Agrabah and the Magic Carpet from Aladdin.
 * The mountain, and the wind from Pocahontas.
 * The lilies, the Magnolia tree and the bridge from Mulan.
 * The fireflies in the log from The Princess and the Frog.
 * Rapunzel's Tower, Corona castle and the floating lanterns from Tangled.
 * The Ring of Stones, and archery games from Brave.
 * The snowy wind and the ice droplets from Frozen.
 * This is the second time Sofia falls off Minimus, the first being Just One of the Princes.
 * This is Abigail Mavity's second character in the series, the first being Princess Lani of Hakalo.
 * This is the fourth episode (and the second in a row) to feature only Sofia and not Amber, James, Roland and Miranda. The other three were "The Little Witch", "Mystic Meadows" and "Minding the Manor".
 * It's also the first Princess episode to do so.
 * This is the first Princess episode where Sofia sings an entire song herself, instead of the princess and Sofia.
 * This is the first part of the Secret Library arc.
 * Prince Roderick's horse Tempest looks like a recolored version of Prince Hugo's flying horse, Electra.

International premieres

 * November 30, 2015 (Brazil)