Once Upon a Time (ABC TV Series)

[supertalies]

I also watched the second episode.

I was kinda shocked when it was revealed the Evil Queen killed her own father. I thought she was going to cut out her own heart or something like that.

I have mixed feelings about Maleficent. I liked Kristen Bauer and even though I expected Maleficent to be more evil, I liked how they made her seem more human.

The show seems to be set a lot of years after the 'Sleeping Beauty' fairytale and I realized that Malificent was able to do what the queen couldn't: let go of the past. She didn't allow herself to be consumed with this overbearing desire for revenge. She seemed content to live in her castle and dote on her pet unicorn (who seemed to have replaced her raven) and seemed to have accepted everything.

However, her fight with The Queen was pretty dissapointing. I alway saw Maleficent as a stronger villain than The Queen, so to see her lose so fast was a little bit weird for me.

[Disney Live On]

Just watched episode 2 and it was AMAZING! Really sinking my teeth into this show is a lot of fun.

Loved Maleificent vs. the evil Queen. That was genius and I hope she returns for a Sleeping Beauty themed episode (like the Cinderella one thats coming up).

Their battle was short but still awesome, though as many have said Maleificent definitely would have won in reality (and the unicorn was kinda random- would have preferred if she still had her raven).

Also loved the reference to her power being held in the staff (as in the Disney film) and the twist that she gave the Queen the sleeping death curse. Definitely have respect for these writers and the way they have acknowledged most of the TV audience would remember the Disney films as opposed to the original versions. It has allowed them to play with the background of those films- giving more of a link between them which is a lot of fun to catch onto as a Disney fan

The visuals of this show are breathtaking and I cant wait to discover what Snow White did that destroyed the Queen. It has to be something far more devious then she is the fairest in the land... stolen youth and beauty perhaps?

I doubt Snow White is as innocent as she seems and that's going to be the big reveal mid to late season I assume... but only time will tell.

Also who else was waiting for a Mary Poppins reference when she tossed those pages into the fire????

I'm definitely hooked.

[Disney Duster]

I am concerned with Emma Swan's bad posture. She walks around slouched over like she might have some problem with her spine, I hope not because she is one of my favorite characters.

I noticed she slouches but I think it is because of who her character is supposed to be. She's not a fairy tale princess but an abandoned orphan who ha da tough life and got very tough chasing after criminals. She chainsawed a tree! Which was awesome, by the way!

The acting is still a little wooden, and I don't think that Henry is as dumb as they want everyone to think.[/quote]
You mean you think he's supposed to be dumb? Isn't he supposed to be pretty smart to know who everyone really is? Or do you mean he needs to act more like a naive kid? Apparently he's actually, well, SPOILERthe Queen's father! So I'm not entirely sure how he should act, something between that and a kid I guess, he seems okay in the kid department lol.

I wish I saw Grimm so I could no what you think is much better acting...the evil Queen is killing it almost every time, and Maleficent really acted very well. I loved how she actually loved her unicorn, that was a suprise moment for me. I guess the unicorn is her new pet since her raven got turned to stone? But yes the unicorn was random lol.

Speaking of that, I have to admit I have given up on expecting these characters to really be the Disney ones. To me, they are entirely new versions of the Disney characters, I mean, they just are, the real version of Maleficent was pure evil and never used "the Sleeping Death" the evil Queen used, she cursed Aurora to actual death, remember?

But it sure is fun seeing the different takes. In this version Maleficent is the one more prone to love, and I like her character. The Queen's too, actually. And their battle was flippin' awesome, no matter how short.

I can't wait till Cinderella's episode. I changed my mind and I do like the Fairy Godmother's whole costume but Cinderella still needs something more on her skirt...

[tsom]

I honestly don't think of the Disney version of these characters when I watch the show. I only think of the fairy tales they are based on. For instance, Maleficent was sort of weak in this, but in the original fairy tale, all the evil fairy did was curse Aurora/Briar Rose. She didn't turn into a dragon or anything. Therefore, it's pretty understandable why this Maleficent would be kind of tame.

Also, like supertalies stated, it probably had been years since Sleeping Beauty got her happily ever after and Maleficent had probably moved on, which I totally respect.

[Sotiris]

The ratings for the second episode are out:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... ory-255239

[supertalies]

Four ‘Once Upon a Time’ sneak peeks released for episode 3, ‘Snow Falls’.

http://www.hypable.com/once-upon-a-time ... now-falls/

This episode seems to be about how Snow White and Charming met.

[singerguy04]

After watching the first two episodes on hulu and thinking about them through the day, I've decided that I really enjoy this series. True, the acting isn't the best on TV and the scenery animation for the fairy tale scenes is pretty bad, but the overall story is pretty intriguing. I'm excited to see what fairy tale characters there are. I noticed in the first episode there was a part where the wind blows some pages of the book to jump into the fairy tale scene. While the pages were flipping it looks like there is a picture of the Caterpillar and Alice. I would love to see Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and so on make appearances in the series as well (that should also seperate it further from Grimm).

I've also been wondering if eventually there will be a storyline that turns Emma into "The Swan Princess", which is why her last name ended up being Swan.

[Disney's Divinity]

I've also been wondering if eventually there will be a storyline that turns Emma into "The Swan Princess", which is why her last name ended up being Swan.

I wondered that, too.

[Disney Duster]

I noticed in the first episode there was a part where the wind blows some pages of the book to jump into the fairy tale scene. While the pages were flipping it looks like there is a picture of the Caterpillar and Alice. I would love to see Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and so on make appearances in the series as well (that should also seperate it further from Grimm).

The page you missed shows Dorothy carried by the winged monkeys from The Wizard of Oz!

I've also been wondering if eventually there will be a storyline that turns Emma into "The Swan Princess", which is why her last name ended up being Swan.

The Swan Princess is only the ballet...as far as I know...so it wouldn't be a fairy tale unless it was one of those Anderson tales about swans...?

[Sotiris]

The Swan Princess is only the ballet...as far as I know...so it wouldn't be a fairy tale unless it was one of those Anderson tales about swans...?

No, that's "The Wild Swans", a different swan story altogether.

"The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland" are not fairytales but children's novels while "Peter Pan" was a play which was later novelized.

The story of "Swan Lake" was fashioned from German folk tales (such as "The Stolen Veil") as well as Russian ones (such as "The White Duck"), so I think the ballet is closer to the traditional sense of 'fairytale' than children's novels and plays.

[Disney Duster]

"The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland" are not fairytales but children's novels.

The Wizard of Oz is indeed a fairy tale. L. Frank Baum wrote in the introduction that it was an American fairy tale, and he intentionally put into it typical fairy tale things like witches. It is also known that his tale was in part inspired by Alice in Wonderland, and him being tired of all the classic children's novels being from London. The Wizard of Oz is certainly more novel than fairy tale, but it is both, and since it was based in part on Alice in Wonderland, well, anyway, both were in the fairy tale book in this show! I don't really agree with it...but I think it's neat and alright.

[supertalies]

Watch the first 10 minutes of episode 3 'Snow Falls'.

http://tv.yahoo.com/once-upon-her-time/ ... s/27153198

[dvdjunkie]

According to Nielsen Reports, "Once Upon A Time" ABC's new highly-rated drama on Sunday nights has been given the green light for the rest of the season, which means that there will be a full 22-episode season for the highly watched series.

Okay, now this has me pumped up. While I don't see some of the things that other people see, I am starting to like the show a little more each week.

Also NBC has not given "Grimm" the green light, as yet, for anything past the first 9 episodes. It seems that most new shows that debut on Friday night, according to the Nielsen folks, tank in the first 9 weeks than any other day of the week.

Also on the list as shows either canceled or 'in trouble' included "Pan Am", "The Playboy Club", "90210", "Charlie's Angels" (canceled after four shows), CSI, CSI NY, and "Body of Proof". For the first time in five years the CSI series' seem to be faltering in their popularity, CSI Miami will be moved to another night of the week because of its slow start and poor ratings on Sunday night at 10 pm.

"Once Upon A Time" is the highest rated new show on ABC in 15 years.

[Disney's Divinity]

I think the fact that ABC has been re-running/re-airing a lot of episodes from their premiere shows has been helping. Both Once Upon A Time and Revenge have had previous episodes aired again, and I think it's helped both shows find and maintain an audience. ABC needs new hits, considering they've let all their hits from the past 8 years (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, etc.) go down the drain. I believe Lost is the only show they pimped during that time.

[Maerj]

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm about ready to strangle that evil Queen. Argh, she makes me mad!!!!!

[supertalies]

I don't know. I kinda feel for her. Who knows what Snow White did to her that hurt her so much. Until I know that, I won't judge her actions.

Also, I really like the fact Charming has a name now. His name in the fairytale land is Prince James, and his name in the real world is David Nolan.

Charming is just his nickname

[Disney Duster]

I was hoping it would be his actual name. I thought since this was Disney they would keep his name the actual one Disney gave him, ya know (though Cinderella's prince is the one more officially called Prince Charming).

The episode was exciting and I couldn't wait to see what happened, but I also didn't like how Snow White's character was raaaadically changed. I might have understood how she became tougher and stole things from people to survive in the woods. That makes some natural sense, she barged right into the dwarfs' cottage after all. Her manly outfit...okay, maybe she's in disguise, I get that, too. But to say she doesn't believe in true love?

Wtf, that is what her and every fairy tale character have always been about. And her character much later was more like the innocent, fairy tale heroine we know. I thought this show was going to contrast how the happy fairy tales are different from dark reality. Why would the Queen make a big speech about taking away their happiness if they didn't believe in such happiness before it happened? That makes it much less powerful. Snow White almost seems as bitter as the Queen.

I know some of you, like my one friend who watches it, might say you like how more real it makes the characters seem. Yea...but fairy tale characters are meant to be just that, fairy tales. They are meant to uphold our ideals, always. They are real in how they are portrayed, but they believe in things that most real people seldom do. That's why we read their stories, because they aren't ordinary, they're extraordinary. *sigh*

[AliceinWonderland]

I was hoping it would be his actual name. I thought since this was Disney they would keep his name the actual one Disney gave him, ya know (though Cinderella's prince is the one more officially called Prince Charming).

The episode was exciting and I couldn't wait to see what happened, but I also didn't like how Cinderella's character was raaaadically changed. I might have understood how she became tougher and stole things from people to survive in the woods. That makes some natural sense, she barged right into the dwarfs' cottage after all. Her manly outfit...okay, maybe she's in disguise, I get that, too. But to say she doesn't believe in true love?

Wtf, that is what her and every fairy tale character have always been about. And her character much later was more like the innocent, fairy tale heroine we know. I thought this show was going to contrast how the happy fairy tales are different from dark reality. Why would the Queen make a big speech about taking away their happiness if they didn't believe in such happiness before it happened? That makes it much less powerful. Snow White almost seems as bitter as the Queen.

I know some of you, like my one friend who watches it, might say you like how more real it makes the characters seem. Yea...but fairy tale characters are meant to be just that, fairy tales. They are meant to uphold our ideals, always. They are real in how they are portrayed, but they believe in things that most real people seldom do. That's why we read their stories, because they aren't ordinary, they're extraordinary. *sigh*

In your second paragraph, are you talking about snow white??

Also, Cinderellla is going to be introduced in the next episode.. "Prince Charming" was going to marry another blonde Princess

[tsom]

Disney Duster, yes it is a fairy tale, but characters can be three dementional in fairy tales. It is human for Snow White to think like this. I mean her mother died, her father died, her step mother wants her dead, etc. To her, love is probably another thing to lose. I'm sure later on, Prince James will make her believe in love again.

And remember: this show is just a fairy tale and fairy tales often get retold in many different ways. Next Sunday's story will be about Cinderella and it will be different from the Disney version and the Perrault version. So just relax, breathe, and enjoy OUAT's version of the little Cinder-girl.

[Kraken Guard]

Why I'm so iffy on the idea of a live-action film involving Maleficent. THEY COMPLETELY MURDERED HER IN THE SHOW!

But, I suppose everybody has their different versions... Look at those Vampires in Twilight...

Also glad to see I'm not the only one that face-palmed at the 'HEY!'


But I suppose the show is enjoyable to watch. Despite my unpleased-ness on their version of Maleficent, I find the show pretty enjoyable. It's kind of like those really bad movies you watch on the Sci-Fi(err, Sy-Fy) channel. They're so bad, they are good... Though I think this show is better then some of the movies they have on Sy-Fy...

But... Yeah. It's watchable. But the darn kid! Grr!!


HEY! My gosh! That has to be the most epic-est quote ever! HEY!

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The 10th Kingdom was better...