Once Upon A Time -- Hyperion Heights

Confession: I've been a fan of ABC's Once Upon A Time before it even aired. A show about Disney-versions-of fairy-tale-characters who were living in a modern setting? SOLD.  I loved everything about it -- especially Lana Parilla's Evil Queen/Regina. Seriously. IMHO, she was the best part of the show. (Folks at The Nerdist agree too.)

I even stuck with the show when it got a bit ridiculous. I mean, I know shows "jump the shark" after a certain point, and when you're dealing with fairy-tales and fantasy, that's almost inevitable but...still. I could have done without the whole foray into the Land Of Untold Stories, and I'm pretty sure the addition of Jasmine, Aladdin and Jafar in season 6 was kinda pointless.

So when I read that the show was basically rebooting for this season -- with most of the major cast members leaving -- I was skeptical. Wouldn't that normally be the kiss of death for a show?

But I just watched the season premiere tonight and I gotta say: this might actually be a good thing for the show:

1. Both Lana Parrilla (Regina) and Robert Carlyle (Rumple) are still around, which phew. (So is Hook, but IDK why he's there so the show's got some explaining to do on that front.)
2. Henry Mills is all grown up -- and literally a different actor. Nothing against Jared Gilmore -- he was a great child actor -- but I felt like the show didn't really know what to do with him after a point. (See: The Author storyline.) Now that he's the focus, and portrayed by someone else, the character can grow.
3. I'm intrigued by the shift in the central story from "Snow White" to "Cinderella" -- if not a little skeptical. Yes, Snow White was Disney's first film but Cinderella is by far the more popular story. I'm curious to see their take on it.
4. I really like the new supporting characters -- including Reign's Adelaide Kane as Drizella. Although--where is Anastasia? Why is there only one wicked stepsister (who may or may not be actually wicked)? And her American accent game is on point. 

But the thing that I appreciated the most -- as a children's literature scholar and all-around fairy tale nerd -- came fairly early in the episode. Original Henry is talking to Regina about why he's not going to college and instead taking a gap year to go explore other fairy tale realms. I don't remember the exact line, but he basically acknowledges that there are so many other versions of the stories that he didn't know about -- like a French Snow White, an Italian Snow White, etc. Yeah, he makes it about him -- he's not in any of the other stories and wants to know why -- but I think this acknowledgement of other versions of the fairy tales is a big deal: critics love to lambast Disney for overshadowing those other versions and, in their minds, erasing them. 

There's also another moment, when New-Henry meets New-Cinderella, and he tells her he has to help get her story back on track. She asks if her story has a happy ending -- do these people know they're characters from stories? I'm not really clear where the show landed on that -- and he tells her that yes, it does: in most versions, the prince has to find her first, so she leaves him a sign, in this case the glass slipper. It's subtle, yes, but again, it's an acknowledgement that there are other versions of these stories than the one that comes to mind when you say "Cinderella" or "Snow White." 

Kudos, Disney. Or, well, Kudos, writers. 

Dania Ramirez as Cinderella on Once Upon A Time

I'll admit that I'm a bit behind on Once Upon A Time -- mainly because my husband felt it jumped the shark a few seasons ago and lost interest, so it's not one of the shows we watch together at night. And, with a 15-month-old toddler running around and my perhaps-naive goal to limit her screen-time/exposure, I don't have a lot of free time to just bingewatch shows these days.

I have kept up with the "big" news though -- like the fact that the main characters aren't returning for this coming season and that there's another time jump, where Henry will apparently be older (grown-up?). They also hired 5 new female actors -- #girlpower -- to join the show, and we learned this weekend that Dania Ramirez (who I know as Maya from Heroes) will, apparently, be Cinderella on the show:

PC: ABC/Disney 2017

I'll admit that I find this a bit confusing since, within the realm of Once Upon A Time, we've already "met" Cinderella: she had a relatively minor role (given her comparative popularity as a fairy tale princess) in the show, but definitely "looked" familiar:

Blonde hair, blue eyes, white. (Even though I firmly maintain that the original 1950 animated Cinderella was not as blonde as she's animated today: she's definitely more of a strawberry blonde/auburn girl.)

So, IDK how that's going to work, because Ramirez is definitely sporting a Cinderella-style dress in the picture above.
But, as a recent Huffpost article points out, Ramirez's casting is a bigger deal than just "we've-already-had-the-Cinderella-storyline":

The article mentions that we'll meet "different versions" of familiar characters -- which, again, IDK how that will play out and doesn't make me feel invested in the show but the fact that Disney is taking it's most iconic Disney princess (and traditionally "most white") and casting an adult Dominican-American actress in the role is a huge deal. After all, both of their previous Latina princesses haven't really made strides in the diversity department: see, for instance, "Princess Sofia Is Not Latina" and "Disney's New Princess Elena Probably Doesn't Count as Latina."

Fingers crossed Ramirez's version of Cinderella will change that. 

Hidden Mickeys in Once Upon A Time

If there's one thing I love to do -- even though I'm not very good at it -- it's searching for Hidden Mickeys in Disney Parks. Or. you know, anywhere.

Case in point:

Snapped this on one of our evening walks around the neighborhood. My husband called me a creeper and pointed out that if I saw someone snapping a picture of our backyard, I'd be all up in arms. To which I replied, "If I had a Hidden Mickey in my backyard, and saw someone snapping a photo of it, I'd run outside and proclaim them my  best friend for being a fellow Disney-phile." To which he replied, "Touche."

So watching Once Upon A Time is doubly fun: not only do they acknowledge and respect the "original" Disney source material, but they also throw in Hidden Mickeys -- if you can spot them. ;)
Exhibit A:

From Season 4, Episode 18, "Heart of Gold." I love it -- because it's actually something you can buy. No, really. I have one on my car. :D