Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26159109-20150520161406/@comment-1916997-20150903180828

Once Upon A Time does not automatically equal Disney, but it does use alot of elements from the Disney versions (names, costumes, songs, etc.). This is done for two simple reasons: 1. the Disney versions are the most popular/famous versions of these stories; and 2. Disney owns ABC so Adam and Eddy can do this without getting slapped with a lawsuit. As the show has progressed, we are seeing more direct Disney things however. First, nearly the complete cast of Frozen, and now with Merida (which I realize was not revealed at the time this thread was started). Even with things like this however, Once does things that are clearly pulling from non-Disney properties and/or the original source material. In the Frozen arc, we also had Ingrid as a more traditional literary Snow Queen (along with her Trolden Glass). That is not Disney, as Frozen was Disney's take on the Snow Queen. And now with Merida, sure she's coming, but King Arthur and company is also coming. And while Disney did do The Sword and The Stone (which was based on a children's book that adapted some of Arthurian legend), we can clearly see that Once is straight up adapting Arthurian Legend. Which again is not Disney. Also, someone can have never seen anything by Disney, but be very well read with fairy tales/classic literature, and watch Once Upon A Time, and they will still understand who all the characters are (with the exception of the Frozen gang and Merida), and all they will miss is a few references that are shoutouts to the Disney versions. If Once was Disney, that would mean that someone would not be able to watch and understand the show without having seen the Disney properties, which is not true. So in conclusion, I say hypothosis Once != Disney is correct.