Star vs. the Forces of Evil facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Star vs. the Forces of Evil |
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Daron Nefcy |
| Developed by |
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| Creative director(s) | Dominic Bisignano (season 1) |
| Voices of |
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| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | "I'm from Another Dimension" performed by Brad Breeck |
| Ending theme | "Star vs. the Forces of Evil End Theme" performed by Eden Sher (uncredited - seasons 1–2) "Shining Star" performed by Agnes Shin (seasons 3–4) |
| Composer(s) | Brian H. Kim |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 77 (140 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Running time | 22 minutes (per 2 segments) 11 minutes per segment |
| Production company(s) | Disney Television Animation |
| Distributor | Disney–ABC Domestic Television |
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| Original release | January 18, 2015 – May 19, 2019 |
Star vs. the Forces of Evil is a fun American animated magical girl TV show. It was created by Daron Nefcy and developed by Jordana Arkin and Dave Wasson. The show aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. It was the first Disney XD show made by a woman.
The series is about Star Butterfly (voiced by Eden Sher). She is a young princess from another dimension called Mewni. Star is sent to Earth because she is a bit wild and reckless. On Earth, she becomes friends with a human boy named Marco Diaz (Adam McArthur). They live together in Echo Creek, go to school, and meet new friends.
In the first season, Star and Marco use special "dimensional scissors" to travel to many strange places. They also try to stop a monster named Ludo (Alan Tudyk) from stealing Star's magic wand. As the show goes on, Star and Marco meet new friends and enemies. They travel to even more amazing and weird dimensions.
Most episodes of Star vs. the Forces of Evil have two short stories, each about 11 minutes long. The show was first shown on Disney Channel on January 18, 2015. Then it moved to Disney XD on March 30, 2015. Its first episode on Disney XD was the most-watched animated show debut ever for that network! The fourth and final season started on March 10, 2019, back on Disney Channel. The series ended on May 19, 2019, with the episode "Cleaved".
Contents
Story of Star's Adventures
Star Butterfly is a magical princess from the dimension of Mewni. She is next in line to be queen of the Butterfly Kingdom. On her 14th birthday, she gets the family's special magic wand. But after she accidentally sets fire to her castle, her parents, King River and Queen Moon Butterfly, send her to Earth. They want her to learn magic there as a foreign exchange student.
Star becomes friends with Marco Diaz and lives with his family in Los Angeles. They go to Echo Creek Academy. Star and Marco go on many exciting adventures using "dimensional scissors" that open portals to other worlds. They have to deal with normal school life while also protecting Star's wand. A monster from Mewni named Ludo wants to steal it. He leads a group of other monsters.
As the show continues, new and more dangerous bad guys appear. These include the mysterious monster Toffee and Meteora Butterfly, who is half-Mewman and half-monster. The story changes from just protecting the wand to a bigger adventure about who should rule Mewni. Many secrets about the Butterfly royal family's past are revealed. These secrets mostly involve Eclipsa Butterfly, who is known as the "Queen of Darkness."
Other characters also become more important in later seasons. These include Star's best friend Pony Head (who is a floating unicorn head), her ex-boyfriend Tom (who is half-demon), the mischievous Janna, and Hekapoo from the Magic High Commission. Queen Moon also plays a bigger role, especially when dealing with Toffee.
How the Show Was Made
Daron Nefcy, the creator, first imagined Star as a girl who wanted to be a magical girl like Sailor Moon. Marco was a boy who loved Dragon Ball Z and karate. At first, they were supposed to be enemies, not friends. In this early idea, Star didn't have real magic. She would solve problems just by being very determined.
Nefcy first thought of Star being in fourth grade, like when Nefcy herself was obsessed with Sailor Moon. But when she showed her idea to Disney, she changed Star's age to fourteen. Someone at Disney suggested that Star should have real magic powers. Nefcy liked this idea and added it to the show. She also came up with the idea of different dimensions, Star being a foreign exchange student, and the story about Star being a princess. Nefcy said the whole idea for the show grew over about six years.
Besides Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, Nefcy was also influenced by other Japanese animated shows like Magic Knight Rayearth and Revolutionary Girl Utena. She also liked shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and comics like Scott Pilgrim. Nefcy wanted to create strong female characters. She felt that when she was younger, she had to look to Japan to find cartoons with the characters she wanted to see.
One thing Nefcy liked about the show is that it doesn't make high school the most important thing for teenagers. She also liked that Star does her own thing and doesn't worry about fitting in. Unlike many magical girl shows, Star doesn't keep her magic a secret. Her friends and Marco's parents already know about it. Star isn't really a superhero who goes looking for bad guys. She only fights them if they attack her. Nefcy said the show balances funny parts with serious parts. She wanted the characters to feel like real teenagers going through normal emotions, but in a magical world.
The show's stories and designs are created in Los Angeles. The show is "storyboard-driven." This means that storyboard artists draw out each episode. They take a short two-page idea and turn it into a full script. For an 11-minute episode, they need to do about 2000 drawings in six weeks! The animation for the first season was done in Canada and the Philippines. For seasons 2-4, the animation was done in South Korea by Sugarcube and Rough Draft Studios.
The theme song was made by Brad Breeck, who also did the opening theme for Gravity Falls. Brian Kim was chosen to write the music for the show. Kim said that the music for each dimension has a different sound.
The show was first planned to be on Disney Channel in Fall 2014. But then it moved to Disney XD. On February 23, 2018, it was announced that the show would move back to Disney Channel for its fourth season. On February 7, 2019, it was announced that the fourth season would be the last.
Show Release and Popularity
The show's opening title sequence was shown at Comic-Con 2014. This was six months before it aired on TV. Fans loved it and uploaded the video to YouTube. They even started making their own fan art and stories! The first episode aired on Disney Channel in January 2015. People on social media reacted so positively that Disney XD ordered a second season in February 2015, even before the show officially launched on Disney XD in March.
The second season started on July 11, 2016. A third season was ordered on March 4, 2016. It premiered on July 15, 2017, with a two-hour TV movie called "The Battle for Mewni." This movie included the first four episodes of the season. The rest of the third-season episodes started airing on November 6, 2017. A fourth season was also ordered before the third season even started. The fourth and final season premiered on March 10, 2019, with two new episodes.
International Airings
Star vs. the Forces of Evil premiered in Canada on April 6, 2015. It also aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on April 16, 2015, in Australia on August 3, and in the Middle East and Africa on October 5. It premiered in Southeast Asia on November 8, and in Japan on December 18, 2015. The show also aired in French in Canada as Star Butterfly starting March 6, 2016. It premiered in Italy on November 2, 2016.
Episodes
| Season | Segments | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
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| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| 1 | 24 | 13 | January 18, 2015 | September 21, 2015 | Disney XD | |
| 2 | 41 | 22 | July 11, 2016 | February 27, 2017 | ||
| 3 | 38 | 21 | July 15, 2017 | April 7, 2018 | ||
| 4 | 37 | 21 | March 10, 2019 | May 19, 2019 | Disney Channel | |
Ratings and Awards
The first episode of Star vs. the Forces of Evil was a huge hit! It became the most-watched animated series debut in Disney XD’s history, with about 1.2 million viewers. After the second season, Disney XD announced that Star and another show, Milo Murphy's Law, had been watched over 100 million times across all their platforms in 2016.
The episode "Party with a Pony" was shown at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June 2015. The show and its voice actors have won and been nominated for several awards:
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
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| 2015 | Annecy International Animated Film Festival | TV Series | Episode: "Party with a Pony" | Nominated | |
| 5th Annual BTVA Voice Acting Awards | Best Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role | Dee Dee Rescher as Miss Skullnick | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | 43rd Annie Awards | Best Animated Television / Broadcast Production for Children | Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Episode: "Blood Moon Ball" | Nominated | |
| Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Alan Tudyk as Ludo, Episode: Compilation from Series | Nominated | |||
| Editorial in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Ted Supa, Episode: "Storm the Castle" | Nominated | |||
| 6th Annual BTVA Voice Acting Awards | Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series | Adam McArthur as Marco Diaz | Won | ||
| Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series | Eden Sher as Star Butterfly | Won | |||
| Best Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role | Jenny Slate as Pony Head | Nominated | |||
| Best Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role | Yvette Nicole Brown as Brigid | Nominated | |||
| Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Won | |||
| 2017 | 7th Annual BTVA Voice Acting Awards | Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series | Eden Sher as Star Butterfly | Nominated | |
| 2018 | 45th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation | Michelle Park, Color Designer | Won | |
| 2019 | 46th Annie Awards | Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Episode: "Booth Buddies" | Nominated | |
| Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Sabrina Cotugno, Episode: "Conquer" | Nominated | |||
| Kids' Choice Awards Mexico 2019 | Favorite Cartoon | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Nominated |
Cool Merchandise
You can find lots of cool stuff related to Star vs. the Forces of Evil!
- Comic Books: A comic book series called Deep Trouble was written by Zach Marcus and drawn by Devin Taylor, who both work on the show. These comics started coming out in September 2016. There are also Cinestory comics that turn episodes into comic books.
- Books: Two books have been released:
* Star and Marco's Guide to Mastering Every Dimension (March 7, 2017) by Amber Benson and Dominic Bisignano. * The Book of Spells (September 11, 2018) by Daron Nefcy, Amber Benson, and Dominic Bisignano.
- Toys: A soft plush toy of Star was released at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2018. Later, it became available in stores.
- Funko Pop! Figures: Funko made Pop! Vinyl figures of Star, Marco, Tom, and Ludo. These came out on December 20, 2018. There was even a special "Mewberty Form Star" figure only sold at Hot Topic stores.
What's Next for Star?
Daron Nefcy, the creator, has said she would love to see more of Star vs. the Forces of Evil in the future. She hopes for a movie or even a spin-off show!
However, right now, there is no official news about any new Star vs. the Forces of Evil projects.
See also
In Spanish: Star vs. the Forces of Evil para niños
