Myrna, also known as Puppet Dragon and Puppet Princess,[1] is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts, with her only appearance, in the fifth episode of the first season and is portrayed by guest star Carolyn Hennesy.
Myrna is an allusion to the Cat[2] from the children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, and Gideon from the Disney film Pinocchio.
History
Myrna and her husband, Martin, make a living putting on a puppet show for people at an unnamed village, while they have their young son, Jiminy, sneak around the crowd to steal everyone's belongings. Afterwards, they both assess the collected money and trinkets. Jiminy finds a cricket and admires it, but she says they are just "noisy bugs." He admires the creature's freedom and even longs to lead a similar life, though his parents are certain Jiminy can never change his fate as a pick-pocketing swindler.
Many years later, she and Martin are still up to their old tricks. They talk about which scam to run next, but Jiminy interjects that they make enough from the puppet show. Despite their son's reluctance to continue stealing from people, Myrna and her husband recognize they are getting old and wish for Jiminy to take care of them in the same lifestyle. Sometime after, Myrna and Martin realize Jiminy is planning on getting rid of them so he can live a life of freedom. They secretly take a potion he receives from a dealer and switch it with their own brand of a fake elf tonic. At nightfall, they arrive at the house of a young couple, Donna and Stephen, and pretend to be homeless and in need of a place to stay for the evening. While being served a hot meal inside the couple's home, Myrna speaks of a nearby town being hit by a plague, and the only reason she, Martin and Jiminy are immune is due to their possession of an elf tonic. Donna and Stephen are swindled by the trio into giving up all their valuable items in exchange for the fake elf tonic. Once outside, Jiminy is so furious at his parents that he cannot help himself from throwing his own potion at them, which is actually the fake elf tonic containing nothing but rain water since they switched his bottle with it earlier on. In horror, Jiminy runs back into the couple's house to find the pair have already ingested the potion and turned into wooden puppets. Myrna and her husband catch a glimpse, but rather than being shocked, they laugh humorously at the situation, and show no remorse even when the couple's son, Geppetto, stumbles in to see his parents' current state. ("That Still Small Voice")
Family
Myrna | Martin | ||||||||||||||||
Jiminy CricketArchie Hopper | |||||||||||||||||
Notes:
- Solid lines denote blood relationships
- Dashed lines denote marriage
Trivia
Etymology
- Hers and her husband's names, Myrna and Martin, is the complete name of well-known psychiatrist, Myrna Martin, who specializes in child/adolescent and family therapy. Jiminy's Storybrooke counterpart, Dr. Hopper, is also a psychiatrist, who treats Henry.
Character Notes
- The puppeteer show she and Martin run is called "Martin's and Myrna's Marvelous Marionettes."[3] ("That Still Small Voice")
Production Notes
- The production team looked at many "great comedy actors" for the role of Myrna,[4] before landing on Carolyn Hennesy.
Disney
- The costume design for Myrna is reminiscent of Gideon from Disney's Pinoccio, as Martin's style is reminiscent of Honest John. They are also con artists, just like in the film. ("That Still Small Voice")
Appearances
Once Upon a Time: Season One | ||||||||||
"Pilot": | "The Thing You Love Most": | "Snow Falls": | "The Price of Gold": | "That Still Small Voice": | "The Shepherd": | "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter": | "Desperate Souls": | "True North": | "7:15 A.M.": | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
"Skin Deep": | "What Happened to Frederick": | "Dreamy": | "Red-Handed": | "Heart of Darkness": | "Hat Trick": | "The Stable Boy": | "The Return": | "The Stranger": | "An Apple Red as Blood": | "A Land Without Magic": |
Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
See also
Notes and References
- ↑ LISTINGS: ONCE UPON A TIME: Air Date: Sunday, November 27, 2011 Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC Episode Title: (#105) "That Still Small Voice". The Futon Critic. “Guest starring are [...] Carolyn Hennesy as Myrna/puppet princess/puppet dragon”
- ↑ Spelled with a capital letter in The Adventures of Pinocchio
- ↑ File:105IWishIWish.png
- ↑ Richenthal, Matt (November 25, 2011). Once Upon a Time Exclusive: Jane Espenson on the "Triumph of True Love". TV Fanatic. “In my Jiminy episode, the plum roles are those of Jiminy's mother and father and we talked about a LOT of great classic comedy actors for those roles.”