History WesternAnimation / ElenaOfAvalor

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Xotep is a volcano with blue lava. In real life, the Indonesian volcano Kawah Ijen has blue lava, which is because of its high levels of sulfur, which, when come in contact with the air, cause the blue coloration.

* BalefulPolymorph: Comes up a couple of times. An archaeologist is transformed into giant gecko after taking a treasure, the main four are transformed into little wooden dolls by a cursed fire opal for hurting Isabel's feelings, and three ambassadors are transformed into {{Half Human Hybrid}}s by accident when Doña Paloma gives them enchanted masks.

** "Avalor" is non-descript. The real-life reason is that at the time the name was conceived, ''Elena of Avalor'' was not conceived at the time and it was just supposed to be a reference to [[Myth/KingArthur Avalon]], though the in-universe reason could be that it got its name from a non-Spanish language, like Aragon (believed to have been derived from the Basque language, which is a language isolate despite its close proximity to Spain).

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Flo is an alpacamundi, which is a [[MixAndMatchCritters mix]] between an alpaca and a coatimundi.

** At the welcoming, Shuriki quietly orders Esteban to have the guards deal with a subversive — [[AdultFear a little boy]] — who is playing the flute, blissfully unaware of the law banning music. While Sofia's family isn't looking, the guards confront the boy and destroy his flute.

* AdultFear:
** Getting your family killed because of your actions.
** Doing something so abhorrent that you're scared that everyone will turn against you and that your family will disown you.
** [[spoiler:Your loved one doing something horrible and go down a bad path like murder because they thought you didn't love them enough, and not really knowing what to do about it]].
** Your parents are in a feud, they're only still together for your sake, and [[spoiler:one of them badly hurts the other when they've had enough of them]].

* HypnotizeThePrincess: {{Downplayed}} in "Song of the Sirenas" when Marisa uses a siren song to hypnotize and lure Elena to her so they can talk in private.

* ShipTease: And how with all of her friends: [[FirstGirlWins Mateo]], [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship Naomi]], and [[BodyguardCrush Gabe]]. With ShippingGoggles you can see it in almost every episode.

''Elena of Avalor'' is a 2016 CGI-animated Creator/DisneyJunior[=/=]Creator/DisneyChannel {{spinoff}} of ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'', created by Craig Gerber. The series premiered on Disney Junior on July 14, 2016 and Disney Channel on July 22, 2016, with its pilot film airing on November 20, 2016.

* RealityEnsues:
** "Norberg Peace Prize" takes place only a few days after "The Incredible Shrinking Royals", so Elena is still upset with Esteban for attempting to sabotage Julio's feast earlier.
** In "The Magic Within", [[spoiler:Esteban expects to be EasilyForgiven because of his DarkAndTroubledPast[=/=]FreudianExcuse. His grandfather may, but Elena and their grandmother (and Naomi) don't because he's still responsible for the murders of at least two of his and their family members and many other crimes associated with Shuriki's regime all because he somehow thought he wasn't loved.]]

* NotSoDifferent: While they don't interact too much, Gabe and Doña Paloma both sing in "Captain of the Guard" and "Best For Our Guest" that they worked really hard to get to their positions.

** Compared to its [[WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst predecessor series]], ''Elena of Avalor'' is a lot more plot-focused and delves into more mature and intense subjects (while still being suitable for its Y-rating). The show makes importance out of CharacterDeath (if only mostly [[PosthumousCharacter in the past]]), AbusiveParents, ParentalAbandonment, ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer, and [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything political allegories]], things that wouldn't be suitable for [[KidHero Sofia]]'s adventures.

** The Jaquins. You have names like Zoom and Zephyr, or realistic names like Estrella, Nico, and Luna, or action-sounding names like Avion, to Latin words or [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Latin-sounding words]] like Dulce, Ciela and Verago, or non-descript names like Migs and Mingo. And then there's names that clearly don't sound Latin-based, like Skylar (Dutch origin) or Vestia (Greco-Roman origin).

* AmbiguousSituation: In "Song of the Sirenas", [[spoiler:Elena fires a Blaze spell at Shuriki, and all is left of her is the Jewel of Night. It's not clear if Shuriki was disintegrated (like she did to Elena's parents) or was trapped in the Jewel of Night (like she unintentionally did to Elena), but according to WordOfGod, the authorial intent is that she's dead.]]
** The ambiguity is removed in "Coronation Day." [[spoiler:Shuriki's spirit is seen in the audience of the olaball game.]]

** The setting is based off of Latin America, so you got names like Elena, Isabel, Esteban, Gabe (Gabriel), Mateo, Victor, Carla, Valentina, and so forth. Some are justifiable as being from elsewhere, such as Naomi (who is from Norberg, which is based off of the Scandinavian region) and Higgins, and then there's Shuriki, who is a sorceress from the Northern Islands -- which is not known to be based off of a real-life location.

*** While we don't have a lot of details, Maru, the ancient civilization that predated Avalor, seems to be one for the Mayans. It vanished for unknown reasons (similar to the Incas) and the artifacts left behind have a distinctly Mayan style.

** Cordoba seems to be one for Argentina. Alonso's clothing is based on traditional Argentinian clothing and the Cordoban royal guards' color scheme matches the colors of the Argentinian flag.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Given how animal-like Zopilote is and that his animal form is a vulture, it puts him going on a lunch break in "Sister of Invention" in a rather disturbing light if you assume he eats what vultures eat. Not to mention that Ash says that he took away her two pet mice, which are often the prey of predatory birds like vultures...
** In "Norberg Peace Prize", hen Elena gives Queen Abigail and King Hector hatchets to chop down trees as a part of their bonding exercise, Isabel points out that it's probably not a good idea to give sharp objects to two people that utterly despise each other.
** In "Father-In-Chief", Troyo, a magical coyote, bluntly states that he ate a flaringo that turned into a butterfrog, and intends to turn Chief Zephyr and Mingo into butterfrogs so he can do the same to them.
** [[spoiler:Esteban]] gets sentenced to exile on a DesertedIsland and he clearly understands [[{{Robinsonade}} the connotations of this]], although it's possible he would've had at least some things to survive off of like [[WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst Princess Ivy]], who apparently had enough to eat and had a small house to take shelter in.
** Victor and Ash's relationship is quite a realistic example of a deteriorating relationship between a couple, much less a married couple with a kid stuck in the middle.
** The origins of Hanukkah and the struggles of the Jewish people are alluded to, but don't go into explicit detail.

* LatinoIsBrown: Averted. Avalor is modeled on Latin cultures and is very diverse, with the average crowd shot showing skin tones ranging from very light to very dark ([[InkSuitActor some being designed after their voice actors]]).

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: In "All Heated Up," Charoca of the monfuego is treated as a monster, but Elena tries to put a stop to it. However, when the royal forces attack anyway, he declares, "If they want a monster, I'll give them a monster." Fortunately, it doesn't stick, as he soon has a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment where he recognizes that all he did was worsen the situation, and that the prejudice he faced doesn't warrant or excuse actions that only validates that prejudice.

** Even though Elena has Zuzo for advice, Elena would still needs a professional's help to deal with serious issues in her life, namely having PTSD from watching her parents die, spending 41 years in her amulet, being unable to move on from her parent's death. Elena would most ''definitely'' require therapy after [[spoiler:finding out about Esteban's past treachery and getting her new magic under control]], because that is a rather complex issue that would require therapy for Elena to deal with her grief constructively.

* EpisodeTitleCard: As with its predecessor, the title of each episode is said aloud (except unlike Princess Sofia, the speaker isn't always Crown Princess Elena).

* MythArc: The epilogue of "Realm of the Jaquins" begins one for Elena to overcome a darkness somewhere in Avalor; if she fails, she won't become queen. The darkness, unknown to her at the time, is the rise of [[spoiler:her old enemy Shuriki, and Carla and Victor are working for her]].