Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1916997-20160314010238/@comment-27257290-20160401150953

Eskaver wrote: I think you're sort of seeing it backwards forward. Looking from  season 1 to 5, it's clear that they weren't doing that.

They are using legends, literature, etc, and use a little nods at Disney, not the other way around. They had king Midas, Biblical allusions, prince and the pauper, etc. Simply saying they expand Disney is ignoring their creative genius. It's like saying they did Wizard of Oz because of Disney, although they referenced it before the movie came out and they do absolutely nothing like Disney, because there has been like 55 Oz variations. I am looking from season 1 to 5. As I watched it through the first time (I only got into it last year) I noticed gradual sink into Disneyverse going on here. I won't even talk about Jiminy Cricket because it's too easy.

I agree they use legends and literature. But for the main story arcs, I believe they choose by selecting a Disney film, and then decide how to proceed. And I'm not sure when they used the prince and the pauper in Once, but I KNOW I've seen Mickey Mouse do the Prince and the Pauper.

I'm still not ignoring the writers' creative genius, I admire some of the clever writing and connections they make between stories and myths. I don't see how expanding Disney is ignoring creative genius if expanding public domain fairy tales and mythology isn't. Either way, they're still using characters and plot devices that already exist in fiction. The genius in Once Upon a Time is the way they are all linked together and the actual plot they create.

And I'm not sure when Oz was referenced before the movie came out but the story arc with Zelena took place a year later. But again, I'm only saying that it was around season 3 that it became clear to me that Once uses Disney to select its main stories (still not a problem for me), but I'm not saying they stick closely to the story in the Disney adaptation, nor do I think they only ever reference those myths and tales. And that's what I love about it. Cruella DeVil is obviously plucked out of Disney, but I love her backstory and ability to control animals (although I'm still unclear about what actually made her a villain before Storybrooke besides killing her mother, same goes for Ursula).