The first real, real obsession with a princess that my girl Camila had was with Sofia the First. As soon as the movie came out on Disney Junior last year all she wanted was to watch it on repeat. Soon enough, she had learned the words to the main song in English (the soundtrack was only available in English) and had put together a choreography y toda la cosa. I still love watching this video we captured of her performing for us in a full Sofia gown.

Becoming royalty overnight is every girl’s dream, and Sofia is eager to prove she can be a true princess. Sofia the First: Ready to be a Princes DVD is out today and features five of the show’s most popular shows, and all can be enjoyed in Spanish! Visit an enchanted circus, meet a pet dragon and soar through desert skies with Sofia and Amber on a magic carpet ride! But when their high-flying adventure veers off course, it’s special guest Princess Jasmine to the rescue with inspiring advice about trying new things, staying strong and trusting yourself. Sparkling with extraordinary songs, unforgettable characters and thrilling surprises, Ready to Be A Princess opens the door to a whole new world of kindness, helping others and being the best you can be!

The Giveaway

We have one DVD + Dress-Up Playset for five WINNERS!

All you have to do is enter through the Rafflecopter below and leave a comment telling us who you want to win this for and why Sofia the First is so special to her.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For weeks now my girl has been asking me every day if today is the day when Sofia the First starts airing on Disney Junior. I kept saying “Todavía no,” but reminding her that she would get to watch the movie, Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess, in an actual theater at the Walt Disney Studios lot. I’m sure she really has no grasp at just how special and exciting that is, but she felt it once last Saturday came around and the three of us (including papá) headed out to the Disney lot in Burbank, CA to find our own spot in the Lavender Carpet and get our chance to interview celebrities as they walked by.

Of course, being it that I had the cutest 5-year-old little assistant at the premiere, we were lucky to get interviews with Sara Ramirez (voice of Queen Miranda), Lou Diamond Phillips, Darcy Rose Byrnes (voice of Princess Amber) and many more, including a very special fan-moment for my girl!

Watch our star-studded Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess movie premiere and storybook launch moments and interviews below. There are so many cute moments and we even got to talk to Sara Ramirez about the importance of being bilingual.

Be sure to check out my post on Babble Voices for a whole bunch of pictures from the event, plus what we thought about the movie (Hint: We LOVED it and want the TV show to start YA!)

Tune into the Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess movie premiere on November 18 on the Disney Channel and November 22 on Disney Junior to be enchanted!

For “Sofia the First” games, videos and  activities, visit DisneyJunior.com.

For two days, I emailed and called Disney reps because I needed the madness to stop. I just couldn’t believe that the majority of Latinas and Latinos were so desperate to be validated by Disney that we read the headlines without stopping to think that this could be a mistake. But, more than anything, it crazed me to read all the comments and articles augmenting the tension behind the question of “Is she Latina enough?”

Why do we do that to ourselves as a community? Why do we have a measuring stick for what represents our culture “enough?”. If we know that Latinas come in all colors and from many nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, then why do we go around questioning any attempt of representation?

Three weeks later, I’m still thinking about it all because I just can’t shake off the feeling that all this uproar — which finally subsided a bit after Disney put out an official statement saying that Princess Sofia is basically from many ethnic backgrounds and represents us all in a fairtytale land — stems from a need we have for a respected and admired company like Disney to validate us. Yes, Latinos are the largest minority. Yes, the Latino vote will be stronger than ever in deciding this presidential election. Yes, Latinos over index in mobile usage, but we are still not major players in the small and large screens.

In fact, a recent article in The Hollywood Reporter claims that the secret to a hit movie is to lure in the Latino audience: ”According to MPAA research, Hispanics make up only 16 percent of the U.S. population yet represent 25 percent or more of those buying tickets to the cinema. They also go to the movies more often than any other ethnic group.”

The wound that was opened by the Princess Sofia controversy still bleeds because Latinos also have an immense adoration for all things Disney. Mickey Mouse and the princesses have been part of our lives every since we all can remember. My first movie in a theater was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and I can still remember it. The first time I went to Disney World in Orlando I was 12 years old, but I had been wishing upon a star in El Salvador for many, many years before it actually happened. Disney, for many of us, is deeply ingrained with the American dream; nothing says American like Disney.

So now, here we are as a community making strides in so many ways, yet we can’t make it into that coveted spot of having Disney recognize the richness of our culture, our heritage, nuestra gente via that one symbolic image of a Disney Princess. An image that would travel the world. An image that would give us one more valuable tool to show our niñas y niños how precious their heritage is and have them be proud of it. An image that will finally validate us.

But, what does that image look like? How can Disney bring to life a Latina Princess that satisfies all the shades and colors in our community? How can they ever get it right without us becoming divisive in the process?

We want you to join us right now in showing Disney and all media what the Princesas in our lives look like so it can be an inspiration for when they finally do make a movie featuring a Latina Princess. We want to create a massive community canvas of pictures from all the real Latina Princesses. Let’s show them who we are and how bellas we are. Trust me, they are listening, we just need to speak up as a united community.

You can join us in celebrating the #LatinaPrincess in your life by:

1. Sharing a picture (or more!) of your Princesa on either Twitter, Instagram, the SpanglishBaby Facebook page, Pinterest and/or your blog and tag it with #LatinaPrincess. Mine are above.

2. Sharing the link to this blog post and/or spread the word so we get as many #LatinaPrincess pictures as possible. We will follow and collect as many pictures as we can and pin them to our #LatinaPrincess board on Pinterest.

My #LatinaPrincess and I will be at the Sofia the First movie premiere this weekend (she can.not.wait!) and we’ll be sharing that experience with all of you next week!

So now this is all yours. No more time to complain about what not is being done. Let’s make it happen!

Show us your #LatinaPrincess

UPDATE: By popular demand, we are also sharing pictures of the #LatinoPrince. Go for it! You can follow the action on Twitter here: #LatinaPrincess #LatinoPrince

We’re excited to show you a sneak-peek clip of the new little girl princess Sofia (voiced by “Modern Family” star Ariel Winter) who can talk to the animals and is just oh-so-adorable.

Remember that you can watch all the Disney Junior shows – like “Doc McStuffins” and “Jake and the Neverland Pirates” in Spanish by turning on the SAP option on your TV. How cool is that?!