OUAT vs. Other Fairy Tales: Compare & Contrast

[Camera One]

Jim and Anita were cruel dog breeders who let their dogs live under cruel conditions, 101 crammed into one small room.  Cruella was a spoken activist lobbying the government for stronger animal rights legislation, but Roger and Anita mounted a smear campaign against "Cruella" (a name Roger and Anita concocted), making the government ban her from owning any dogs.  So Cruella had to go rogue, dressing up in drag and pretending to be a fur lover wanting the dogs for their hides.  But really, her plan was to free the dogs.  Can she succeed and triumph against the evil Roger and Anita?  And be reunited with her childhood dog's son Pongo?

Edited January 7, 2016 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

 

Jim and Anita were cruel dog breeders who let their dogs live under cruel conditions, 101 crammed into one small room.  Cruella was a spoken activist lobbying the government for stronger animal rights legislation, but Roger and Anita mounted a smear campaign against "Cruella" (a name Roger and Anita concocted), making the government ban her from owning any dogs.  So Cruella had to go rogue, dressing up in drag and pretending to be a fur lover wanting the dogs for their hides.  But really, her plan was to free the dogs.  Can she succeed and triumph against the evil Roger and Anita?  And be reunited with her childhood dog's son Pongo?

Camera One, do you work for Disney? ;)

[daxx]

Taking advantage of Starz on Amazon. Love outlander, just love it!

[Faemonic]

So, I found this Tumblr fanfic about what if Harry Potter had been a squib. It's pretty political, mirrors disability rights, and also heartfelt and at times quirky and funny.

But it also got me thinking about This Show, which has got to have so many magical people making magical solutions. Sometimes, a story or a character is more interesting without that mechanism for a power fantasy quick fix.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Faemonic

[tennisgurl]

On tonight's Galavant, several of the characters bump into each other in the Forest of Coincidence (theres a sign and everything), where several supporting characters randomly bump into each other for convenience of the plot, exposition is traded, and everything they need to move the plot along is suddenly right there. It makes you wonder if it might be the real location of the Enchanted Forest...

[OnceUponAJen]

On tonight's Galavant, several of the characters bump into each other in the Forest of Coincidence (theres a sign and everything), where several supporting characters randomly bump into each other for convenience of the plot, exposition is traded, and everything they need to move the plot along is suddenly right there. It makes you wonder if it might be the real location of the Enchanted Forest...

I have to admit, it made me laugh. That and Tad Cooper.

[Shanna Marie]

The Forest of Coincidence really does come in handy. I bet everyone is secretly related there, too.

 

Speaking of those surprise relatives, the actress playing Roberta on Galavant is a dead ringer for Rebecca Mader. In fact, during her first appearance, I thought that's who she was and I was mentally composing my "cast in other roles" post for this forum and wondering if she could sing until I saw some other name in the credits. In the next episode, I started to see differences, but she still looks close enough that we have casting if it turns out that Zelena has an evil (or good) twin and Cora left the other baby in a different basket down the road.

[KingOfHearts]

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/20/fairytales-much-older-than-previously-thought-say-researchers?CMP=fb_gu

 

Interesting article about fairy tales originating longer ago (thousands of years) than initially thought. The Beauty and the Beast reasoning about getting in touch with the animal world makes sense.

Edited January 21, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

It's a reminder of how much rich material A&E could potentially be working with.  But we get Merida.  'Nuff said.

[Mari]

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/20/fairytales-much-older-than-previously-thought-say-researchers?CMP=fb_gu

 

Interesting article about fairy tales originating longer ago (thousands of years) than initially thought. The Beauty and the Beast reasoning about getting in touch with the animal world makes sense.

Ha!  

I came to post a link to the same topic--

http://phys.org/news/2016-01-phylogenetic-analyses-fairy-tales-older.html

[KingOfHearts]

 

It's a reminder of how much rich material A&E could potentially be working with.  But we get Merida.  'Nuff said.

I don't particularly mind doing modern fairy tales/fiction, such as Frankenstein or 101 Dalmatians. But unlike those I just mentioned, Brave's style fit into the rest of the Once universe classically. It's your princess story with a medieval setting, magic, legend, etc. So when I heard Merida was coming to the show, I though I'd give it a shot because Scotland isn't that far off from Camelot. Merida fails spectacularly in the execution and not necessarily in the idea of bringing her on. Her introduction is shoehorned in and her appearances constantly derail the plot, much like Zelena in 3B. We should have been given a stronger connection between Dun'Broch and Camelot (besides just making Arthur the mystery killer of Fergus) if A&E wanted her so badly. Other than the story problems, besides the bow and crazy red hair, she doesn't resemble her movie counterpart at all.

Edited January 21, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[daxx]

Black Sails is back on tomorrow! Very interested to see where they are going with it.

[Shanna Marie]

Seeing the events after Galavant's death on that show, I couldn't help but imagine that there now has to be a big song and dance number in the Underworld to welcome Hook and make sure he knows he's dead. Okay, there probably won't be, but imagining it is fun.

[Rumsy4]

It was strange seeing Mr. Norrell from the miniseries as Death. lol 

 

I loved the riff on Princess Bride. And Madelena reminds me so much of Regina.

[YaddaYadda]

And Madelena reminds me so much of Regina.

 

 

Her battle costume was really, really awesome. 

[HoodlumSheep]

Madalena is a zillion times better than Regina.

And yeah, her battle costume is amazing.

I was thinking of Hook during that 'death' musical number too. :P

Still wish there could be a galavant x ouat crossover. Even if it was a short commercial or something.

[KingOfHearts]

On the subject of contrivances and deus ex machinas... in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the will to Toontown is found to be Roger's love letter to Jessica. Earlier in the film, there's groundwork to help explain its convenient appearance. (Acme's reappearing ink in the club, Roger showing Valiant the letter etc.) But it's still contrived that he even found the will in the first place since he had no connection to Acme other than being framed for his murder. There's enough precedent to make you rewatch it and think, "Oh! That's what they were setting up!" but it's goofy and out of the blue enough to fit the theme of cartoons. 

 

I wish Once handled its important climactic elements in a similar manner. Keep it within the theme of fairy tales, but also provide some sort of clever hinting earlier in the story. Zarian, Dark Hook and the gauntlet are the biggest examples of poor setup recently. (I admit that Dark Hook had some subtle hints, but not enough to keep the audience from going "Huh?")

Edited January 30, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Writing Wrongs]

Anyone watching The Shannara Chronicles? It's pretty good for being on MTV. They invoked the familiar "Magic always comes with a price" mantra.

[HoodlumSheep]

The stuff that happened between Madalena and Gareth in the Galavant finale reminded me of what's gone down with Rumbelle throughout ouat. Except you can tell the Galavant team can handle that kind of storyline way better.

[YaddaYadda]

Galavant a show that doesn't take itself seriously has better continuity and storytelling than Once. 

[Faemonic]

My roommate had me watch an episode of Supernatural. I only watched the first season, and the brothers didn't exactly spark with personality. Anyway, the episode I watched came later on, the title of the episode was "Fan Fiction". My roommate filled me in on how this series s least have an arc planned for five seasons, then they thought they were going to get cancelled and wrapped everything up in a hurry, then went on for four more seasons. I think I also caught the episode which introduced the third Wincester brother.

 

 

This episode made fun of all the dropped balls in the juggling act of making this television show happen, and happen. The monster of the week is a Muse, named Calliope, who uses her muse powers to protect a creator until that target's artistic vision is realized...and then she eats the creator. The work is a high school musical based on a novel that a prophet accidentally wrote about the Winchester brothers' real lives and adventures. Calliope the Muse knows the composer isn't the next Lin-Manuel Miranda: "The second act has robots. And tentacles. In space. I can't even." 'I can't even'! She speaks in Internet!

 

 

Near the end there's a scene where the two Wincester brothers watch the show and one of them asks about a character onstage. That's the third Wincester brother who apparently got trapped in a room-sized hell or something, that everyone forgot about on the show because of, I don't know, network politics or time restrictions or actor availability or something? Still, that's kind of a big thing to miss. In-show both Dean and Sam look at each other like "Whaaat..."

 

 

I wonder if it's about time that OUaT jumped the shark and had a meta episode like that, but considering all the flack they got for that one Regina fan who gave Isaac the button-pin? Probably not going to happen.

 

 

Also, the "One Single Man-Tear" song!

[KingOfHearts]

 

I wonder if it's about time that OUaT jumped the shark and had a meta episode like that, but considering all the flack they got for that one Regina fan who gave Isaac the button-pin? Probably not going to happen.

I thought 4x21-4x22 was their big meta episode. There are so many crazy references to A&E that I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry when I watch them. I could totally imagine them self-inserting as Isaac, who never got his stories accepted because nobody read them. Then Disney comes along in the form of the Apprentice, and he's whisked away to the Disney multiverse to start meddling with traditional structure.

Edited February 2, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[HoodlumSheep]

https://twitter.com/disney/status/694220237789487104

Through the Looking Glass teaser.

More about Madalena from Galavant: she's everything Regina is not. I love Madalena so much. i wish there were more ouat x galavant parallel gifs on tumblr. There's quite a few parallels.

[Writing Wrongs]

I found Galavant too silly to watch.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Writing Wrongs

[Guest]

My roommate had me watch an episode of Supernatural. I only watched the first season, and the brothers didn't exactly spark with personality. Anyway, the episode I watched came later on, the title of the episode was "Fan Fiction". My roommate filled me in on how this series s least have an arc planned for five seasons, then they thought they were going to get cancelled and wrapped everything up in a hurry, then went on for four more seasons. I think I also caught the episode which introduced the third Wincester brother.

 

 

This episode made fun of all the dropped balls in the juggling act of making this television show happen, and happen. The monster of the week is a Muse, named Calliope, who uses her muse powers to protect a creator until that target's artistic vision is realized...and then she eats the creator. The work is a high school musical based on a novel that a prophet accidentally wrote about the Winchester brothers' real lives and adventures. Calliope the Muse knows the composer isn't the next Lin-Manuel Miranda: "The second act has robots. And tentacles. In space. I can't even." 'I can't even'! She speaks in Internet!

 

 

Near the end there's a scene where the two Wincester brothers watch the show and one of them asks about a character onstage. That's the third Wincester brother who apparently got trapped in a room-sized hell or something, that everyone forgot about on the show because of, I don't know, network politics or time restrictions or actor availability or something? Still, that's kind of a big thing to miss. In-show both Dean and Sam look at each other like "Whaaat..."

 

 

I wonder if it's about time that OUaT jumped the shark and had a meta episode like that, but considering all the flack they got for that one Regina fan who gave Isaac the button-pin? Probably not going to happen.

 

 

Also, the "One Single Man-Tear" song!

 

"There is no singing in Supernatural".  Seriously, if you liked that episode, go watch "The French Mistake".  The Winchesters get transported to a parallel world where they are the actors playing Sam and Dean and must confront horrifying realities like Padalecki being married to Ruby (he is in RL) and Ackles horrifying past on Days of Our Lives (with clips) and how to find your mark and what to do with your hands while acting.  Its genius.

 

Listening to the producers of the X Files reboot made me realize that Supernatural is the show that is most similar to X Files structure with the mytharc episodes, the monster episodes, and to paraphrase Scully the batcrap crazy.

 

Its too bad OUAT never really went that route because with magic they have tons of opportunities to just do a clever bottle episode every once in a while.  I think the closest they ever came was the Captain Swan time travel episodes and the Author episodes that switched up everyone.  But with the exception of the Author's book reading or whatever they weren't really meta.  The thing with meta is that its only good if the writers can make fun of themselves and fandom and both fandom and the writers can maintain a sense of humor about it.  I don't think that exists for OUAT.

[Camera One]

Just watched the finale of "Galavant" and I wasn't a huge fan of the second season.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised after "Once", but this show too ultimately focused its attentions on the "villains", Richard, Gareth and Madelena, while the "heroes" got to spin their wheels with zero character development.  It does seem like most writers can think of better stuff for the flawed villains, especially past the initial story.  

Edited February 4, 2016 by Camera One

[Serena]

I think Galavant is exhausting. I always begin the season thinking "oh, this is so fun and great!" and then, when the last two episodes come around (like 3 weeks later) I'm like "oh my god, enough." I think the... let's say original... approach to storytelling they have can be fun, but it also makes it hard for me to get invested. I mean, it was funny when they did that whole "Isabella has always worn that necklace! *wink wink*" lampshading plot, but I ended up feeling like I couldn't trust the narrative at the end.

[Camera One]

The meta stuff was the funniest part, but it was almost *too* meta in the sense it took me out of the story in the end.

[Rumsy4]

I really enjoyed Galavant, but Season 2 was too meta and on-the-nose. I don't think they can sustain a Season 3, so I'm glad they wrapped up all the major storylines.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Serena]

In a way I think Galavant may work better as a movie? Like The Princess Bride, or Enchanted. I think it could have been more successful in that format, because the writing and songs are funny and the actors are good.

[Shanna Marie]

I loved this season of Galavant, and, oddly enough, I loved the things that I tend to hate in OUAT -- the villain focus, the crazy plot arcs, things set up that go in weird directions, things that come out of the blue without being set up, etc. But what I like is that it's deliberately using all those things to poke fun at those tropes rather than taking them seriously and thinking that this is "master storytelling."

 

Really, though, I think Richard's about the only character who had what I'd call an arc, in that he went from the villain of the pilot to a hero, but I think they did a decent job of showing that transition. He was always more thoughtless and selfish than actually cruel, and they showed that he was fairly good at interacting with people, getting to know them, and caring about them (like the way he was the one who knew the Jester's real name, when Madelena, who'd been sleeping with him, didn't). He went on a voyage of self discovery to figure out why he was the way he was, but then he didn't use his past as an excuse, but rather as a reason to do better and move beyond his past. He turned out to be a loyal friend who put other people's needs ahead of his own, and he always had faith in them. And he was able to look at his past deeds and see where he went wrong. Of course, it helped that he was played as an utter idiot most of the time and that he was played by an actor with brilliant comic timing and a gorgeous singing voice, and it helped that the other characters treated him like an utter idiot and were well aware of his flaws.

 

I don't know that I'd want a true break-the-fourth-wall meta version of Once Upon a Time, and I think that trope has become a cheap fallback on fan-driven TV to the point it's a sign of shark jumpage and creative bankruptcy, but given that the show is actually about fairy tale characters forced to live in a world where they're thought of us fairy tale characters rather than real people, they have room to play a little more with the meta.

[Faemonic]

Once has the occasional nudge-wink to how strange this show is ("bad idea, even from someone who hired the Wicked Witch of the West as a babysitter") or even the fanon ("Captain Guyliner") but 4B seemed to be their chance at meta because narrative would have (could have, should have) been such a strong theme. It's as though the creators don't take it seriously enough to have developed a central idea, or don't know how to develop one and lay it out consistently, or can't see when/why/how they haven't...but, at the same time, they don't have enough fun to spread it around either? The inconsistencies on This Show could be as funny as Galavant or as whimsically absurdist as...I don't know, Pushing Daisies or maybe even Glee at its most absurdist. I laughed out loud at Warlord Bo Peep and at torturing Pinocchio for information with his lying telescopic nose, but, I don't know, This Show makes enough sense that I'll try to make sense of This Show when it doesn't make sense, and then it's just not fun anymore even if it's supposed to be fun because it's not supposed to make sense.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Faemonic

[Guest]

The thing is that OUAT doesn't need to be meta or anything else but what it was conceived to be. 

 

Most shows that OUAT gets compared to and then found looking have a better sense of what they are and the execution of it.  Like it or hate it (and I like it) Galavant knows what it is and commits wholeheartedly to it.  I mean they almost have to because every gag they come up with needs a full blown musical number.  That means, go big or go home.

 

OUAT is frustrating because the idea behind the show was so good but the commitment to it is so wishy washy. 

 

I'll never understand why they gave everyone two personalities and then never played with the duality of it or the struggle to reconcile the fairy tale with the non-magical person.  Because Snow and Mary Margret aren't the same person. 

 

Why make Storybrooke some out of time town where neither fairy tales being real or technology create much wonder.  I used to mourn that the treks to big cities didn't play with the fish out of water aspect for the entire episode and barely referenced it instead.

 

How do you do a show like this and fill hours of TV while still being more shallow than almost any other medium telling the tale?  I mean Wikipedia is more layered.

 

So it devolves into noticing all these missed opportunities because the original concept was good enough to inspire ideas in the viewers.  But they don't even care to address the obvious.  So then resentment sets in and its a death spiral from there because you really want them to live up to their idea but they can't or won't for whatever reason.

[Shanna Marie]

They do miss a lot of opportunities with meta fun, considering that they have genre-savvy, pop-culture literate fairy tale characters who know they're fairy tale characters. They really could have had fun with this in the Missing Year. In Galavant, only the viewers are really in on most of their references -- the jokes about giving the children to the White Walkers are aimed at the audience because the characters don't get the reference. When they run across a gay tavern that plays disco music and serves frozen fruity drinks, they don't see anything odd or out of place about it because it's a thing in their world. It's only funny to us because we don't expect those things in a fairy tale world. But the Enchanted Forest people who've had the Storybrooke memory download and spent 28 years living in 20th-21st century America could actually play disco music in the tavern and know it was disco music. They could serve burgers and fries. Or they could open a branch of Ye Olde Tavern in Storybrooke because people are getting homesick, and they could have a bard playing the lute on the local radio station because that's the kind of music these people grew up with.

[Dianthus]

I LOL'd at the idea of a bard playing the lute on the local radio station. This is something I didn't even know I needed.

[Camera One]

What Disney stories, and well-done traditional fairy tales have "Once Upon a Time" NOT done yet?

 

It does seem like they're getting to the bottom of the barrel.  A lot of the ones left are the animal ones.

 

I put Aladdin in brackets since technically, they've done Jafar and genies in the Wonderland spinoff.  

 

Disney

Winnie the Pooh

Bambi

Chicken Little

The Princess and the Frog

Brother Bear

The Jungle Book

Treasure Planet

The Emperor's New Groove

Tarzan

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Pocahontas

The Lion King

(Aladdin)

The Fox and the Hound

The Black Cauldron

Lady and the Tramp

Dumbo

 

Fairy tales

The Three Little Pigs

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (and other One Thousand and One Nights)

Aesop's Fables

Bluebeard

Puss in Boots

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Emperor's New Clothes

Thumbelina

Tom Thumb

The Princess and the Pea

The Gingerbread Man

(The Prince and the Pauper)

Three Billy Goats Gruff

(The Ugly Duckling)

Baba Yaga

Monkey King

[Curio]

What Disney stories, and well-done traditional fairy tales have "Once Upon a Time" NOT done yet?

 

I think the biggest stories Once still needs to tackle are Aladdin/Ali Baba and The Lion King. (I don't count Wonderland's take on Aladdin because it didn't even include Jasmine or Aladdin. But I'll gladly welcome back their version of Jafar to the mother show.) Those are both half-season arc story lines. The Jungle Book and Tarzan would be a natural mashup for a half season. There's also Mulan's history we haven't really dug into that much, and the inevitable Swan Princess fairy tale Emma has to do before the series finale. (I hope the Dark Swan arc wasn't what that was supposed to be...) That's easily two seasons-worth of material right there, so even though it seems like we're reaching the bottom of the barrel, there's still a few years left before we actually have to worry. And honestly, I don't really want to see this show last much longer than Season 7 anyways, so that's probably a good thing. 

Edited February 9, 2016 by Curio

[Camera One]

I thought this article was interesting:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/01/into-the-woods-excerpt/421566/

 

Though you really can distill the stories on "Once" to a pretty specific formula...

[Trini]

They definitely still have to do Aladdin.

 

... Those are both half-season arc story lines. The Jungle Book and Tarzan would be natural mashup for a half season. ...

 

I could see why it'd feel natural to combine them, but I really hope they wouldn't. I know it's all set in a fantasy realm on the show, but I want them to respect the source material. One is set in Africa, one in India; and it does make a difference. Anyway, I think these two might be the most likely to get adapted next.

[Curio]

I could see why it'd feel natural to combine them, but I really hope they wouldn't. I know it's all set in a fantasy realm on the show, but I want them to respect the source material. One is set in Africa, one in India; and it does make a difference. Anyway, I think these two might be the most likely to get adapted next.

 

The only reason I mashed them together is because I could see these writers viewing both "jungle" settings as being part of the same Enchanted Forest world, and they really don't give a damn about the source material anyways. They'd just think, "wouldn't it be cool if Mowgli and Tarzan grew up to be jungle friends?" Beauty and the Beast is supposed to be French, but Belle on this show has an Australian accent. The Wicked Witch comes from an American story, but Zelena has a British accent. So I could see the show combining the Enchanted Forest's version of "Jungle India" and "Jungle Africa" into one big Misthaven jungle.

 

But I agree, with Jon Favreau's Jungle Book and the new Tarzan movie with Margot Robbie coming out this year, I could definitely see this show riding on their coattails in Season 6.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Curio

[Camera One]

I can see this show combining it with Pocahontas, who is angry at Grandmother Willow for giving her vague instructions to "listen to your heart".  Emma must free Grandmother Willow from the Tree, so they can help Tarzan and Mowgli stop Governor Radcliffe from destroying the source of all White Magic, which is hidden in the Colors of the Wind, which Emma can only see if she let down her Walls and her fear of having another child.  In a side plot, Snow and Charming help Winnie the Pooh find Honey.

 

I actually thought they would do The Jungle Book when they explored Graham's upbringing.  But then he died...

Edited February 9, 2016 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

 

In a side plot, Snow and Charming help Winnie the Pooh find Honey.

And we find out the harsh truth that... they're the reason Tigger doesn't have a family.

 

 

Though you really can distill the stories on "Once" to a pretty specific formula...

Once Upon a Time functions like an episodic show not unlike Star Trek. The only difference is that the stories tend to span over a few episodes instead of just an hour a week. But what remains the same is the lack of consistent consequences and story flow.

Edited February 9, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Camera One]

I was just reading about the new TV series planned based on Nancy Drew, who would be non-white, 30 years old and working for the NYPD.  Sometimes, I wonder why they would even bother "adapting" something if they are going to make it something else entirely and how generic is a show about the NYPD?  "Once" falls into the same problem sometimes when they just use a character in name only.  Like the Wicked Witch or Robin Hood.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Camera One

[KingOfHearts]

I think television and Hollywood are just obsessed with name dropping right now.

Edited February 10, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[Guest]

Once Upon a Time functions like an episodic show not unlike Star Trek. The only difference is that the stories tend to span over a few episodes instead of just an hour a week. But what remains the same is the lack of consistent consequences and story flow.

 

I think you are being kind of harsh on Star Trek:).

[Faemonic]

What Disney stories, and well-done traditional fairy tales have "Once Upon a Time" NOT done yet? It does seem like they're getting to the bottom of the barrel.  A lot of the ones left are the animal ones.

Technically, Disney's version of Robin Hood was an animal one. Since Gus-Gus and Archie got human forms, maybe they won't really have animals. Or the animals will be like Pongo.

Treasure Planet was a genre-bent retelling of Treasure Island. I was surprised they didn't have more nudge-winks to that with Hook, because the author of Peter Pan and the author of Treasure Island were friends who wrote and published pirates at each other.

Added notes below.

 

Disney

Winnie the Pooh - In another Bizarro Alternate Universe episode, Henry gets his memory wiped and replaced with a childhood in the Hundred Acre Enchanted Forest as a boy named Christopher Robin. This childhood never happened.

Bambi - Graham hunted down Bambi's mother, so fans can shut up and quit advocating for Graham's justice.

Chicken Little - ( i didn't watch this one)

The Princess and the Frog - Naveen, Tiana, and Facilier are in a love triangle. Naveen is evil. Facilier has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this so have pity.

Brother Bear - (i didn't watch this one)

The Jungle Book - Mowgli is engaged to his peasant villager girlfriend, but his royal parents discover that he's still alive and try to play on his abandonment issues to both leave his girlfriend and start hunting down his friends. There's a love triangle somewhere here. Shehr Khan has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity.

Treasure Planet - (see above)

The Emperor's New Groove - Yzma has parental abandonment issues, that's why she does this have pity. Love triangle with either the muscle man who talks to squeaker-rodents or that other guy. Kuzco is evil.

Tarzan - Jane is Cora or Zelena in disguise, and evil. Tarzan has parental abandonment issues, naturally. Rumple is the hunter dude.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Frollo has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity. Phoebus is evil. Rumple is Clopin.

Pocahontas - Radcliffe has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity. John Smith is evil. Love triangle with Pocahontas and the warrior dude.

The Lion King - Anthropomorphism for everybody! Scar has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity. Simba is evil. Love triangle with Nala, who is Cora or Zelena in disguise.

(Aladdin) - Jafar actually does have parental abandonment issues. Aladdin is a despotic Sultan. Love triangle with Jasmine.

The Fox and the Hound - two second cameo at the Merry Men's camp, no evident conflict

The Black Cauldron - (i didn't see this one, but the blonde princess is probably gonna be evil in the Once version.)

Lady and the Tramp - ...are Snow and Charming in a Bizarro Alternate Universe. Jim Dear is evil Pongo turned human.

Dumbo - two second cameo when a visiting circus comes through Storybrooke

Fairy tales

The Three Little Pigs - Subplot where Ruby babysits Ashley's three gluttonous human children. They're terrified of her. This makes Ruby the very best babysitter ever.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (and other One Thousand and One Nights) - Sheherazade is evil. Love triangle with the king and her little sister. The king has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity.

Aesop's Fables - Everybody is human, but the animal is on their family crest or something.

Bluebeard - Bluebeard has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity. Love dodecahedron with his hundreds of victims who were all Cora or Zelena in disguise.

Puss in Boots - Is evil. Has parental abandonment issues, though. Maybe is Rumple?

The Boy Who Cried Wolf - DVD special minifeature (no, really, the same one where Ruby's in a bad commercial for Granny's and is all "free sodas for the kiddies! sometimes we have avocado ask if we have avocado".)

The Emperor's New Clothes - Henry's unfortunate encounter with a homeless King George as a child in Dark Curse 1.0 Storybrooke. Regina rewrote the curse so park streakers would no longer be possible, for Henry's safety.

Thumbelina - Is actually a giant.

Tom Thumb - Is actually a giant, and a woman.

The Princess and the Pea - The princess is Emma Swan. The Pea is the Darkest One dagger.

The Gingerbread Man - A red-haired human on the track team of Storybrooke Middle School, Henry's romantic rival in S9, by which time Jared Gilmore would be a 21-year-old playing a 14-year-old.

(The Prince and the Pauper) - They're both Cora in disguise.

Three Billy Goats Gruff - 2 second cameo of three goats on the toll bridge in Storybrooke.

(The Ugly Duckling) - The Home Office is back, have nothing to do with Peter Pan and everything to do with a shark-jumping genre change. They've cloned Emma several times and put them in time-sped parallel universes. It's awkward.

Baba Yaga - Gave Regina the sads once because Baba Yaga is just mean. Killed by Charming. Henry can play in the chicken-legged house from now on. Nobody ever mentions the unjust death of Baba Yaga ever again.

Monkey King - ...has parental abandonment issues, that's why he does this have pity. Buddha is evil.

The genre's all over the place by now, really, so for all we know the next gimmick could be Sherlock Holmes. The sheriff before Emma was supposed to be Sherlock. After that, Disney's Gargoyles maybe crossed over with The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Shakespeare's plays because that's what the cartoon series Gargoyles did (Shakespeare, not Hunchback...that I know of. Avalon is in that series, too, so maybe we'll see Arthur again if they cover that.)

After that, maybe Henry gets sucked into a video game and retells a version of Kingdom Hearts where Sora has parental abandonment issues and Goofy and Donald are evil. And Kairi is Cora in disguise. After retelling Frances Hodgeson's Burnett's books with an evil Sara Crewe and a Miss Minchin with parental abandonment issues in a love triangle with Ram Dass, they could try to save the ratings by...I don't know...buying Harry Potter from Warner Bros and retelling that.

Narnia? Aslan is evil. Jadis has parental abandonment issues. Love triangle somewhere here.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Faemonic

[Delphi]

Wasn't David and James supposed to be a Once's take on The Prince and the Pauper?

[KingOfHearts]

I wouldn't mind seeing more Victorian-era novels from authors such as Charles Dickens or Jules Verne. Still waiting on Dracula too. Some might disagree on whether or not that's appropriate for the show, but after Nurse Ratched, Frankenstein and Cruella DeVil, I say anything's possible. 

 

I'm still a little peeved Rip van Winkle's cameo got cut. I wanted to see Rumple meddle in even more classics.

Edited February 11, 2016 by KingOfHearts

[YaddaYadda]

I draw the line at vampires. 

 

I'm just looking for a non supernatural villain at this point, or a non supernatural resolution to a problem where people can come together to solve their problems using their heads. 

 

I'd like for all the magic to get sucked out of Storybrooke, and everyone is on equal footing. 

[KingOfHearts]

 

 

I'm just looking for a non supernatural villain at this point, or a non supernatural resolution to a problem where people can come together to solve their problems using their heads.

I'd like for all the magic to get sucked out of Storybrooke, and everyone is on equal footing.

I do agree with this 100%. Magic users are always at their most interesting when they're forced to go cold turkey. Neverland had a similar effect where while they did have magic, it was far outmatched so they were forced to strategize and form alliances. Unfortunately, they didn't complete much until the climax when their magic became powerful again. (No Regrets Tree, blocking out the moon) I blame A&E's inability to write anything organic. They use magic as a crutch more than Regina or Rumple.

 

 

I draw the line at vampires.

Well we have Frankenstein and the Werewolf... Dracula is really the only missing piece left.

Edited February 11, 2016 by KingOfHearts