Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday – Fairy Tales Revisited

While we wait for new shows to grace our TV with their presence, Tiffany and I are reviewing some of our “still simmering” shows. Have these shows heated up to our taste, or have we taken them off our menu? This week we revisit our fairy tale shows, Once Upon a Time and Grimm.

First off, the original review:

Once Upon a Time…four words every child learns at an early age.  Just the sound of them makes me want to cuddle up in a blanket and drift off to an imaginary land where wonderful and horrible things happen, but eventually all ends in happily ever after.

But what if there was another obstacle in the way of happily ever after?

Once Upon a Time takes us back to the story of Snow White, at the key moment when her prince comes to find her encased in glass, and frees her of a curse with a kiss.  All seems well for Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her Prince (Josh Dallas), until her evil stepmum (I’m British today – deal with it) comes to their wedding and “gifts” them with this final day of happiness. For after their wedding day, she plans to curse them for eternity, as that is the only way she can find happiness, in their misery.

Snow White finds out from a very creepy Rumplestiltskin (the brilliant Robert Carlyle) that the child she is pregnant with will be the only way to lift the curse. Twenty-eight years from day she is born.

The curse lands everyone in this fairy tale land in a time and place unfamiliar.

Welcome to Storybrooke, Maine. A charming little town, where the clock tower never changes the time, the residents are a bit unclear on the past, and a mayor (Lana Parrilla) seems to rule the town with an iron fist. Or beautifully sleek dark hair and red lips, at least.

Somewhere in Boston, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bail bondsmen (TV shows like using this phrase lately – it’s a professional way to say bounty hunter) is celebrating her 28^th birthday alone in her apartment. As she makes a wish on a lone cupcake, a knock at the door reveals a 10 year old boy. The boy she gave away in a closed adoption long ago.

Convinced that she is the key to saving his little town in Maine, he convinces her to join him there, at least for a week, to break the curse. While she doesn’t believe the rantings of this little boy, circumstances in town convince her that sticking around for a little while might be a good idea.

As I mentioned, I love fairy tales. So the thought that not one, but two shows would be coming out with a fairy tale theme made me giddy.

Once Upon a Time is for the true fairy tale lover. The people in this small town are someone from the stories, but they don’t know it. If you don’t have a place in your heart for these tales, then you probably won’t invest in the stories of the people in this town.

I, however, am interested to see how it all pans out.

The pilot was a bit of an info dump, perhaps to initiate those without the fairy tale background. As much as I don’t care for info dump, I will press on in watching, hoping that just enough is revealed in each episode.

Given that the creators of Lost are involved, I hope to see mysterious questions raised and eventually answered (and in a more satisfying way than the very end of Lost…still upset…ahem).

I do love the attention given to detail. Emma Swan, while unaware of her fairy tale beginnings, has small details in her outfits that give her a fairy tale feel (Ladies, her boots in the second episode are fabulous).

For now, I am giving Once Upon a Time an SSTV. Yes, I love the fairy tale element, but I am unconvinced on the development. I’d say it is definitely worth a watch for those who love these tales, but time will tell if it will remain happily ever after in my DVD queue.

>>>>

So, is this fairy tale show still simmering? I’m definitely upgrading OUAT to MacTV. I am definitely looking forward to the next set of new episodes.

Why?

The stories are written well enough that they’ve kept the feeling of the original fairy tales, but with added elements that give the characters more dimension. (In a previous post on this blog, I complained about Snow White in fairy tales being such a blah character. Not so  in this version.)

The creators aren’t afraid of surprising you (no, I won’t tell you what I mean by that) and have plenty of mysteries about to keep you guessing. You’ll enjoy identifying the modern day characters with their fairy tale counterparts.

Also, Robert Carlyle. He is awesome in the role of Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin.

If you haven’t already added this one to your DVR queue, now would be a great time to get caught up!

What do you think? Are you enjoying a regular dose of fairy tales on your TV? Do you favor Grimm over Once Upon a Time?

Now, head over to Tiffany’s blog where she discusses her updated rating of Grimm. I’ll be sure to chime in with my opinion in the comments.

Be sure to return next week when we revisit a few more SSTV reviews!

Why It’s Worth A Watch Wednesday – Once Upon a Time

Welcome to this week’s Why It’s Worth A Watch Wednesday, perhaps the only blog post I will complete this week, due to other writing commitments and NaNoWriMo.

::deep breath::

This week, Tiffany and I get to talk about fairy tales. We are both fans of fairy tales, so we are excited to have a show each to discuss.

Once Upon a Time…four words every child learns at an early age.  Just the sound of them makes me want to cuddle up in a blanket and drift off to an imaginary land where wonderful and horrible things happen, but eventually all ends in happily ever after.

But what if there was another obstacle in the way of happily ever after?

Once Upon a Time takes us back to the story of Snow White, at the key moment when her prince comes to find her encased in glass, and frees her of a curse with a kiss.  All seems well for Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her Prince (Josh Dallas), until her evil stepmum (I’m British today – deal with it) comes to their wedding and “gifts” them with this final day of happiness. For after their wedding day, she plans to curse them for eternity, as that is the only way she can find happiness, in their misery.

Snow White finds out from a very creepy Rumplestiltskin (the brilliant Robert Carlyle) that the child she is pregnant with will be the only way to lift the curse. Twenty-eight years from day she is born.

The curse lands everyone in this fairy tale land in a time and place unfamiliar.

Welcome to Storybrooke, Maine. A charming little town, where the clock tower never changes the time, the residents are a bit unclear on the past, and a mayor (Lana Parrilla) seems to rule the town with an iron fist. Or beautifully sleek dark hair and red lips, at least.

Somewhere in Boston, Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), a bail bondsmen (TV shows like using this phrase lately – it’s a professional way to say bounty hunter) is celebrating her 28^th birthday alone in her apartment. As she makes a wish on a lone cupcake, a knock at the door reveals a 10 year old boy. The boy she gave away in a closed adoption long ago.

Convinced that she is the key to saving his little town in Maine, he convinces her to join him there, at least for a week, to break the curse. While she doesn’t believe the rantings of this little boy, circumstances in town convince her that sticking around for a little while might be a good idea.

As I mentioned, I love fairy tales. So the thought that not one, but two shows would be coming out with a fairy tale theme made me giddy.

Once Upon a Time is for the true fairy tale lover. The people in this small town are someone from the stories, but they don’t know it. If you don’t have a place in your heart for these tales, then you probably won’t invest in the stories of the people in this town.

I, however, am interested to see how it all pans out.

The pilot was a bit of an info dump, perhaps to initiate those without the fairy tale background. As much as I don’t care for info dump, I will press on in watching, hoping that just enough is revealed in each episode.

Given that the creators of Lost are involved, I hope to see mysterious questions raised and eventually answered (and in a more satisfying way than the very end of Lost…still upset…ahem).

I do love the attention given to detail. Emma Swan, while unaware of her fairy tale beginnings, has small details in her outfits that give her a fairy tale feel (Ladies, her boots in the second episode are fabulous).

For now, I am giving Once Upon a Time an SSTV. Yes, I love the fairy tale element, but I am unconvinced on the development. I’d say it is definitely worth a watch for those who love these tales, but time will tell if it will remain happily ever after in my DVD queue.

What did you think of TV’s reintroduction of the classic tales via Once Upon a Time? Did you watch Grimm as well? Do you have a favorite?

Head over to Tiffany’s now, and get your second dose of fairy tale time via Grimm, a show with a fairy tale twist that just might convert the non-believer.

Come back next week when we review…something. We’ll let you know.

Remember to stop by the #watchwed hashtag in Twitter to discuss any of today’s reviews, or to mention any television programs that you’d like to see on Why It’s Worth a Watch Wednesday in the future.

A Recap of The WatchWed Review System:

GTV (Gourmet TV): Everything we want and more
MacTV (MacNCheese TV): Guilty pleasure. Not perfect, but is satisfies
JFTV (Junk food TV): It’s not great for us, but we’ll go back for seconds
SSTV (Still Simmering TV): It has potential, but the jury is still out
NIV (Nyquil Induced Viewing): Perfect for that late night television sleep timer
LOTV (Liver&Onions TV): Do we really have to explain? Blech

Classic Tales – The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Classic fairy tales seem to be a universally well loved thing.  Disney continuously remakes old versions, countless books are written as retellings of the familiar stories, and even the fall TV season has two series coming out based on fairy tales, Grimm and Once Upon a Time.

Watching Tangled this weekend, I got to thinking about the classic tales, the ones that every girl is supposed to love.  You know, stories of the girl who finds her prince.  I have to admit, growing up in an era of the Disney versions being the more well known ones, I don’t really love all those stories.

So, what follows is my breakdown of the major tales, in their original states as well as their Disney versions, the good and the bad.

[If you have not watched/read these, SPOILERS follow]

Cinderella

The Disney version is a bit dull for me.  Fairy godmother, talking mice (ok, the mice I like), and a glass slipper.  Eventually, Cinderella’s diminutive feet win her a prince, and all is well. Nice story, but not terribly exciting.  She sings about waiting for her prince to come and eventually he does.  Meh.

The Grimm version is a more interesting tale.  Cinderella was a good hardworking girl in difficult circumstances.  She didn’t use those circumstances to excuse treating her stepfamily with anything but respect, and at a certain point, she manages to catch the eye of the prince.

She’s no hussy, though.  She attends the ball three different times, never breaking her curfew once.  The only reason he manages to get her shoe the last time she runs off?  He spreads pitch on the stairs and she sticks to it.

The stepsisters try everything to fit into the shoe, including cutting off a heel and toe.  They almost succeed until the prince, alerted by doves that live in the tree planted at her mother’s grave, notices the blood dripping from the shoe.  The prince finally finds the right girl and marries her.

Oh, and the stepsisters get their eyes pecked out at the wedding and are blinded for life.

Good hardworking girl gets to live in the palace with a handsome prince, and her mean stepsisters get their comeuppance.

What did I learn?

Work hard, keep your curfew, and don’t exact revenge on the people who mistreat you.  In the end, it will work out for the best.  And maybe the mean folks will get poked in the eye.  Also, trying to surgically enhance yourself to suit someone else’s idea of perfect is not a good idea.

The Little Mermaid

I hate the Disney version of this tale.  Don’t get me wrong, I sang along with that little crazy crustacean, and watching sea creatures play steel drums was good times.  But the actual story?

Young girl wants more than the enchanted life she lives under the sea.  Despite her father’s warnings, she disobeys so she can go after the hot prince and see all that the outside world has to offer.  When her plans don’t work out, Daddy has to bail her out, causing him great sadness and pain.  In the end, it all works out.  She gets her prince, Daddy goes back to being ruler of the seas, and the singing crustacean isn’t anyone’s dinner.

What don’t I like about that story?  The little mermaid was selfish.  Sure, Dad might have been a little protective, but what good parent isn’t?  She completely ignores him and every other advice giver that tells her what she doesn’t want to hear.  In the end, there is no real consequence for her selfish disobedience.  As a matter of fact, she gets everything she wanted.

So, do whatever you want, with no regard for everyone around you and in the end you’ll be rewarded.

Ehrm, no thanks.

Hans Christian Andersen’s tale is similar except the prince marries someone else.  And she turns into sea foam.  Not the happy ending you were hoping for, but a much better message.

Selfish girls don’t get the guy and turn into sea foam.

Snow White/Sleeping Beauty

I have no real love for either of these stories.  Neither the old stories nor the retelling interest me much.  Snow White, honestly, seems a bit daft.  I mean, how many times do you have to almost die from accepting free gifts from strangers before you learn?  If it weren’t for her stunning good looks, she’d still be sitting somewhere in a glass coffin.  And sleeping beauty just had to go find the one spindle in the kingdom.  Sheesh.

Helpless dumb girls will still get the hot rich guy.

What a lousy thing to learn as a little girl.

Beauty and the Beast

The first Disney princess I could ever get behind was Belle.  She loved to read.  She wasn’t impressed by the muscle bound Gaston who attempted to marry her.  She adored her quirky old Dad and would do anything to protect him, whether that meant being unpopular with the townspeople or agreeing to live with a scary beast.  And she had brown hair.

She doesn’t hate the beast because he’s scary (and quite possibly smelly).  Instead, she gets to know him and sees he is a kind and caring being, she cares for him and even fights to save him.

The only part about this tale I didn’t like was the prince he turned into.  Looked like a young Michael Bolton.  What was that about?

The one layer the Beaumont version had that I thought was a nice touch was Belle’s family of sisters.  Belle was the youngest of three girls.  All three girls were beautiful, but Belle got her name for her being pure of heart.  Her sisters convince Belle to break her promise to return to the Beast when he allows her to visit her family.  They pretend to miss her, complete with fake crying brought on by cutting onions, hoping that the Beast will kill her for breaking her promise so they can take over her life of living in his castle and enjoying fine things.

In the end, Belle sees that the Beast is dying of a broken heart through the magic mirror he gave her and rushes back to save him.  Her tears turn him into a prince and she lives happily ever after.

Both versions are winners.  Belle was different because she was smart and good.  Being smart and good didn’t win her popularity, but she never felt the need to change those things.  In the end, she finds someone she loves for who he is and she is loved for all the things that made her unpopular.

Girls, it is a good thing to be intelligent and kind-hearted.  Being popular isn’t the most important thing, and true love doesn’t ask you to change who you are.  

Rapunzel

This is the first time Disney may have improved on the original story.

The original tale involves an enchantress that requests a couple’s firstborn in exchange for sparing the father’s life when she finds him stealing vegetables from her garden.  She raises the child as her own.  Fiercely overprotective of the daughter she loves, she locks her in a tower, using her long hair as the only way in or out.  Eventually, a prince is drawn to the sounds of Rapunzel singing, figures out the hair trick, and she starts letting her hair down for him.

In several of the early versions, her plans to run off with the prince are discovered when her dress begins to fit too snug (ahem).  The enchantress chops off her hair and banishes her to the wilderness.  The prince, upon finding his love gone, falls out of the tower into thorns, blinding him.  Eventually his wandering about blindly leads him to that same voice that once sent him climbing a golden braid.  Rapunzel cries into his eyes and “poof” no more blindness.

I always felt a little sorry for the enchantress.  I mean, yeah, it’s not cool to lock your kid in a tower.  But she did mean well.  She really did love her daughter and wanted to protect her.

In Tangled, the old woman is not an enchantress, but a vain old woman who discovers a magical flower that keeps her young when she sings to it.  The flower is found and used to save the pregnant queen, who gives birth to Rapunzel.  The healing and youth bestowing power of the flower is now in the princess’ hair, so cranky old lady steals her and keeps her in a tower as her own.  She pretends to love Rapunzel, but in reality, she just loves her hair.

Knowing the old lady doesn’t truly love her daughter makes me glad she leaves the tower.

Rapunzel’s reasons for sneaking out of the tower are simple.  She’s not sneaking off to be with some prince she just met, in fact, there is no prince in this story.  She just wants to see the floating lights.

In the end, she sacrifices her freedom to save the boy she’s fallen in love with.  (Don’t worry, it works out.)

Rapunzel didn’t follow her dreams at the detriment of others.  As a matter of fact, she was ready to give up everything for someone else.

Put those you love ahead of your own desires, and they will do the same for you.

What are your favorite fairy tales?  Do you prefer the old versions over the Disney ones? Should there always be consequences for a character’s actions, or do you prefer the happy ending regardless?