Image Credit: Disney Junior
People aren’t shocked to hear that Sofia the First creator and executive producer Craig Gerber has two young children. They are, however, “constantly surprised” to learn that those kids are sons (3 and 5 years old) rather than daughters — though to Gerber, that shouldn’t matter. Being a father has had an indelible effect on his creative process; read on to see how his experience has shaped Disney Jr.’s hit show. As for how the Gerber clan plans to celebrate this weekend’s holiday? “You’d have to ask my family,” he told EW with a laugh. “It shouldn’t surprise most dads to know that I’ll probably be the last to know what the plans are for Father’s Day.”
As told by: Craig Gerber
Disney Jr. was looking to do a show about a young princess, but they hadn’t figured out the right characters or story yet. So they approached me to see if I had any ideas. Even though I only had one son at the time, I was very interested in creating a show that I could enjoy with my children, and that would also be informative for my son. I just had to figure out a great story that girls — and boys — would enjoy watching.
Looking at my son and what he was going through at school with his friends, I noticed that both boys and girls enjoyed role playing — pretending to be other people or other creatures. I saw girls playing with pretend swords, and I saw boys dressing up like princesses in preschool. And it occurred to me that a fantasy world appeals to kids of all ages, and both genders. The secret for Sofia was to create a show that had a fantastic world with a lot of adventure and fun and friends.
