Snow White

"Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing, but living with that kind of belief... That's the most powerful thing of all."

- Mary Margaret

Princess Snow White, briefly known as Mary and the Evil Queen, cursed as Mary Margaret Blanchard, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She debuts in the first episode of the first season and is portrayed by special guest star Ginnifer Goodwin and guest star Bailee Madison. She is the main reality version of Queen Snow.

Snow White is based on a character of the same name from the fairytale, "Snow White", the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the fairytale, "Snow-White and Rose-Red". She also takes the role of Perseus from Greek Mythology.

Trivia

 * -|Character Notes=

Etymology

 * Snow White's mother, Eva, named her "Snow" because she was born during the toughest winter.
 * Mary Margaret's name is similar to the name of two German women who have been identified as possible inspirations for the Snow White fairytale: Margarete von Waldeck and Maria Sophia Margaretha Catharina von Erthal.
 * Snow White offered both "Mary" and "Margaret" as aliases when Red asked what she should call her.
 * Originally, Mary Margaret was supposed to be a nun, which is the reason why the character has a double name. Eventually, it was decided not to make her a nun, but the name was kept.
 * Ginnifer Goodwin asked the show creators about the name similarity to Maria Sophia Margaretha before they began the show. According to her, they acted surprised when she asked them about this, and "they were like, “What are you talking about?”."
 * Mary Margaret shares her name with the Virgin Mary of the Bible, who, like Mary Margaret, is the mother of the savior. Interestingly, Mary Margaret (who was originally supposed to be a nun ) can be seen wearing a cross in "Pilot" and "Welcome to Storybrooke".
 * The name "Mary" is of Greek origin. It was most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from mry, meaning "beloved", or mr, meaning "love".
 * The surname "Blanchard" is of Old French origin derived from the word "blanchart" that means "whitish", or "white appearance". It is also similar to the English word "blanch", which means to become white or pale (as from shock or fear).

Character Notes

 * Snow White is featured in the title card for "An Apple Red as Blood".
 * Like her daughter and grandson, she enjoys hot cocoa with cinnamon.
 * She is the one who gave Prince Charming his nickname.
 * Snow White's wanted posters read:

WANTED   SNOW WHITE For crimes against the Queen: MURDER,  TREASON,  TREACHERY


 * She delivers messages via bluebirds.
 * Based on her mugshot, Mary Margaret is approximately 5'8"¨(173 cm).
 * Like her grandson, Mary Margaret has a large collection of clocks.
 * During the first curse, she teaches fourth graders.
 * Can communicate with and understand the language of birds.
 * She also "gets along in mouse".
 * Because she was once poisoned with an apple, Mary Margaret dislikes apples.
 * Fittingly enough, one of her students gives her a pear instead of an apple.
 * Snow White is at least four years older than her husband, Prince Charming. This is proven in "Murder Most Foul", where her future husband is six years old, and Rumplestiltskin uses a crystal ball to locate his twin brother James. This is the exact same crystal ball that Jefferson acquired for Rumplestiltskin in "The Doctor", an episode which takes place after the events of "The Stable Boy", where Snow was ten years old, according to "Shattered Sight" and "Sympathy for the De Vil".

Storybook Notes

 * Henry's storybook contains several scenes from "Snow Falls":


 * Another page reads:


 * Another scene from "Snow Falls" reads (note that the opening words are repeated later in the text):


 * The final page that the Author was transcribing, says:


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * The role of Snow White was written specifically for Ginnifer Goodwin.
 * While preparing for her role as Snow White, Ginnifer Goodwin "watched every Snow White movie ever made".
 * The casting call for her younger self describes her as "12 to 14 years old to PLAY 12, a young and innocent princess, she sees the world through a prism where she believes everyone is capable of the same kindness she and her benevolent father bestow on their kingdom".
 * However, "Shattered Sight" and "Sympathy for the De Vil" establish she was actually ten years old during the events of "The Stable Boy".
 * Bailee Madison wore green contact lenses for the role as young Snow White, since her eyes are naturally brown.
 * Ginnifer Goodwin became pregnant during Season Three, and for the final episodes of the seasons, her stunt double, Maja Aro, was used as Snow White's double. The stunt woman had to learn all of Snow White's lines for these episodes, and did the dialogue with the other actors on set. Snow White's lines were then dubbed by Ginnifer Goodwin in post-production.
 * The press release for Leaving Storybrooke credits Ginnifer Goodwin exclusively as Snow White despite the fact only Mary Margaret appears in the episode.
 * This is the only time she is credited as Snow White but not Mary Margaret.


 * -|Cultural References=

Disney

 * When zoomed up close, the back of a dish Mary Margaret is washing has the Disney logo on it.
 * During the opening scene of "Heart of Darkness", Snow White hums "A Smile and A Song".
 * In "Heart of Darkness", Snow White wears a similar looking red bow hairband as her Disney character adaptation.
 * Young Snow White wears a blue hairband as in Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
 * Mary Margaret hits Jefferson over the head with a croquet mallet, a reference to Disney's Alice in Wonderland.
 * Snow White's dress at the Under the Sea Celebration has small Mickey Mouse faces on it.
 * While under the influence of the Spell of Shattered Sight, Mary Margaret snidely remarks, "Still wanna hold hands, sing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah"?", a reference to the famous song from Song of the South.
 * A woman in Seattle dresses up like Disney's Snow White for Halloween.

Lost

 * While talking about Mary Margaret's feelings for David, Emma and Mary Margaret share glasses of MacCutcheon Scotch Whisky. This was a fictional brand on Lost.
 * While trying to get rid of the Wraith, Mary Margaret uses a bottle of MacCutcheon Scotch Whisky to set fire to the railings.
 * Mary Margaret is grabbing an Apollo bar off the store shelf when she bumps into Kathryn.
 * There is a close-up of Mary Margaret's eye as David drips Regina's tear into it, and after Ingrid's spell is enacted. This is a recurring theme from Lost.
 * There is a close-up of Snow White and Prince Charming's eye when the they touch the unicorn's horn.
 * There is a close-up of Mary Margaret's eye as she awakens from the Serum Queen's Sleeping Curse.
 * When Mary Margaret takes out her anger on her friends, she states that she's had eight hours of sleep in the last week, a reference to the second Lost number.

Popular Culture

 * David and Mary Margaret play Hangman at the Storybrooke General Hospital.
 * The book Mary Margaret is reading in the diner is The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.
 * This is also a reference to Lost, where the main location is a mysterious island.
 * While practicing archery in the woods, Mary Margaret listens to Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation".
 * While under the influence of Ingrid's spell, Mary Margaret refers to Anna as Swiss Miss. This is the name of a real-life brand of cocoa powder and pudding products sold by the American company ConAgra Foods.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * Snow White's tiara, which is a gift from her mother on her birthday, belonged to her great-grandmother.
 * The Valentine's Day card David buys for Mary Margaret has a prince and princess on it.

Set Dressing

 * In the Darling family nursery room, there is an illustration by the famous English book illustrator Arthur Rackham. It is from a first edition of Grimms' Fairy Tales from 1909 and shows Snow White surrounded by the seven Dwarves after she falls into a coma.

Costume Notes

 * Around sixteen pieces of suede and fur were used to create Snow White's famous bandit outfit.
 * According to costume designer Eduardo Castro, it took many hours to make it.
 * The coat Snow White is wearing when Regina saves her is the same coat worn by Alice's daughter in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "And They Lived...".
 * The coat Snow White is wearing when she catches Regina and Daniel kissing is the same coat worn by Anastasia when her mother returns in "One Little Tear".
 * The outfit Snow White wears while on the run is the same outfit worn by Regina during Isaac's alternate reality.
 * The outfit is also worn by Jennifer Morrison during promotional images for Season Two.
 * According to costume designer Eduardo Castro, they wanted to avoid a very generic look for Mary Margaret. Her outfits are meant to be whimsical, fun and interesting to look at.
 * Mary Margaret's outfit in the first nine episodes of the second season, is meant to have a 1960s vibe, and is inspired by Audrey Hepburn in the 1957 musical romantic comedy Funny Face.
 * The floral dress Mary Margaret wears for her date with Dr. Whale, is the same one young Emma wears at the Portland convenience store in "Tallahassee".
 * The necklace she wears in the first half of Season Two, as well as in the "The Shepherd" from Season One, is an Oval Key Necklace from Pyrrha. It is the same brand as Emma's swan necklace.
 * The key necklace was chosen to represent the key that Prince Charming used to lock baby Emma in the Magic Wardrobe.
 * Snow White's tiara, which is a gift from her mother on her birthday, belonged to her great-grandmother.
 * Snow White's earrings in Isaac's alternate reality were later worn by Wish Cruella in "Homecoming".
 * The ensemble outfit Mary Margaret is wearing in Camelot in "Nimue", "Birth" and "Broken Heart is the same outfit worn by the Wish Realm counterpart of her original persona during a confrontation with the "Evil Queen" in "Wish You Were Here".
 * The dress Mary Margaret is wearing during Roni's coronation is the same dress worn by the Wish Realm counterpart of her original persona in "Wish You Were Here".


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * In "Lady of the Lake", after Snow White is poisoned by King George, she is disposed of on the side of the road. At the shot from her backside as she falls from the impact of being thrown, the upper right back part of her clothing is barely smudged with a light imprint of dirt. The camera angle switches to the front and then to the back again, to show the upper right back part of her clothing is now deeply coated in a heavier amount of dirt.
 * In "There's No Place Like Home", when Snow White comes over to thank Prince Charming for saving her, you can clearly see that the one who comes over is not Ginnifer Goodwin, but her stunt double, Maja Aro, who served as the body double for a pregnant Ginnifer for the final episodes of Season Three.


 * -|Other Notes=

Script Notes

 * In the original "Pilot" script, Mary Margaret is both a nun and a school teacher.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.