“Once upon a time…there was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know. One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. Our world. This is how it happened…“
ABC’s Once Upon a Time is the retelling of Disney’s classic fairy tales. Stories made immortal in the hearts of their fans such as Pinocchio, Snow White, Cinderella and others now find themselves being refashioned in a whole new way. It is important to note that this is a retelling of Disney’s portrayals lest we forget that how we understand fairy tales is different than the dark tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. It is funny to note that in the opening words (above) the word “classic” is used to describe the story’s characters. Classic is perhaps used as an allusion to Disney’s “Classic Collection” of animated movies.
The story of Emma Swan is in fact a means to introducing our classic Disney friends in a new way. Once Upon a Time opens up with the tale of Snow White being awoken by the charming Prince riding upon his noble white steed. Naturally, a kiss is the only remedy for an eternity of slumber. What then progresses from the well known scene that ends Snow White as an animated tale now goes to its natural conclusion, a wedding, and we presume a happily ever after. However our hopes are dashed by the arrival of Snow White’s nemesis, the wicked Queen, a character we might all have assumed was dead having had a nasty run in with a cliff while in the guise of her alter ego, the ugly, apple wielding, Witch. So, now we see why this new show opens with the words, “classic characters we know…or think we know.”
So what is Once Upon a Time? Is it a myth, a fairy tale meant to comfort us, the viewers, by showing us that poor mistreated young women can get the handsome prince to fall in love and rescue them from their unhappy situations? Is it a parable meant to show us that the myths cannot be real but that in truth young women have to make due for themselves? Perhaps it is both of these things at once. The show seems to claim that it is about restoring the happy endings. After all, what has been lost from the story of Snow White is the wonderful, albeit, ambiguous words that end all good fairy tales: “And they lived happily ever after.”
The tension that is found in the first episode, and I might argue throughout the season, is the tension between love and power. The fairy tale characters Snow White and her dashing Prince are fighting to ward off the evil plans of the powerful Queen. The Queen wants her own happy ending which is simply the destruction of everyone else’s happy ending. The young newlyweds want their happily ever after with the child that is on the way. As the Prince says, “Good can’t lose…not as long as we have each other.”
At the same time that we see Snow and her new husband battling evil with love we are introduced to Emma Swann. Emma is a tough “bail bondsperson” slugging out a career against modern day villains in the bustling metropolis of Boston. Upon arriving home from a tough day at work, she settles down for a birthday cupcake only to be greeted by a small visitor at her door: “Hi, my name is Henry. I’m your son.” Henry convinces Emma to take him back to Storybrooke, Maine, where he hopes Emma will save all the fairy tale characters from being trapped in our world by the Evil Queen. Henry tells Emma, “They’re not fairy tales. They’re truth. Every story in this book actually happened.” This leads to an interesting discussion that we can’t have about religion but that we can have about fairy tales. Emma responds to Henry’s perhaps naïve assertion that the stories are true by saying, “Just because you believe something doesn’t make it true.” Henry’s rebuttal is profound, “That’s exactly what makes it true.” So Once Upon a Time begins to ask questions about having faith in something that cannot be proven despite doubts on all sides.
Once Upon a Time explores issues of women in what are typically male roles. Emma is a bail bondsperson. Snow White is the first to pull her husband’s sword on the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen also plays the mayor of the town of Storybrooke. So there is great possibility to question what makes a woman powerful. Does having a powerful job make you powerful? Does using a sword make you powerful? Or perhaps is it just as powerful to invite a stranger to your town into your home for a cup of hot cocoa? Can hospitality be more powerful than being a mayor? Are acts of love powerful, and are positions of power sometimes weak?
When talking about stories, Henry’s school teacher, who is also Snow White, says, “Good stories, the classics, there is a reason we all know them. They’re a way for us to deal with our world when it doesn’t always make sense…I gave the book to Henry so that he could have the most important thing that anyone can have…hope. Believing even in the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing.”
I suspect that Once Upon a Time will become enormously popular because they are not only rewriting those powerful stories we know so well but are also asking serious questions about our world and our viewpoints. How do we find hope in stories – in our own stories and in the larger stories? Do we only derive hope from fairy tales, or can we find hope in the lives of those around us? There are so many opportunities where this show might be able to challenge and refine what stories do in our lives and how they can affect us. I, for one, am looking forward to the development of this story and where it might take us. Perhaps we will all find our “happily ever after.”
Notable Quotes
Evil Queen: “Soon everything you love will be taken from you, everything all of you love…I shall destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do.
Emma Swan: “Another banner year…”(blows out candle).
Henry: “My name’s Henry. I’m your son.”
Henry: “We should probably get going.” Emma: “Going where?” Henry: “I want you to come home with me.”
Snow White: “I haven’t had a restful night since our wedding.” Prince: “That’s what she wants, to get in your head. They’re only words she can’t hurt us.”
Henry: “They’re not fairy tales. They’re truth. Every story in this book actually happened.”
Emma: “Just because you believe something doesn’t make it true.” Henry: “That’s exactly what makes it true.”
Emma: “Oh kid…you’ve got problems.” Henry: “Yep, and you’re gonna fix em.”
Rumplestiltskin: “I can ease your mind, but it will cost you in return.”
Rumplestiltskin: “Soon you’ll all be in a prison, just like me. Only it’ll be worse. Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. Time will stop and we will be trapped. Everything we love will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity…while the queen celebrates victorious at last…no more happy endings.”
Rumplestiltskin: “We can’t do anything…The infant is our only hope. Get the child to safety and on its 28th birthday the child will return. The child will find you. And the final battle will begin.”
Emma: “Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke Maine, that’s what you’re goin with?”
Archie: “What have I said about lying? Giving in to one’s dark side never accomplishes anything.”
Snow White: “There is no point. The future is written…” Prince: “NO I refuse to believe that. Good can’t just lose…” Snow White: “We can…” Prince: “NO, no, not as long as we have each other.”
Henry: “I don’t have parents. Just a mom and she is evil.” Emma: “Evil that is a bit extreme isn’t it?” Henry: “She is. She doesn’t love me. She only pretends to.”
Prince Charming: “What’s 28 years when you have eternal love?”
Margaret/Snow White: “If you love them, and they love you, they will always find you.”
Emma: “How is the book supposed to help?” Margaret/Snow White: “What do you think stories are for? Good stories, the classics, there is a reason we all know them. They’re a way for us to deal with our world when it doesn’t always make sense…I gave the book to Henry so that he could have the most important thing that anyone can have…hope. Believing even in the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing.”
Snow White: “We have to give her her best chance. Goodbye Emma.”
Henry: “I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance.”
Snow White: “You’re going to lose. I know that now. Good will always win.”
Snow White: “Where are we going?” Wicked Queen: “Somewhere horrible…absolutely horrible…a place where the only happy ending will be mine.”
Emma: “Do you love him…Henry…do you love him?” Mayor: “Of course I love him.”