Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25896389-20160402095124/@comment-24674051-20160517205729

Wonderlandian87 wrote: I would love someone to give me a great explanation as to why they think OUAT is moving away from Disney IP. Rumple has no Disney affiliation other than the show making him their version of the Beast and the Crocodile. Ruby has no Disney affiliation. Dorothy has no Disney affiliation. Ingrid herself was not a Disney character. Jack and the Beanstalk, not Disney. Hansle and Gretel? Not Disney. Dr. Frankenstein? Not Disney. Robin Hood? Not Disney unless you count the fox interpretation which Once did not pull from for source material. Robin Hood is not a fairytale. It is folk lore. King Arthur? Not Disney. Again, a case could be made for The Sword in the Stone but Once did not use that storyline. Since Camelot is Public Domain, like most of these stories, and Once did not use the Disney movie storyline, the once version of Camelot is also not Disney. The Author, Isaac, who in my opinion was more of a big bad than the Queens of Darkness, since 1 died and 2 turned good/neutral, is also not a Disney character. I don't see how one can be justified in saying that we are moving away from Disney now, when Once has been doing stories and characters not in Disney since the beginning of the show. A&E have told us that they want Aladdin and Jasmine on the show. I love that the LoUS is not genre based so virutally any character could show up! This would be the perfect time to bring in Aladdin and co. because the show would not be forced to do an Agrabah arc. Al and Jas could show up, the heroes could fix their problem like they did with Hercules and Megara, and they could go on their merry way. I could see the show going in a direction similar to the "unfinished business" of the underworld so when a character's story gets told, they are able to return to the realm they came from before being sent to the LoUS. Thoughts? I think Season 1 had more Non-Disney related characters, but after that, it seemed that every new character has some sort of disney tie. Just because Once did not use the Disney version of the story, the fact that they tied into existing Disney property makes it disneyfied.

Discounting Season 1 let's look at the main recurring characters that were introduced over the next 4 seasons:

Season 2 - Cora is semi-Disney. Her Miller's daughter background is the other half of the Rumplestiltskin story, which is not disney. But her Queen of Hearts persona is from Alice in Wonderland. Captain Hook is from Peter Pan. Mulan (Mulan), Aurora & Prince Philip (Sleeping Beauty), Anton (Jack and the beanstalk - Disney version is Mickey and Beanstalk), Lancelot (King Arthur - related to Sword in the Stone), Greg and Tamara (Once originals - Not story related), The Dragon (Not sure on this one), Wendy, Michael, & John Darling (Peter Pan). We can even throw Smee (Peter Pan) into Season 2. and Robin Hood (though I consider season 3 the introduction of the recurring char).

Season 3 - Peter Pan and the Lost Boys (Peter Pan), Tinker Bell (Peter Pan), Ariel and Eric (Little Mermaid), Adult John and Michael Darling (Peter Pan), Malcolm (Original), Walsh (Oz), Zelena (oz), Robin Hood (Robin Hood - with foxes) & Merry Men, Glinda (Oz)

Season 4 - Elsa, Anna, and the rest of the Frozen gang (Frozen), Ingrid (original, but tied to Frozen gang), THe Apprentice (Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia), Will Scarlet (aka the Knave of Hearts- Robin Hood AND Alice in Wonderland), Ursula (Little Mermaid), Cruella (101 Dalmations), Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty, introduced in Season 1), Poseidon (Greek Mythos, and loosely tied to Triton from Little Mermaid), Lily (Original Character), Isaac (Original)

Season 5 - Merlin (Sword in the Stone and Camelot), King Arthur (Sword in the Stone and Camelot), Guinevere (Camelot - Indirect to SitS), Violet (Original, daughter of Connecticut Yankee), Hades (Hercules), Herc and Megara (Hercules), Merida (Brave), Nimue (Camelot), King Fergus & Queen Eleanor (Brave), Jeckyll & Hyde (Strange Case of Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde), Poole (SCoDJ&MH).

The only characters that did not come in some how related to Disney are Greg, Tamara, Lily, Isaac, Violet, and Jeckyll and Hyde (and Poole). The Greg, Tamara, and Isaac flopped hard, Lily was good, but her story was paused, and we just met the J&H chars. Everything else was either directly related to a disney property, or brought in through association. (and really Violet and Lily could qualify for the guilt by association.

And some of the stories hinted at in the Finale (Paul Bunyon, 3 Musketeers, Around the world) do not have strong ties to disney. In fact, they are tales that Disney has not told. and I think that is why the hype for some fresh, non-disney tales for season 6.