Once Upon a Time (TV series)

Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time intertitle
Format	Fantasy Drama
Created by	Edward Kitsis Adam Horowitz
Starring	Ginnifer Goodwin Jennifer Morrison Lana Parrilla Josh Dallas Jared S. Gilmore Raphael Sbarge Jamie Dornan Robert Carlyle
Theme music composer	Mark Isham
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Edward Kitsis Adam Horowitz Steve Pearlman Mark Mylod
Producer(s)	Kathy Gilroy Damon Lindelof Brian Wankum (co-prod.)
Editor(s)	Julie Monroe Henk Van Eeghen, ACE
Location(s)	Vancouver, British Columbia
Cinematography	Steven Fierberg
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	ABC Studios Kitsis/Horowitz
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	720p (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original run	October 23, 2011 (2011-10-23) – present
External links
Official website

Once Upon a Time is an American fairy tale drama television series that premiered on Sunday October 23, 2011, on ABC. New episodes air Sunday nights at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT.

On November 3, 2011, ABC ordered the back nine episodes for Once Upon a Time, bringing the first season to a total of 22 episodes.

Synopsis

The story is set in the fictional small town of Storybrooke, Maine. The town is populated by characters from fairy tales, who have been exiled to the real world due to a curse cast by the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) as part of a revenge plot against Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas). Because of the curse, most of the inhabitants of Storybrooke have no memory of their true identities and have been stuck timelessly in Storybrooke for years.

This changes when Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), the adopted son of Storybrooke's Mayor Regina Mills (also Lana Parrilla), seeks out his birth mother, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bounty hunter living in Boston and coerces her to come to Storybrooke. Henry, who knows about the curse from a book given him by his teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard (also Ginnifer Goodwin), informs Emma that she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and that she is destined to break the curse holding everyone in Storybrooke. Skeptical, Emma decides to stay in Storybrooke after seeing how lonely Henry is and how he is emotionally neglected by his mother. In staying, Emma continues to run afoul of Mayor Mills. This conflict only increases when Emma becomes the town Sheriff.

Each episode usually focuses on one main character who is experiencing some sort of conflict in Storybrooke. Flashbacks also show what their character's story was in the fairy tale world of the Enchanted Forest. In the first season, almost all of the flashbacks involved Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle) making deals with the protagonists as part of some sort of machiavellian plot. In Storybrooke, Rumpelstiltskin is known as Mr. Gold, the wealthiest man in town.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Once Upon a Time characters

• Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard
• Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan
• Lana Parrilla as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills
• Josh Dallas as Prince James "Charming"/David Nolan
• Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills
• Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket/Archibald "Archie" Hopper
• Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold

Episodes

Main article: List of Once Upon a Time episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD release date
			Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	22	October 23, 2011 (2011-10-23)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Production

Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis conceived the show in 2004, prior to joining the writing staff of Lost, but wanted to wait until that series was over to focus on this project. The script was picked up to pilot on February 4, 2011. ABC commissioned a series, airing from fall 2011 on Sundays at 8/7 Central.

In May 2011, Jane Espenson was added as a co-executive producer and Liz Tigelaar was brought on as a consulting producer. Damon Lindelof served as a consultant on the show's pilot. Kitsis described Lindelof as his and Horowitz's "godfather", while Horowitz said that Lindelof's "name isn't on the show, but his DNA is in it," and that he will continue to advise the two. They also noted that Disney has allowed them wide berth in reinterpreting the classic characters' roles. "They've given us license," Kitsis said. "I could be wrong, but I think this is the first time anyone's shown Snow White with a sword, or pregnant."

Both Horowitz and Kitsis later emphasized that the series will focus more on the characters themselves and won't feature a "complex" storyline, which reportedly was the primary focus. "We don't want this to be a mythology show," said Kitsis. "It's about characters and characters first."

On September 27, 2011, the producers made changes with Kristin Bauer van Straten replacing Paula Marshall as Maleficent after revealing that it was going in a different direction. Marshall was originally tapped for the role in July 2011.

The show also has a similar premise to Bill Willingham's comic series Fables, to which ABC bought the rights in 2008, but never made it past the planning stages. Horowitz and Kitsis have "read a couple issues" of Fables but state that while the two concepts are "in the same playground," they believe they are "telling a different story." Comic-book reporter Rich Johnston, on his column on his Bleeding Cool site, called the series a "rip-off" of Fables. Bill Willingham later publically argued against this viewpoint and urged his fans not to attack the show in what he referred to as "a call to disarm". The story book owned by Henry, depicting the events in the fairy tale world is illustrated in watercolors by Marvel comic-book artist Joao M. P. Lemos.^{[citation needed]}

The village of Steveston Village, BC is used as an exterior location for the series's fictitious town of Storybrooke. Prior to filming, all flowers and other objects with bright colors are temporarily concealed or removed to preserve Storybrooke's sombrely enchanted nature.

Allusions

As a nod to the ties between the production teams of Once Upon a Time and Lost, the new show contains allusions to Lost, and is expected to be a continuing theme throughout the series. For example, many items found in the Lost universe, such as Apollo candy bars and MacCutcheon Whisky, can be seen in Once Upon a Time. Additionally, Once Upon a Time includes a short bass sound when transitioning to commercial breaks, which had previously been done in Lost. A "Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3" comic read by the character Henry in episode 9 was written by Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof. Also on display in Rumpelstiltskin's castle was the scythe featured near the end of the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, albeit coloured differently.

The show, as a production of Disney-owned ABC, contains multiple allusions to the Disney versions of the stories that form the basis for the series. Snow White's dwarfs, unnamed in traditional versions of the story, here have the names they were given in the Disney film. Similarly, Sleeping Beauty was cursed by an individual named Maleficent, again the name used in the 1959 Disney film for the wicked fairy godmother that lacked a name in many other versions (In Tchaikovsky's ballet, she was named Carabosse). Geppetto's fairy friend is called The Blue Fairy as in the 1940 Disney film, which is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio, rather than The Fairy with Turquoise Hair, and his conscience figure is called Jiminy Cricket rather than "the Talking Cricket," as in Carlo Collodi's novel. Another allusion to the Disney universe is the name of Archie's Dalmatian, "Pongo," in reference to one of the main characters in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The Genie of the Lamp claims to hail from Agrabah, the central Location in the Disney animated film, Aladdin. When Snow White first meets Grumpy, he can be heard whistling the main chorus of "Heigh Ho" from the Disney film version of Snow White. In the episode "Skin Deep", the hat worn by Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia can be seen on display in Rumpelstiltskin's castle. Also in this episode a tea cup with a chip in it is an allusion to the Chip character from Beauty and the Beast, an ornate clock as a reference to Cogsworth and a candelabra in reference to Lumière. The costuming and the character of Gaston were also a nod to the Disney animation. Another reference to Disney came in "What Happened to Frederick" where Henry is given Space Paranoids, a reference to the film Tron.

Opening sequence

Beginning with the second episode, the opening sequence that appears below the show's title features a mythical creature, person, or an item that is tied into the episode.

Setting

The actual spread and scope of the Enchanted Forest is not currently known. So far in the series, it has been hinted that there are several kingdoms and lands that are beyond the scope of the Enchanted Forest. So far established realms in the Enchanted Forest include the one ruled formerly by King Leopold and now by the Evil Queen, King Midas' Kingdom, King George's Kingdom, Cinderella's Kingdom and one seemingly ruled by Belle's father. It was shown in "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" that Agrabah is also a kingdom in this reality. There was at one point a war known as the Ogre Wars, which had implications for many of the kingdoms. The effects of the Dark Curse are not fully known either, in that if the effect extended beyond the Enchanted Forest and into other realms of the fairy tale world.

Reception

Critical reception

Several critics who saw the pilot reviewed the series positively. On Metacritic, it was given a score of 66 out of 100 with "generally favorable reviews". E!'s Kristin dos Santos cites the show as one of the five new shows of the 2011–12 season to watch. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave the show a "C+" grade commenting "From a pair of Lost producers, this is a love-or-hate proposition. The ambition is impressive, as it asks us to imagine Goodwin’s Snow White and Parrilla’s Evil Queen as moderns. But Morrison is a wooden lead, and the back stories—a random collection of fairy tales—don’t promise to surprise." In a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, TV critic Gail Pennington hailed it as one of the "Most Promising Show of The Fall", and unlike Gilbert, had high marks for Morrison. USA Today's Robert Blanco has placed the series on its top ten list, declaring that "There's nothing else on the air quite like it." Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times preferred this series to another fairy-tale themed drama, Grimm, citing that the premise takes its time building up the charm and that the producer "has that part nailed". She also gave excellent reviews for Morrison's character: "Her Emma is predictably cynical and prickly—fairy-tale princess, my Aunt Fanny—but she's sharp and lively enough to keep audiences begging for 'just a few more pages' before they go to bed."

Several feminist outlets were pleased with the show for its feminist twist on fairy tales. Avital Norman Nathman of Bitch stated that she liked the show for "infusing a feminist sensibility" into the stories. Genie Leslie at Feministing commented that Emma was a "badass", that she liked how Emma was "very adamant that women be able to make their own decisions about their lives and their children", and how Emma was a "well-rounded" character who was "feminine, but not 'girly'". Natalie Wilson from Ms. praised the show for a strong, "kick-butt" female lead, for including multiple strong women who take turns doing the saving with the men, for subverting the fetishization of true love, and for dealing with the idea of what makes a mother in a more nuanced fashion. Wilson went on to state about the lead:

"Her pursuit of a 'happy ending' is not about finding a man or going to a ball all gussied up, but about detective work, about building a relationship with her son Henry, and about seeking the 'truth' as to why time stands still in the corrupt Storybrooke world."

Ratings

The pilot episode was watched by 13 million viewers and received a 4.0 rating in Teens and Adults 18-49. It was the season's highest-rated drama debut among Adults 18-49 and ABC's biggest debut in five years. The show's next three episodes had consistent ratings every week with over 11 million viewers. The series has become the #1 non-sports program with viewers and young adults on Sunday nights.

Awards

Once Upon a Time was nominated for a 2012 People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama", but lost to Person of Interest. It was also nominated for "Best Genre Series" at the 2011 Satellite Awards, but lost to American Horror Story. The program also received Three nominations at the 2012 Visual Effects Society Awards, but all lost to Boardwalk Empire, Gears of War 3 and Terra Nova, respectively.

DVD

On February 14, 2012 the first 5 episodes of the series was released on DVD exclusively to Target stores.

International broadcasts

The series has been licensed to over 190 countries according to Disney. It has been picked up for international broadcasts in these countries:

Country	Channel	Premiere date	Timeslot
Argentina	Sony Entertainment Television	2012	TBA
Mexico	Sony Entertainment Television	2012	TBA
Canada	CTV	October 23, 2011	20:00 & 22:00
Turkey	DiziMax	December 9, 2011
Italy	FOX	December 25, 2011	21:00
Philippines	STAR World	November 9, 2011	21:55
Spain	AXN	January 12, 2012	21:30
Spain	Antena 3	TBA	TBA
Sweden	Kanal 5	January 12, 2012	20:00
Portugal	AXN	January 13, 2012	21:30
Australia	Seven Network	2012	TBA
Iceland	SkjárEinn	January 7, 2012	TBA
Brazil	Sony Entertainment Television	April 2012
Greece	Star Channel	2012
Israel	Yes	2012
Middle East	OSN	November 2, 2011	19:00 K.S.A
New Zealand	TVNZ	February 9, 2012	20:30
Netherlands	Film1	January 22, 2012	22:30
Venezuela	Sony Entertainment Television	2012	TBA
Norway	TVNorge	January 1, 2012	19:30
Denmark	Kanal 5	March 3, 2012	20:50
Estonia	Fox Life	February 9, 2012	20:00
United Kingdom	Channel 5	Spring 2012	TBA
Bulgaria	Fox Life	March 7, 2012	22:05
Latvia	Fox Life	February 26, 2012	20:00
Serbia	Fox Life	March 5, 2012	20:55
Croatia	Fox Life	March 5, 2012	20:55
Slovenia	Fox Life	March 5, 2012	20:55
Macedonia	Fox Life	March 5, 2012	20:55

^1 Canadian broadcast: The series will air at 7 pm in all regions except in Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, where it will air at 10 pm. All times local time.

External links

• Official website
• Once Upon a Time on Facebook
• Once Upon a Time at the Internet Movie Database
• Once Upon a Time at TV.com