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OUAT vs. Other Fairy Tales: Compare & Contrast

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By Camera One
in Once Upon A Time

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Camera One
Camera One

If A&E wrote "The Wizard of Oz": "Dorothy threw the water on the witch.  "I'm meeltting," she cried. The Winkies looked at Dorothy in horror: "You are NO DIFFERENT than the Wicked Witch!"

Camera One
Camera One

Can you imagine if A&E wrote other Fantasy stories?   Lord of the Rings Frodo: “No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or s

tennisgurl
tennisgurl

I first heard the story of the Count of Monte Cristo when I was a kid watching this kids PBS show called Wishbone, about a cute pet dog who imagined himself into classic stories, while also helping hi

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KingOfHearts

KingOfHearts

I wasn't too impressed with Brave and found it mostly cliche and forgettable. Merida was the typical rebellious princess who didn't want an arranged marriage, kingdom be damned. Although I was subtlely glad that in the end her selfish attitude wasn't rewarded like some other movies would do. She and her mother made amends, and like others have said, that was by far the strongest point in the film.

I realize they were going for a grand Scotland setting, but it all felt very small to me. That's very strange coming from a Pixar movie.

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Shanna Marie

Shanna Marie

I loved Brave almost entirely because of the heroine's curly hair. If you want to talk about a group that's unrepresented or misrepresented on film/TV, it's curly girls. Every other Disney princess has long, flowing hair. There may be a bit of curl, but it's more like straight hair that's been curled, not real curly hair. I desperately wanted Disney princess hair when I was a kid. I did that thing with a towel on my head like Whoopi Goldberg has mentioned in her standup routines. When there is a character who has truly curly (and not curled) hair, there's usually a makeover in which she's made "beautiful" by having her hair straightened. That's one area where I really don't like the movie depiction of Hermione in Harry Potter. In the books, she has wild, unruly, bushy, curly hair. They sort of crimped Emma Watson's hair in the first one, and then they gave up on trying to make it at all curly. They did do the "makeover" in the books where she used potion to make her hair sleek and the boys finally noticed her, but she decided it was too much trouble and went back to normal afterward. So Merida may have been the first time I felt truly represented on film. My hair is almost exactly like that, though mine's more of a dark auburn/reddish brown. But it behaves that way. They even got it right when her hair was wet. I practically held my breath through the whole movie, worried that when she fixed her screwup and everything was okay they'd show it by taming her hair, but they didn't. I really think my self-image would have been very different if I'd seen this movie when I was a child. I barely noticed the plot.

 

It looks like the Once Merida has pretty good hair. Either they got a curly-haired actress or they've done a decent wig. I was worried when I read about it that we'd get straight hair with a spiral curling iron run through it instead of truly curly hair.

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HoodlumSheep

HoodlumSheep

A prequel? Hmm...interesting. One thing I wish Disney would do, is STOP announcing the live action stuff so soon. Like, I'm fine with the live action, but I feel like they've announced their entire line up through the year 2050 or something. Unless we're getting more than one live action film a year they've got to get through: pinnochio, dumbo, winnie the pooh, mulan, jungle book, beauty & the beast, prince charming, another Maleficent movie, etc etc.

Anyways, I don't know when netflix added it, but The Last Unicorn is on Netflix now!!!!!! Oh my gosh! I am stoked! I just got done watching it too! I squealed when I saw it on there! I haven't seen it since I was probably 9 or younger!!! I used to have my parents rent it for me!!!

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Mari

Mari

 Been debating on whether or not to read the book series it's based on (the chronicles of prydain) at some point in my life.

I liked the books much better than the Black Cauldron cartoon, and enjoyed them enough I've worried a little about what they'd do in a live action.  There's a whole lot more story in the books.  :)

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Shanna Marie

Shanna Marie

I'm still crossing my fingers for a Black Cauldron live action. Been debating on whether or not to read the book series it's based on (the chronicles of prydain) at some point in my life.

I loved the books and was pretty much obsessed with them when I was in 6th/7th grade, and I was so excited about the movie. And then so very disappointed with the movie. I'd love to see a good, relatively faithful film adaptation of the series. With today's special effects, they could do it live-action.

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HoodlumSheep

HoodlumSheep

(edited)

Ooh, good to know about the books being good!! I'm part of the cult following that enjoys the movie. i liked how it was so dark.

What age range do the books target? I'm curious because my older brother's birthday is coming up and he enjoyed the movie (he's going to be 25, would that be too old?). I wonder if he'd like the series?

Here's a new trailer for Pan:

https://twitter.com/panmovie/status/621515911833358336

Just like every other movie trailer out there these days, I feel like I've seen the entire movie now. If I were to go see this movie or rent it, it'd be pretty much for Hugh Jackman and probably the magical neverland realm special effects/design.

Edited by HoodlumSheep
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Shanna Marie

Shanna Marie

What age range do the books target? I'm curious because my older brother's birthday is coming up and he enjoyed the movie (he's going to be 25, would that be too old?). I wonder if he'd like the series?

They're children's books -- probably middle-grade range. I thought they were a bit older-skewing than the Narnia books (it's what I moved on to after I finished the Narnia series). But I've reread some of them as an adult, and while they still read young, there's stuff I noticed as an adult that I didn't get as a kid. I'd read the Mabinogion since then, and I started picking up more on the sources he was drawing on. So I guess it depends on the person. I read a lot of children's and young adult books as an adult (I write YA), so I like them, but someone who hasn't read kids' books since they were a kid might have a different response.

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Camera One

Camera One

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I've read nine chapters of "The Crystal Cave" (Mary Stewart's Merlin series) and I'm quite engrossed.  Thanks for the recommendation!  

 

I abandoned "Sword in the Stone" after a while if only because I had just watched the animated movie last week and I felt like I already knew what was going to happen.  Maybe I'll start with book 2 in that series, just to get a background on Arthur and Co.

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Shanna Marie

Shanna Marie

Disney's Sleeping Beauty was on ABC Family yesterday, and I watched it for the first time in ages. In a way, they merged this story with the Snow White story to get OUAT, since Snow had to send away her infant after her enemy got threatening right after her birth, and then her daughter was raised away from her until she was grown. Maybe that's why they sort of sputtered with the Maleficent and Aurora story -- they'd already used it.

 

Though I did find myself contemplating what would have happened if Snow and Charming had betrothed Emma to someone when she was born -- and that person was either cursed to Storybrooke or in the CoraDome. "Um, Emma, before you get too involved with Hook, there's something you should know. You're already betrothed to the heir of the neighboring kingdom. And we'll introduce you to him when he gets home from kindergarten."

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Camera One

Camera One

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If this show was more like "Games of Thrones" with more importance placed on ruling kingdoms and alliances, that might have worked.  But it would make Snow and Charming even less sympathetic, and not relatable to modern audiences.

 

I don't want "Games of Thrones" type of politics, but more political stuff would be interesting to me for this show in terms of world-building.  I still don't get why Cora didn't poison her way to become the next Queen.  I thought we would get that story at some point.

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Panopticon

Panopticon

I always had a bit of sympathy for King George wanting Charming to complete the alliance with Midas by marrying Abigail. Their kingdom was starving, the infusion of Midas' money would have saved lives, and Abigail wasn't a bad sort (just annoyed by the forced marriage).

Of course, Charming forcing a betrothal on Emma after his reaction to his own betrothal would make him the worst hypocrite on the entire show. And Emma would justifiably laugh in his face even if the intended hadn't been kept a kindergartener by the curse.

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Shanna Marie

Shanna Marie

I figure if they did any kind of betrothal thing, it would be more sitcom hijinks than Game of Thrones. Probably not a formal betrothal, just a "oh, we hoped you'd grow up to marry our friend's son," and then along the lines of David messing with Emma or Hook by dropping that news, before revealing that he's now a kindergartener. I could imagine him teasing Hook that way, doing the stern father "you aren't what we hoped for our daughter" act, then going for the "but things didn't quite work out" punchline and showing Hook that the person he's getting jealous of is five.

 

When you consider that Roland is technically older than Emma (was born first), there's potential for all kinds of wackiness.

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HoodlumSheep

HoodlumSheep

In light of what HoodlumSheep said, the latest live action movie planned is Sword in the Stone:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/20/sword-stone-live-action-disney-movie

For once, A&E beat the rush.

In other, "no other new and original ideas are needed" news, NBC plans a Xena reboot:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/20/xena-warrior-princess-reboot

Nooo!!! They need to slow down! Stop announcing everything a bazillion years before we'll ever get to see it! At this point, even though the live action stuff is pretty decent, I'm already sick of the live action.

At this point Why doesn't Disney just come out and announce that they plan to create live action remakes of ALL their animated films?

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KingOfHearts

KingOfHearts

 

In light of what HoodlumSheep said, the latest live action movie planned is Sword in the Stone:

Why don't they announce every single animated film they ever made is being redone in live action? It would save them some time.

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HoodlumSheep

HoodlumSheep

(edited)

Well, now I'm expecting a fancy graphic with different phases labeled and a timeline stretching out to 2050.

If I had the skills I'd make one myself. And if Disney doesn't do it, they missed a grand opportunity.

Edited by HoodlumSheep
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Dianthus

Dianthus

Brand as Hook didn't bother me too much (Colin's hotter anyway), except for the lack of stockings. No stockings = Bad Form.

 

I really liked Queen Latifah as Ursula; also, Marc Anthony and JLo as Aladdin and Jasmine

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ABitOFluff

ABitOFluff

I don't know what it is, but Charlie Hunnam does nothing for me. And while I like Guy Ritchie, I take issue with this.

 

"Luke Skywalker was always the most uninteresting character in Star Wars because he’s the good guy."

 

Who says? Yeah, everyone loves Han, but once he stopped being a whiny teen Luke kicked ass. Hmph.

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ABitOFluff

ABitOFluff

(edited)

Brand as Hook didn't bother me too much (Colin's hotter anyway), except for the lack of stockings. No stockings = Bad Form.

 

I really liked Queen Latifah as Ursula; also, Marc Anthony and JLo as Aladdin and Jasmine

Brand is okay as Hook. I've seen a lot of those photos before, and I think they're beautiful, but this bothered me:

 

"Jack Black, Will Ferrell, and Jason Segel as the Three Ghosts

If these were the three ghosts that visited me on Christmas Eve, I would be laughing rather than repenting. The three hilarious comedians took on uncharacteristically somber characters from "A Christmas Carol," but of course threw in some humor."

 

Arrrgggh! I hate clickbait writers. They're the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, you dolt!

 

Sorry, I'm in a mood today. Work stuff.

Edited by ABitOFluff
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YaddaYadda

YaddaYadda

I don't know what it is, but Charlie Hunnam does nothing for me

 

He does nothing for me either, but I'm sure he will be hella better than God awful rendition of Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower as super entitled, nasty, despicable Arthur) in that God awful series Camelot.  I was never so grateful to see a series cancelled so quickly.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing "our" Arthur in action.

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ABitOFluff

ABitOFluff

I'm looking forward to seeing "our" Arthur in action.

I'm looking forward to our Arthur, too! From the BTS stuff, I just get a good feeling about him.

 

I don't consider myself an expert of the King Arthur legend at all, but I'm an English/Medieval HIstory Major and general Anglophile, so for me, "Excalibur" is the one to beat. If A&E are leaning towards that version of Camelot (even condensed, seeing as there's no Morgana), I'm fine with it.

 

Weird thought. What if they go with the Monty Python version? Knights dancing on tables? I'm totally there.

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Souris

Souris

If anybody is interested in a free online course about the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, you can find out more here. I started a course through them about the English country house that has been interesting.

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Camera One

Camera One

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(edited)

I was studying at the library where they were filming it last summer. It's gonna be garish.

I was watching the trailer:

Belle's son was telling Maleficent daughter: "I can look into your eyes, and I can tell you're not evil." Delusional family in every adaptation, I see.

Edited by Camera One
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HoodlumSheep

HoodlumSheep

I missed the premiere :(. We were camping. I'll have to try catching it sometime though. I'd watch it on the Disney app, but that no longer works on my ipod. I keep getting an error code (and I've tried everything to get it to work). I'm just going to assume that my ipod can't handle that app anymore.

I heard they slaughtered the "Be our guest" song though.

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Shanna Marie

Shanna Marie

Actually, much of that list could apply to Once.

 

Like this paragraph:

but you've got to wonder about what this sort of "bad is good" storytelling, in which villains are nothing more than misunderstood wannabe heroes, is really saying. Because most of the time, these narratives aren't quite as nuanced as they claim to be — they simply thrust the burden of villainy onto someone who doesn't happen to be the main character.

 

I was snickering at the parallel there and thinking how it would apply, and then I got to this paragraph:

In Once Upon a Time — well, there, there are too many to count, but its universe is so convoluted that some of them have even gotten their own "it's not her fault" origin stories. (Regina is wicked but only because her mother was wicked but only because she was abandoned by the cad who got her pregnant... who may or may not have had a really good reason for what he did.)
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KingOfHearts

KingOfHearts

(edited)

I haven't seen Descendants, but I agree that misunderstood villains are no longer a nuance. Audiences are tending to find antagonists more interesting because their writing is usually more fun, but that shouldn't take away from the fact they're still "bad guys". It's good storytelling to show us to villain's side as well as the hero's, but that should give reasons for their actions - not excuses.

It's easy to botch grey characters, too. So many villains get "redeemed" yet still go around doing immoral things. Maybe some would just call them edgy, but it often leads to ridiculous flip flopping. Hook is one exception I can think of right now.

Edited by KingOfHearts
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Souris

Souris

I am so freaking OVER the "villains are just misunderstood woobies who have sad, sad backstories that explain and excuse everything bad they do" trend. I agree it's good to see their "side" of the story, but explanations for their actions shouldn't be used as excuses -- like Once does.

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OnceUponAJen

OnceUponAJen

(edited)

I'm with you there. I've hated this trend ever since I heard about the plot from "Wicked." Heroes go through bad times/have bad things happen to them too, but they don't use these excuses to try and make others miserable. It's the difference between acting like an adult or acting like a child. A child lashes out out of pure emotion; adults understand that making others miserable is not only selfish, but won't make you feel any better either.

I like seeing evil characters being evil, not poor misunderstood babies that need to be coddled so they can feel like they have some self worth. If you're going to be evil, then by all means pull out all the stops and have the heroes fight against it in an intelligent way.

Edited by OnceUponAJen
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Souris

Souris

It's the main reason why I didn't care for the movie "Maleficent" and loved the most recent "Cinderella." Cinderella certainly had a crappy life, but she was still good and kind. And there were hints about why her stepmother was the way she was, so as a viewer I could understand why, but the movie didn't excuse her actions or treat her as anything but a big meanie.

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Mari

Mari

(edited)

And there were hints about why her stepmother was the way she was, so as a viewer I could understand why, but the movie didn't excuse her actions or treat her as anything but a big meanie.

My sister and I did a sister outting to Cinderella, and that's what we said coming out of the theater--that one of the things we really liked about the story was there was a reason for the Stepmother to be the way she was, but that it wasn't used as something that excused her actions.  

 

She had an understandable motive, but it wasn't used to justify being hateful and ruining others' lives.

 

(We also liked the costumes.  They were fabulous.)

Edited by Mari
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