Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are best known for their work on LOST, such a successful series that rumors have flown about a theme park being created out of the imagery and intricacy of the storylines. Though they have often publicly laughed off those rumors, something about the idea seems to be ingrained in their minds. After all, their newest ABC drama, Once Upon a Time, takes a magical look at famed fairytale characters we actually can visit at an already existing theme park that is advertised as the place where "dreams do come true." And in fitting with that theme, Kitsis and Horowitz' message for Once Upon a Time is not the redemption factor of LOST but instead simply one of hope.
"For us, that’s what a fairytale is. It’s that ability to think your life will get better. It’s why you buy a lottery ticket-- because if you win you get to tell your boss that you’re quitting and you get to move to Paris, and that’s Cinderella, right? One day she’s sweeping up and the next she’s going to the ball. Adam and I just wanted to write about something hopeful that for one hour a week you put everything aside and you have that feeling," Kitsis told LA TV Insider Examiner during the D23 Expo in Anaheim this weekend.
Cinderella (Jessy Schram) won't enter into the picture until episode four, Kitsis pointed out, but she is sure to be an integral part of the Once Upon a Time universe. In fact, just before the weekend they shot her wedding scene with two hundred extras and yet another prince (Neighbours star Tim Phillipps).
"I don’t really want to spoil how [we meet her]," Kitsis grinned, "but you know, one of the things we’re doing with this show is introducing mash-ups. So if you notice in the pilot, there’s a war council with Grumpy and Geppetto, and Pinocchio, so we’re kind of presenting to the world a mash-up, and she’ll come in in that way."
Since characters from different fairytales all co-exist in Once Upon a Time, don't expect to necessarily see everyone from each individual story, either. Cinderella can live in this world without seeing her evil stepmother and stepsisters, for example. But will she? The guys remained coy, simply saying "You never know."
For now, the focus is on the earlier characters-- Kitsis said they are "starting in 1937 and working their way up"-- but if Once Upon a Time becomes a hit, and ABC wishes for more than just the initial twelve episodes currently granted, the guys are confident they will be able to incorporate other characters, regardless of what world they currently live in or how recently they have been seen elsewhere.
"One of the things that’s fun for us is in this world is thinking up ways different characters can interact in ways they never have before," Horowitz pointed out.
And that means the princesses so many of us grew up with and came to know, love, and maybe not quite admire are now more fully-fleshed out role models. Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin), for example, picks up a sword in Kitsis and Horowitz' fairytale; she is ready, willing, and able to fight to find a way to save her people from the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla)'s spell instead of simply "hiding behind her husband."
"They’re strong women; they’re inspirational," Kitsis shared of all of his female characters. "We’re not interested in telling damsel in distress stories. It’s not as relevant."
But whereas LOST dealt with oh, so many father issues, these Disney fairytales often have an absent mother and an "evil" stepmother at the center of the drama and anguish, so the women of Kitsis and Horowitz' fairytales, though strong and at times fiercely independent, will be flawed, as well.
"It’s something that’s threaded throughout," Horowitz said of the issues with maternal figures, "but I think even more than fathers or mothers, the show is about family, and it’s about with families or without families, finding each other."
Once Upon a Time won't premiere until October 23rd on ABC, but you can check out our TCA preview right now, right here.
Want more Once Upon a Time news, interviews, and an advance review of the pilot (spoiler alert: it was our favorite of fall!)? Stay tuned right here and be sure you're following LA TV Insider Examiner on Twitter!
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