The Storybrooke Daily Mirror: OUaT in the Media, Cons and Other Real Life Encounters

[daxx]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

It was in reference to them picking their own props, etc. though there were also some cases where it seemed like where the actors wanted their character to go, was incorporated into the writing, which is not always a good idea.  

I don’t recall any storyline impacted by Jmo’s influence on the writers, but I have read that the relationship between Regina and Henry was definitely Influenced by Lana, she insisted on a better relationship in season two, she claimed they were being anti adoption. 

[Melgaypet]

47 minutes ago, daxx said:

I don’t recall any storyline impacted by Jmo’s influence on the writers, but I have read that the relationship between Regina and Henry was definitely Influenced by Lana, she insisted on a better relationship in season two, she claimed they were being anti adoption

An argument that always made me roll my eyes. And I'll say again, if they were that concerned about that perception, they could have countered by showing a positive adoptive relationship, like with Grace/Paige's Storybrooke parents. The answer was not to pretend that the relationship we saw between Henry and Regina throughout the entire first season was not how it was.

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

An argument that always made me roll my eyes. And I'll say again, if they were that concerned about that perception, they could have countered by showing a positive adoptive relationship, like with Grace/Paige's Storybrooke parents. The answer was not to pretend that the relationship we saw between Henry and Regina throughout the entire first season was not how it was.

Not to mention her character was the Evil Queen who killed who knows how many people, raped a man and her curse which ripped families apart. She never would have ended up with Henry had Regina left the Charmings alone. 

[tv echo]

GalaxyCon's Once Upon A Time Live Experience (Live Streaming for Free)
Saturday, August 15, 2020, at 12:00pm ET
Jennifer Morrison and Kristin Bauer
https://galaxycon.com/aug-15-ouat/

Edited July 30, 2020 by tv echo

[KingOfHearts]

Quote

Jennifer Morrison and Kristin Bauer

That's an interesting combo. 

For fun: what would be the weirdest cast combos for cons? 

Edited July 30, 2020 by KingOfHearts

[daxx]

47 minutes ago, KingOfHearts said:

For fun: what would be the weirdest cast combos for cons? 

Colin and Bobbie would be super fun. They could play off being mortal Enemies.

[CCTC]

3 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

For fun: what would be the weirdest cast combos for cons? 

Granny or Grumpy and Cruella - but would be better if they were in character....

[Shanna Marie]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:05 PM, Camera One said:

I was reading this article and this article about costumes, and it sounds like Jennifer Morrison has opinions about what she wears, and she had a good working relationship with Eduardo Castro.  If she had clear opinions about certain aspects of the show, I wonder if she was allowed to voice opinions about storylines and the writing, though.  

Considering that she spent the summer before season five doing intensive research on fairy tales relating to swans and especially dark swans, and that ended up having absolutely nothing to do with the story she was given, and considering that the elements of her character that she said were most important to her in interviews and the relationships she said were most important were totally neglected, I'm guessing that even if she voiced opinions about storylines, she was completely ignored. Wardrobe seems to have been the only place she was allowed a say (and not always for the best).

7 hours ago, daxx said:

8 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

For fun: what would be the weirdest cast combos for cons? 

Colin and Bobbie would be super fun. They could play off being mortal Enemies.

But that would actually make sense because their characters did a lot together and had a lot of story connections. Putting "Emma" and "Maleficent" together is something of a headscratcher. I'm trying to remember if they even had a scene together, aside from when Emma fought the ghost Maleficent (that wasn't played by that actress). Maybe they met up once in season 4 when Emma talked to Lily?

My pick for weirdest combo: Amy Acker (Nova) and Colin. He wasn't even on the show when she had her guest role, so their characters never interacted and they probably never met (at least not on that show). If she didn't continue to follow the series, she'd have no idea who he was or who his character was supposed to be. Or her and Rebecca Mader, for the same reason, and probably similar clash of character perspectives. Ooh, Zelena running into Astrid could have been highly amusing.

Going back to the earlier discussion about who we want to see on panels, the writers or actors, I noticed from the Comic-Con panels I watched that it seems like the actors are there to draw the fans in, but it's the writers who have the most to say. It may be magnified in these online panels vs. in person because there are no screaming fans for the actors and no questions from the audience, which tend to be aimed at the actors. The Right Stuff panel was pretty ridiculous because there were about 12 actors, and most of them didn't have anything to say. The writers were the ones who actually had stuff to talk about, plus the moderator, since she was an actual astronaut. They could have had a better panel without the actors, but then they probably wouldn't have had as many people watch it. I noticed a similar thing on the Bill and Ted panel. The writers had great stories about coming up with these characters and how they got the first movie made. Keanu Reeves was probably the biggest name on the panel, and he barely said a word. He seemed content to just sit and listen to everyone else.

But the panels I've watched from Once from past cons were different. The writers didn't say much more than "we thought it would be cool" or "we always wanted to ..." and the actors were talking about stuff like going to the rare book room at the NYPL to look up fairy tales, or reading the book his character came from and then watching all the film versions to see all the ways he'd been portrayed previously. It's like the actors put far more thought and research into the show than the writers did.

[Speakeasy]

On 7/28/2020 at 7:25 AM, andromeda331 said:

Not to mention her character was the Evil Queen who killed who knows how many people, raped a man and her curse which ripped families apart. She never would have ended up with Henry had Regina left the Charmings alone. 

 

On 7/27/2020 at 9:33 PM, Melgaypet said:

An argument that always made me roll my eyes. And I'll say again, if they were that concerned about that perception, they could have countered by showing a positive adoptive relationship, like with Grace/Paige's Storybrooke parents. The answer was not to pretend that the relationship we saw between Henry and Regina throughout the entire first season was not how it was.

Responded to these two in the All Seasons Thread because I think this is an interesting topic

[Camera One]

Once Upon a Time's Jamie Chung reflects on playing LGBTQ+ version of Mulan
https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a33419260/once-upon-a-time-jamie-chung-lgbtq-mulan/

I found it amusing that she only got 3 short quotes in the article. 

I guess they felt the article was too short, since then they added two unrelated sentences about Colin reading bedtime stories.

Quote

"I know the creators (Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis) really wanted to include a character that represented LGBTQ+ and so it kind of happened organically," she explained.

I'm not sure how "organic" it was.  It was pretty clear they meant for Mulan to have fallen for Philip in the 2A premiere.

Edited August 3, 2020 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

Alice and Robyn felt a lot more organic than anything the writers ever gave Mulan. I'm not sure how anyone could be proud of a character who never actually got to do anything with their romantic interests. If anything, Mulan's character implies bisexual people can't be in romantic relationships. Then you've got Red on the other side who, after a long time of not pursuing anyone, falls head over heels for a girl she just met. What was great about Alice and Robyn, at least in present day, was that while they weren't necessarily looking for partners, they still found each other and the romance grew over time. Having an LGBT character in the late 2010s wasn't compelling or progressive on its own, but it needed to be coupled with a good story and character writing. A&E just loved patting themselves on the back for imagery or ideas and not actual good execution.

[Camera One]

On 8/3/2020 at 10:22 AM, KingOfHearts said:

Alice and Robyn felt a lot more organic than anything the writers ever gave Mulan.

It was.  I guess this does mean A&E were capable of writing this when they plan it from the beginning.  Though a lot of it had to do with the charisma of the actress who played Alice. 

Mulan was one of the examples of how A&E would retcon and force a square peg into a round hole and then pat themselves on the back in interviews and make it seem like they planned it all along or make pronouncements that everything was well written and made sense when that wasn't true.

The latest idiotic random article from Screenrant, though at least this time, there was no attempt to rank.  
https://screenrant.com/once-upon-a-time-best-side-characters/

Apparently, the author of the article is pursuing a BS in Journalism.  This article was a good first step. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Camera One

[Camera One]

"Once Upon a Time" leaves Netflix USA on September 6, 2020.  It's unclear where it will be streamed next (maybe Disney+?).
https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/leaving-soon/once-upon-a-time-seasons-1-7-leaving-netflix-in-september-2020/

The show will stay on Netflix in some countries like Canada.  

Meanwhile, the UK is getting "Once Upon a Time" on Disney+ this month.

Anyway, it's time to convince all your friends with Netflix to watch Season 6 and 7 before it's too late!

Edited August 10, 2020 by Camera One

[Writing Wrongs]

I started watching YouTube reaction videos for Once. It's fun watching people react to the show for the first time. I wish I could get that feeling back. 

[CCTC]

There is no way I could watch seasons 4 to 7 in the next month.  I am tempted to watch the season1 premiere and finale one more time however.

[daxx]

Rewatch season 3 finale too.

[Camera One]

Interview with Colin, mostly about his voice-work.
https://collider.com/colin-odonoghue-interview-wizards-trollhunters-netflix-right-stuff/

But a bit about "Once":

Quote

QUESTION:

After being on Once Upon A Time for so many seasons, and now having had some time and distance from the show, how do you ultimately feel about the ending and the send-off that your character got? Is it something that you feel personally satisfied and happy with?

O’DONOGHUE:

Yeah. The end of Season 6 did exactly what I thought they should do to close off the story of all those characters in Storybrooke. And then, it was fun in Season 7 to get to explore a completely different version of Hook and such a different character.

At the end of it all, it was important for Regina to get some sort of redemption. That was always the way that the show should finish.

I’m also glad that Eddy [Kitsis] and Adam [Horowitz] had the opportunity to actually finish the show the way they wanted to finish it, and the way that they had seen it. The show wasn’t canceled before they had a chance to finish it.

 

[AnotherCastle]

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by AnotherCastle

[tv echo]

Video of GalaxyCon's Once Upon a Time Live Experience panel on Aug. 15...

Convention Online - Jennifer Morrison/Kristin Bauer/Emilie de Ravin (GalaxyCon)
Gabriela Multimídia     Aug 15, 2020

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by tv echo

[Camera One]

The actress who played Maleficent is pretty entertaining to listen to.   It's interesting the types of questions actors have which are very legitimate (like how to hold that staff).

It was nice to hear from Jennifer Morrison too, and I like Emilie de Ravin more than Belle.

Edited August 16, 2020 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

Looks like all 7 seasons are about to hit Disney+, per something retweeted by Jane Espenson. She'd retweeted an article about things to binge on before they leave Netflix, which featured Once, then retweeted a response to that article saying they were about to come to Disney+.

[KingOfHearts]

58 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

Looks like all 7 seasons are about to hit Disney+, per something retweeted by Jane Espenson. She'd retweeted an article about things to binge on before they leave Netflix, which featured Once, then retweeted a response to that article saying they were about to come to Disney+.

I'm glad the contract with Netflix finally ran out. Adding Once Upon a Time to Disney+ seemed like a no-brainer.

[daxx]

15 hours ago, KingOfHearts said:

I'm glad the contract with Netflix finally ran out. Adding Once Upon a Time to Disney+ seemed like a no-brainer.

I do hope they add some extras from the dvds or those specials that would air occasionally at the end of hiatus.

[AnotherCastle]

Adelaide Kane breaks down her finances:

 

[Camera One]

I wonder what characters made it into the Disney+ promotional GIF for "Once Upon a Time"...

 

[daxx]

7 minutes ago, Camera One said:

I wonder what characters made it into the Disney+ promotional GIF for "Once Upon a Time"...

 

Would you ever doubt that it would be the he two R’s? Because that is why everyone watches, for the villains, right? SMH 

Edited September 18, 2020 by daxx

[tv echo]

October 3rd: Once Upon A Time Virtual Experience 2pm ET
https://galaxycon.com/blogs/news/oct-3-ouat

Quote

Meet the cast of Once Upon A Time with GalaxyCon Live at 2PM ET on Saturday October 3rd!
*  *  *
Featured Celebrities:

• Jennifer Morrison “Emma Swan”
• Emilie de Ravin "Belle French"
• Kristin Bauer "Maleficent"

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by tv echo

[Shanna Marie]

I would say that GIF doesn't do a great job of selling the series to someone who knows nothing about it. The imagery is dark and depressing, and the people pictured look unpleasant. I'd have been a hard nope if that was the first thing I saw. Then again, I suppose it is accurate.

[tv echo]

Edited September 22, 2020 by tv echo

[KingOfHearts]

‘Once Upon A Time’ Spin-Off Series Coming Soon to Disney+

This should've happened a long time ago. I'm glad to see OAUTIW get a little more exposure.

[Camera One]

1 hour ago, KingOfHearts said:

This should've happened a long time ago. I'm glad to see OAUTIW get a little more exposure.

Oh good.  I hope this will bring it a new audience.  If they want more Disney+ exclusive material, OUAT would be a good avenue with such expert storytellers at the helm.  I wouldn't mind if they did another spinoff.

[KingOfHearts]

18 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Oh good.  I hope this will bring it a new audience.  If they want more Disney+ exclusive material, OUAT would be a good avenue with such expert storytellers at the helm.  I wouldn't mind if they did another spinoff.

I don't think it will get lost in a sea of mediocre content as it would on Netflix. It won't be very hard to find, letting more people enjoy it.

The clickbait-y title to the article I posted made me think A&E were doing another spin-off series. If they were, doing it as a Disney+ exclusive would be a no-brainer.

[AnotherCastle]

 

[Camera One]

Interview with Colin O'Donoghue 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/once-upon-time-dustin-hoffman-230031244.html

[Camera One]

Work has been crazy, so I still haven't gotten around to rewatching the last couple of episodes of "Wonderland".  It's nice to see Adam promoting the show today.

Adam Horowitz @AdamHorowitzLA

Hope everyone is staying safe & healthy... if you’re looking for a homebound distraction with the family, all eps of our #OnceUponATime Alice in Wonderland spinoff @WonderlandOUAT are now available on @disneyplus — hope you check ‘em out! If so, please let us know what ya think!

We had an incredible cast: @sophielowelowe , #petergadiot, @Michaelsocha , #NaveenAndrews, #EmmaRigby along w/ appearances by some ##OnceUponATime pals & phenomenal recur characters played by the amazing @Milliestopshate (as young Alice) @WhoopiGoldberg & @JohnLithgow & @IggyPop

Edited November 28, 2020 by Camera One

[daxx]

Yep, started watching Wonderland after Mandalorian last night. 

[AnotherCastle]

 

[Camera One]

LOL, he's not mincing words.   Though he got to play a very memorable role on "Alias" that stood out.  Whereas on "Once", he was basically a glorified extra except for his centric episodes, which were rather lacklustre.  

[KAOS Agent]

It's kind of hilarious that he replied to that. Does he have nothing else to do? A random person says she loves Once and he tells her to make better entertainment choices and go watch Alias. 

[CCTC]

I noticed he did not mention you should watch IZombie.  I wonder what his thoughts were on that show.  I thought he was entertaining there for a couple of years, but his character probably outlived its shelf life and should have been written out after a couple of season.

I am not sure I would call OUAT a kid's show -- although some of the writing was juvenile.

I never watched Alias, but wasn't that a show that was really strong the first couple of seasons, but kind of went off the rails the last few seasons?  I wonder if they hold up as well some of the later seasons hold up.

It is a bit odd that he replies to a fan and disses her opinion.  He could have simply said - thanks - but you should also check out Alias.

[Camera One]

8 hours ago, CCTC said:

It is a bit odd that he replies to a fan and disses her opinion.  He could have simply said - thanks - but you should also check out Alias.

That is very odd.  It sounds like he was having a bad day or something?  And his true feelings slipped out?

Quote

I never watched Alias, but wasn't that a show that was really strong the first couple of seasons, but kind of went off the rails the last few seasons?  I wonder if they hold up as well some of the later seasons hold up.

Personally, I thought the first season was the strongest and more grounded.  It lost me a bit after the Season 2 finale.  By then, the show had moved away from the character drama-sci-fi-spy-thriller combo that it started out as, and became almost entirely sci-fi/spy/thriller.   In some ways, that's a little like the trajectory of "Once".  There were other similarities.  There was a character that was similar to Rumple.

I did watch the show until the end, though I don't remember much of the latter seasons.  David Anders played a fan-favorite baddie that recurred.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Camera One

[Writing Wrongs]

I remember back when Once was on and I was still on Twitter, he responded to a question I had about working with Lena Olin on Alias. Clearly, that's his preferred show. LOL.

[Camera One]

What do you think about Jennifer Morrison's recent comments?

Quote

"I have not fully articulated what I'm about to say yet, this has come to me more clearly as I've had some space and time from [the show] because it's also shaping the way I perceive the content that I want to create moving forward.

"I think that as artists we really have responsibility to start dreaming up possible positive futures. So many of the things that are in the world are edgy and dark, and that gets them a good review or street cred, and somehow for many, many years now we've been in this headspace that a happy ending is cheesy. That's a really, really dangerous message to tell the world.

"I think we should all want a happy ending. We should all want a happy beginning, as we turned it into on Once Upon a Time, because there really are no endings. But that is such an important thing to internalise in our lives as human beings, and when you're told that if you have a happy moment that's cheesy, that's really dangerous.

"There was something about the way they were able to wind the message of hope and the idea of happy beginnings into the storytelling in a way where it was beautifully crafted – the costumes and sets were gorgeous, the actors worked [hard], the writers were amazing – there was a high level of craftsmanship that was mixed with a story that said 'you're not cheesy for wanting to have a good life'.

"That's what you should want and that's what you deserve and I think we have to have example of stories like that or we're all in real trouble. If all we show people is apocalypse, we will create it."

I agree with the gist of what she's saying.  Though I think the "Once Upon a Time" and in particular A&E's idea of a "happy beginning" was a tad problematic.

[Camera One]

"Epic", a fairy-tale anthology has been picked up as a pilot.  A&E and Brigitte Hales will executive produce.  I really don't see how this will differentiate itself from "Once" since it too will supposedly rely on Disney properties.  Aren't their collective creative wells dry when it comes to fairy tales and Disney by this point?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/once-upon-a-time-creators-return-to-abc-with-epic-fairy-tale-anthology

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Camera One

[Shanna Marie]

On 1/29/2021 at 12:46 AM, Camera One said:

I agree with the gist of what she's saying.  Though I think the "Once Upon a Time" and in particular A&E's idea of a "happy beginning" was a tad problematic.

I agree with her about the need for the hope of happy endings and the way that's put down. "Dark" has become synonymous with "good," and I think that was a big part of the problem with this show. They had a tug of war going on between the idea that they were doing this non-cynical fairy tale show that promoted the idea of happy endings and their yearning for recognition that led them to go really dark, get angsty, psychologically torture their characters, and drag down the good guys in the name of being "gray" and "complex."

I found myself thinking of how some things might have gone if they'd just gone with the idea of fun fairytale show without all the darkness. Like, say, if the Camelot plot had been handled more like the season 3 finale time travel adventure, with them just having fun in Camelot while trying to find a way home, and maybe having to do some things to help people there before they left -- and not having to deal with the Dark One and death and all that. They could even have done a mashup thing and done it as a kind of Wizard of Oz plot: Zelena stirred up a tornado in an attempt to escape from Storybrooke but accidentally brought all the others with her, and brought them to Camelot. Arthur tells them they have to find Merlin, as he's the one who can get them home, but he really wants Merlin for his own purposes. After various adventures in finding Merlin's tree and figuring out how to free him, they find out Arthur is shady, and then maybe somewhere along the way Arthur learns from Merlin that he had what he needed to be a good king all along, that it was never about the sword. Or something like that.

[Camera One]

22 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

I agree with her about the need for the hope of happy endings and the way that's put down. "Dark" has become synonymous with "good," and I think that was a big part of the problem with this show. They had a tug of war going on between the idea that they were doing this non-cynical fairy tale show that promoted the idea of happy endings and their yearning for recognition that led them to go really dark, get angsty, psychologically torture their characters, and drag down the good guys in the name of being "gray" and "complex."

A&E is certainly equally guilty of trying to be "dark" and "edgy".  The difference is that they ended things on a "happy" note.  Well, unless you think about Geppeto's parents, or Aunt Em, or Percival, or Cinderella's real fairy godmother, or etc. etc. etc. 

[KingOfHearts]

2 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

I agree with her about the need for the hope of happy endings and the way that's put down. "Dark" has become synonymous with "good," and I think that was a big part of the problem with this show. They had a tug of war going on between the idea that they were doing this non-cynical fairy tale show that promoted the idea of happy endings and their yearning for recognition that led them to go really dark, get angsty, psychologically torture their characters, and drag down the good guys in the name of being "gray" and "complex."

They did a really good job in S1 of balancing the happy fairy tales with a dose of realism thrown in there. I'm not sure what the secret sauce was, but Storybrooke felt more "adult" and there was a little bit of cynicism at times, but good seemed to win in the end... most of the time. It wasn't perfect. You had Graham's murder in that season, after all. But the show did a good job of doing cheesy fairy tale stuff while also dealing with grayer issues like child custody, infidelity, etc. I feel like you can keep the "hope/good always wins" without dumbing down the show. You can have complex issues without going super edgy. Its just that they would make grayer issues like killing in self defense so black and white. It was either super dark and edgy or disingenuously light.

Edited February 1, 2021 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

1 minute ago, KingOfHearts said:

They did a really good job in S1 of balancing the happy fairy tales with a dose of realism thrown in there. I'm not sure what the secret sauce was, but Storybrooke felt more "adult" and there was a little bit of cynicism at times, but good seemed to win in the end... most of the time.

That's what worries me a little.  Part of the reason why the show worked because Storybrooke grounded the fantastical elements quite well (well, before magic came).  If "Epic" is set entirely in Fantasy Land, I'm not sure it would have the same complexity or relatability.  

[KingOfHearts]

11 hours ago, Camera One said:

That's what worries me a little.  Part of the reason why the show worked because Storybrooke grounded the fantastical elements quite well (well, before magic came).  If "Epic" is set entirely in Fantasy Land, I'm not sure it would have the same complexity or relatability.  

OUATIW worked well in (mosty) purely magical settings, but it wasn't meant to be especially complex, much less realistic. However, the characters were pretty relatable and the writing was tight. 

[daxx]

The thing that carried OUAT through the terrible writing was the exemplary cast, they won’t have that advantage with an anthology unless the same cast plays different characters each episode.