ABC’s Once Upon A Time Pilot Review Straight From The D23 Expo! With Five Promo Posters! Ginnifer Goodwin! Jennifer Morrison!

At the year’s D23 convention one of my highlights was being able to watch the pilot for the new ABC series Once Upon A Time. It’s an ambitious blending of classic fairytale characters who have been transported to our current world and held captive. Ever since this project was announced I’ve been really hoping that it does well and does not evoke that other ABC series with the same premise, notable The Charmings… Okay, I admit it, I loved the Charmings, but this current show is not a comedy, but instead a fairytale drama.

We start the pilot off by seeing Ginnifer Goodwin, who let’s face it was born to play Snow White, and Prince Charming about to get married. When the Evil Queen bursts through the door and declares that a curse will be put on the entire village. No one will remember who they are, and they will be trapped in a world without happy endings.

Even though Prince Charming assures her all will be well, Snow White still fears for the worst. So, she decides to visit Rumpelstiltskin who tells her that the curse can only be lifted by her unborn child.

So, Geppetto finds an enchanted log and starts to make a cabinet for Snow White to escape in, because her child holds the key to breaking the curse. However, that darn kid wants out, so after her birth the baby gets saved and placed into the cabinet. Doh!

Flash forward to our modern day time, and we see Emma Swan kicking some dude’s butt. She’s a bail bondsman… Er… Bonds woman? Anyway, she’s all alone on her birthday, and lo and behold a kid is in her apartment saying that he is the child Emma gave up for adoption 10 years ago… Confused? Hold on now…

So, the kid, Henry, convinces Emma to drive him to a small town in Maine so he can go home… She does… Apparently anyone who travels there is trapped and if they try to leave bad things happen. You see Emma is the key to the mystery…

While the pilot was good, I wasn’t blown away, but there is just loads of potential here… Ginnifer Goodwin is amazing as Snow White and I really liked Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan as well. She is the key to holding the show together so she better be up to snuff… Robert Carlyle is deliciously evil as Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin as well..

The production value is top notch, although there is some obvious CGI work in the fairytale sequences. However the castle, and costumes are really nice. Plus, both worlds really blend well together. I’m hoping this one sticks around and gets enough ratings to at least be allowed to stretch it’s legs a little.

After the screening there was a Q and A with writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis better known as the writers of Tron Legacy and also a little show called Lost. They talked about the series a little and how this idea has been working it’s way around in their heads for a long long time. They did not give too much away, but did say that the Evil Queen may know who she is and that other famous fairy tale characters would be popping up i.e. Cinderella. Plus the magic mirror was going to be a part of the show as well… Alas, he will not be played by the late Paul Winfield… I know a lot of The Charmings references… Sorry… lol…

I’m definitely going to be turning in to episode two of this series to see what happens, and to see how it progresses… I’m still crossing my fingers this one might have some legs!