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As children, most of us grew up enjoying the magic of fairy tales. We read the stories and watched the movies. When we played with our friends, we pretended to be brave princes and beautiful princesses. Now, on ABC’s fantasy series, Once Upon a Time, all of the fairy tale characters that we loved as kids have gathered together in one place—they just don’t know it.
The series focuses on Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a Boston bail bondswoman whose life changes forever when 10-year-old Henry (Jared Gilmore) shows up at her door. He claims to be Emma’s son—the one she gave up for adoption years ago—and he begs her to return home to Storybrooke, Maine, with him.
As Emma is driving Henry home, he tells her a fantastical story. He’s convinced that the people of Storybrooke are fairy tale characters, and they’re under a curse that was placed on them by a wicked queen—who just happens to be his adoptive mother and the town’s mayor, Regina (Lana Parilla). Emma, he explains, is the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas)—and she’s their only hope.
Though Emma doesn’t believe a word Henry says, she falls in love with her son, and she decides to stick around for a while.
With each new episode, the first season of Once Upon a Time offers a new twist on a familiar fairy tale (especially the Disney ones, since the studio is owned by Disney), following the characters’ stories in both Storybrooke and the fairy tale world. It’s definitely an odd conglomeration of tales, with characters from different stories often interacting with one another, but that’s just a part of the show’s appeal: it’s like a fairy tale fruit basket upset.
Most of the time, the stories feel perfectly natural. After all, it just seems to make sense that Snow White and Cinderella and even Rumplestiltskin would exist in the same magical land. Others, meanwhile, feel more far-fetched—like the episodes involving genies or the Mad Hatter. These are the times when the series seems to be grasping at straws, trying to come up with more stories to shoehorn into the theme.
The effects, meanwhile, aren’t exactly movie quality. While some are impressive, especially considering the relatively short turnaround time, the green screen is sometimes a little too obvious—not to mention distracting.
Still, the stories come together in the “real” world in a way that keeps the series interesting, episode after episode. In Storybrooke, these beloved characters find themselves in similar—but far from magical—situations, needing hard work, luck, and maybe a little bit of True Love to help them through challenging situations. And, really, it’s the characters’ humanity that gives the series its magic.
As Henry continues trying to convince Emma of her destiny and Regina continues trying to maintain control of both her son and the city, the season twists and turns and surprises as it builds to a thrilling conclusion—one that will leave you anxious to see where the second season will take these characters.
If you ever wanted to spend more time with your favorite fairy tale characters, here’s your chance. Once Upon a Time goes beyond the childhood fantasies to delve deeper into the characters and their stories, making it a fun fairy tale adventure for grown-up playtime princes and princesses.
Blu-ray Review:
The five-disc Blu-ray release of the first season of Once Upon a Time also includes plenty of extras: bloopers, deleted scenes, commentaries, and a handful of behind-the-scenes features.
Some of the features focus on the show’s fairy tale origins—like The Story I Remember…Snow White, in which cast members try to retell the real Snow White story as they remember it, or Once Upon a Time: Origins, with Josh Dallas hosting the exploration of various popular fairy tales.
Other features, meanwhile, show how series creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis have taken those fairy tale origins and turned them into a weekly TV drama. Fairy Tales in the Modern World is a kind of making-of feature, discussing the inspiration for the show, as well as its appeal. And Building Character shows how a character (in this case, Emilie de Ravin’s Belle) goes from the initial conversation with the actor to costuming to the screen.
And, finally, to go behind the scenes in the real world, check out Welcome to Storybrooke, which visits Steveston, British Columbia, the tiny real-life town that’s transformed into Storybrooke whenever it’s time for filming.
While you’re waiting for the second season of Once Upon a Time to premiere, take some time to check out the first season’s features. I recommend starting with a little bit of fantasy and a little bit of reality. The Origins feature offers some interesting insight into some of everyone’s favorite childhood stories, while Welcome to Storybrooke is a fascinating look at both the show’s production and the charming town that’s turned upside-down in order to bring this fantasy to the small screen.
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