Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time is an American fantasy drama television series created by Lost and Tron: Legacy writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, that premiered on Sunday October 23, 2011, on ABC. New episodes air Sunday nights at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT. On November 3, 2011, ABC ordered the back nine episodes for Once Upon a Time, bringing the first season to a total of 22 episodes. On May 10, 2012, ABC renewed the show for a second season.

Major Cast

 * Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard


 * Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan


 * Lana Parrilla as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills


 * Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/John Doe/David Nolan


 * Eion Bailey as Pinocchio/August W. Booth


 * Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills


 * Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket/Archibald "Archie" Hopper


 * Jamie Dornan as The Huntsman/Sheriff Graham


 * Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold


 * Emilie de Ravin as Belle


 * Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood/Ruby


 * Beverley Elliott as Granny/Widow Lucas


 * Giancarlo Esposito as The Genie/Magic Mirror/Sidney Glass


 * Lee Arenberg as Grumpy/Leroy


 * Anastasia Griffith as Princess Abigail/Kathryn Nolan


 * Keegan Connor Tracy as The Blue Fairy


 * Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent


 * David Anders as Doctor Whale


 * Tony Amendola as Geppetto/Marco

Conception
Eight years previous to the Once Upon a Time pilot (the two had just completed their work on Felicity, in 2002), Kitsis and Horowitz became inspired to write fairytales out of a love of "mystery and excitement of exploring lots of different worlds." They presented the premise to networks, but were refused because of its fantastical nature. The two learned from their time on Lost to look at the story in a different way, that "character has to trump mythology"; they expanded, "as people, you've got to see what the void in their heart or in their lives is to care about them... For us, this was as much about the character journeys and seeing what was ripped from them in coming to Storybrooke – going at it that way as opposed to making it the 'break-the-curse show.'" Despite the comparisons and similarities to Lost, the writers intend them to be very different shows. To them, Lost concerned itself with redemption, while Once Upon a Time is about "hope". Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof aided in the development of the series as a consultant, but had no official credit for the pilot. To differentiate the storytelling from what the audience already knew, the writing staff decided to begin the pilot with the end of the typical Snow White fairytale. Themes concerning family and motherhood were emphasized, in contrast to the focus on fatherhood in Lost. Kitsis and Horowitz sought to write strong female characters, rather than the classic damsel in distress. Horowitz stated their desire to approach each character the same way, asking themselves, "How do we make these icons real, make them relatable?"

The pilot is meant to be the "template of the series". Kitsis confirmed that every week will contain flashbacks between both worlds, as they "love the idea of going back and forth and informing what the character is missing in their life." The writers' desire to present a "mash up" of many small characters can be seen in a scene of the pilot, in which there is a war council featuring Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Grumpy. Horowitz elaborated, "One of the fun things for us coming up with these stories is thinking of ways these different characters can interact in ways they never have before."

The show also has a similar premise to Bill Willingham's comic series Fables, to which ABC bought the rights in 2008, but never made it past the planning stages. Horowitz and Kitsis have "read a couple issues" of Fables but state that while the two concepts are "in the same playground," they believe they are "telling a different story."

Allusions to Disney
The show, as a production of Disney-owned ABC, contains multiple allusions to the Disney versions of the stories that form the basis for the series. Snow White's dwarfs, unnamed in traditional versions of the story, here have the names they were given in the Disney film. Similarly, Sleeping Beauty was cursed by an individual named Maleficent, again the name used in the 1959 Disney film for the wicked fairy godmother that lacked a name in many other versions. Geppetto's fairy friend is called The Blue Fairy as in the 1940 Disney film, which is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio, rather than The Fairy with Turquoise Hair, and his conscience figure is called Jiminy Cricket rather than "the Talking Cricket," as in Carlo Collodi's novel. Another allusion to the Disney universe is the name of Archie's Dalmatian, "Pongo," in reference to one of the main characters in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The Genie of the Lamp claims to hail from Agrabah, the central Location in the Disney animated film, Aladdin. When Snow White first meets Grumpy, he can be heard whistling the main chorus of "Heigh Ho" from the Disney film version of Snow White. Towards the beginning of "Heart of Darkness" as she sweeps the dwarfs' cottage, Snow White is heard humming "With a Smile and a Song" another song from the Disney film. In the episode "Skin Deep", the hat worn by Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia can be seen on display in Rumplestiltskin's castle. Also in this episode a tea cup with a chip in it is an allusion to the Chip character from Beauty and the Beast, an ornate clock as a reference to Cogsworth and a candelabra in reference to Lumière. The florists truck is also named "Game of Thorns" referencing both roses, and the new series Game of Thrones. The costuming and the character of Gaston were also a nod to the Disney animation. Another reference to Disney came in "What Happened to Frederick" where Henry is given Space Paranoids, a reference to the film Tron, whose logo can also be seen in Henry's lunchbox in "The Stranger". In "An Apple Red as Blood" The shot of the apple falling out of Snow White’s hand is reminiscent of the shot in Disney’s original “Snow White”.

Critical reception
Several critics reviewed the series positively. On Metacritic, it was given a score of 66 out of 100 with "generally favorable reviews". E!'s Kristin dos Santos cites the show as one of the five new shows of the 2011–12 season to watch. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave the show a "C+" grade commenting "From a pair of Lost producers, this is a love-or-hate proposition. The ambition is impressive, as it asks us to imagine Goodwin's Snow White and Parrilla's Evil Queen as moderns. But Morrison is a wooden lead, and the back stories—a random collection of fairy tales—don’t promise to surprise."

In a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, TV critic Gail Pennington hailed it as one of the "Most Promising Shows of The Fall" and, unlike Gilbert, had high marks for Morrison. USA Today's Robert Blanco has placed the series on its top ten list, declaring that "There's nothing else on the air quite like it." Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times preferred this series to another fairy-tale themed drama, Grimm, citing that the premise takes its time building up the charm and that the producer "has that part nailed". She also gave excellent reviews for Morrison's character: "Her Emma is predictably cynical and prickly—fairy-tale princess, my Aunt Fanny—but she's sharp and lively enough to keep audiences begging for 'just a few more pages' before they go to bed."

Several feminist outlets were pleased with the show for its feminist twist on fairy tales. Avital Norman Nathman of Bitch stated that she liked the show for "infusing a feminist sensibility" into the stories. Genie Leslie at Feministing commented that Emma was a "badass", that she liked how Emma was "very adamant that women be able to make their own decisions about their lives and their children", and how Emma was a "well-rounded" character who was "feminine, but not 'girly'". Natalie Wilson from Ms. praised the show for a strong, "kick-butt" female lead, for including multiple strong women who take turns doing the saving with the men, for subverting the fetishization of true love, and for dealing with the idea of what makes a mother in a more nuanced fashion. Wilson went on to state about the lead: "Her pursuit of a 'happy ending' is not about finding a man or going to a ball all gussied up, but about detective work, about building a relationship with her son Henry, and about seeking the 'truth' as to why time stands still in the corrupt Storybrooke world.

The pilot episode was watched by 13 million viewers and received a 4.0 rating in Teens and Adults 18–49. It was the season's highest-rated drama debut among Adults 18–49 and ABC's biggest debut in five years. The show's next three episodes had consistent ratings every week with over 11 million viewers. The series has become the #1 non-sports program with viewers and young adults on Sunday nights.

The first season premiered as the top-rated drama series.