There were only two new shows that I was really looking forward to in the new fall season (other than Smash, which doesn’t start until February), and they were both based on fairy tales. Once Upon a Time and Grimm. And I am hooked on both.
I liked the premise of Once Upon a Time: fairy tale characters that have been cursed to live in our world. And I enjoy how each episode goes back and forth from Fairy Tale land to modern day Storybrooke. However, when I saw the first episode, I wondered how they were going to be able to stretch the premise into a full season, or even more. It seemed more suited to a mini-series.
Luckily, they have more stories in them that I thought. Each episode usually highlights one specific fairy tale character/story in Fairy Tale Land, with a parallel story featuring the same characters in Storybrooke.
Once Upon a Time isn’t a perfect series to me. There are some things that I don’t particular like.
I like deconstruction of fairy tales, however, it would be nice if they deconstructed more from the original fairy tales and not from the Disney-fied version of the stories. For example, as much as I like Raphael Sbarge and his character, Jiminy Cricket is a Disney creation, not part of the original fairy tale. And I don’t believe the bad fairy in Sleepy Beauty has a name, but in Once Upon a Time her name is Maleficent, just as it is in the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.
Another thing that bothers me is that there are so many fairy tales to use in the series, so why did they use a King Midas, a mythological character? If they continue in that direction, and if they’re basing characters on Disney animated movies, I guess we’ll be seeing Hercules soon.
In spite of these things, I still like Once Upon a Time very much, and I am excited to see where the story goes.
I love this show, but I, too, I find it obnoxious they're going with the Disney version. TV Guide's website reported that they found an actress to play Belle, and that Gaston would show up too. I guess they want to go with the versions that people know... but surely SOME people are familiar with the original tales!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think Snow White's fairy-tale gowns are hideous. They look waaaaay too modern. Mary Margaret dresses so cutely, maybe there's a symbolic reason Snow's gowns all have feathers on them, but I don't like them! Just weird.
The characters and stories are fascinating, though. I'm excited to see what happens next -- the episodes are not coming quickly enough for me!
Having her named Belle doesn't bug me much, but having Gaston is just wrong. I wish they would stay closer to the "real" versions. I think most are actually more interesting and give writers more to work with. But I'm still enthralled with the show.
ReplyDeleteI also love Mary Margaret's fashion sense - so cute.