Trivia / Star Darlings

• Acting for Two: In The Power of Twelve, Libe Barer voiced Sage and Cassie, Stephanie Sheh voiced Vega and Piper, Marieve Herington voiced Libby and Gemma, Jennifer Hale voiced Astra and Lady Stella, and April Stewart voiced Lady Cordial, Rancora, and Professor Ursa.
• Early Draft Tie-In: Starling Academy was originally named Star Academy, and the early name is written on the dolls' cards.
• Executive Meddling: According to this press kit, merchandisers were ordered to always put "Starling" after a Star Darling's name on the toys.
• He Also Did: Amy Keating Rogers, the head writer for the webseries, is most famously known for her work on The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and much more.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The books are now out of print, including the collected volumes.
• No Export for You: Dolls of Cassie in her Starland look with Itty and Sage with MO-J4 were only released in the UK. Other cases include a Star Darlings magazine that's only available in the UK and Poland, a calendar that was only released in Hungary, and coloring books only released in Russia.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Leona was voiced by Corrin Reto in episode 1, Alisha Wainwright for episodes 2-12, and Dana Davis for The Power of Twelve.
  • The Power of Twelve special recast Cassie, replacing Kate Micucci with Libe Barer.
• Saved from Development Hell: Trademarks and early stories had been in development since 2009, but the franchise only came to fruition in 2015.
• Schedule Slip: The web series hadn't updated in months before The Power of Twelve special was announced.
• Screwed by the Network: Disney heavily underutilized this series, with near-invisible advertising, a lack of merchandise in general, focus on the Star Darlings band of 5 instead of all 12 girls, and a shallower, shorter webseries compared to the more serious books, but the dolls are where things really get bad. Of the 12 Star Darlings, only the core 5 had both a Starland outfit and Wishworld outfit in the US (Cassie's Starland look was UK-only), none of the supporting cast got dolls, and Scarlet's doll barely resembles her official art and cartoon look. Because of these factors leading to low interest, the franchise as a whole was canceled by January 2017, leaving the series on a cliffhanger.
• Show Accuracy/Toy Accuracy: While most of the dolls are accurate to the art and cartoon designs, Scarlet's doll has long dark purple hair tied in a ponytail instead of short fuchsia hair with dark stripes.
• Spoiled by the Merchandise:
  • Several early synopses of the first 12 books, which can still be found online, spoil the entire wish-granting side of the plot.
  • Books set after Gemma's story spoil who the main villain is, and the synopsis for canceled book One Star Too Far reveals a huge plot twist.
• What Could Have Been:
  • If this old summary for Sage's book is any indication, the original goal of the Star Darlings was to help humans believe in wishing again and find out why they stopped.
  • Originally Scarlet was going to be an antagonist, with her role on the team taken by a character named Prudence (who may have been an Ophelia prototype). Another villain was an unnamed girl with acid-yellow hair, who either became Vivica, Rancora, or a different character altogether.
  • An old summary for Scarlet's book mentions that originally she was going to help a disabled girl who wanted to be independent and learn to play to her strengths instead of making empty platitudes. This was changed to helping a girl overcome her fear of butterflies.
  • Lady Stella was originally named Cassiopeia, Astra was originally named Arly, Vega was originally named Virginia, and Adora was originally named Aquamarine. Starland was originally going to be called Star Planet, and Starling Academy was originally Star Academy, which is still written on the dolls' cards.
  • Several character and object designs were different from the finalized product.
  • Originally the web series would have been a full-length series, but due to low toy and book sales it was trimmed down to mini-episodes and shorts, with the Power of Twelve special being the only half-hour episode.
  • Three books that were canceled, Star-Crossed Summer, Dark Starling, and One Star Too Far, would have continued dangling plot threads from Stealing Starlight. In Star-Crossed Summer, over summer break, Lady Stella would attempt to mentor Vivica while Rancora sought to control her, and Scarlet, Astra, and Piper would spend their break on Earth. In Dark Starling, Sage and Vega would be asked to mentor Vivica on a Wish Mission, but Sage would abandon Vivica in a rash decision. In One Star Too Far, Sage leaving Vivica behind on Earth would have made her the prophesied Dark Starling, and only through fixing her mistake and earning Vivica's forgiveness would Starland be saved.
• Working Title: Several books had working titles listed before their finalized ones.
  • Sage and the Journey to Wishworld was originally Sage's Story.
  • Leona's Unlucky Mission was Leona's Last Chance.
  • Vega and the Fashion Disaster was Vega's Last-Second Victory.
  • When Astra was called Arly, her book was Arly's Adventure.
  • Gemma's book went through several variations before settling on Gemma and the Ultimate Standoff, originally being Gemma and the Worst Wish Ever and then Gemma and the Ultimate Battle.
  • Stealing Starlight was When We Shine.
  • The canceled book Star-Crossed Summer was originally Star-Charmed Summer.

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