Rotoscopers
  • News
  • Podcasts
    • Animation Addicts Podcast
    • Every Episode Ever
  • Reviews
    • Animated Movies
    • Art Books
    • Blu-ray/DVD
    • Live Action
  • Interviews
  • Opinions
  • Studios
    • Aardman
    • Blue Sky Studios
    • Disney
    • Don Bluth
    • DreamWorks
    • Fox Animation Studios
    • Illumination Entertainment
    • LAIKA
    • Lucasfilm Animation
    • Paramount Animation
    • Pixar
    • Sony Pictures Animation
    • Reel FX
    • Studio Ghibli
    • Warner Animation
  • Animation Calendar
No Result
View All Result
Rotoscopers
  • News
  • Podcasts
    • Animation Addicts Podcast
    • Every Episode Ever
  • Reviews
    • Animated Movies
    • Art Books
    • Blu-ray/DVD
    • Live Action
  • Interviews
  • Opinions
  • Studios
    • Aardman
    • Blue Sky Studios
    • Disney
    • Don Bluth
    • DreamWorks
    • Fox Animation Studios
    • Illumination Entertainment
    • LAIKA
    • Lucasfilm Animation
    • Paramount Animation
    • Pixar
    • Sony Pictures Animation
    • Reel FX
    • Studio Ghibli
    • Warner Animation
  • Animation Calendar
No Result
View All Result
Rotoscopers
No Result
View All Result
Home Studios Disney

Storybrooke Sound-Off S4E1: ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’

Blake Taylor by Blake Taylor
September 29, 2014
in Disney, Opinions, TV
5 min read
0
Once-Upon-a-Time-Season-Four
1.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Welcome to the Rotoscopers’ first-ever Storybrooke Sound-Off. We’re conversing here for the purpose of building a community for the overlap between animation enthusiasts and “oncers,” fans of ABC’s Once Upon a Time. You’ll get to hear others’ thoughts and share your own, too. (Think of it as a Rotorecap.) Whether you’re new to the show or have been watching since the beginning, everyone will have a voice. We’re calling it Storybrooke Sound-Off, and they’ll be posted each Monday morning (with spoilers) following the airing of Sunday’s episode. Let’s get started.

Winter-Is-Coming-Early-to-Storybrooke

Summary

Let’s be real. You can go on Wikipedia and get a full, detailed rundown of everything that happened if you missed the episode. So rather than rehashing a long explanation of the show’s intricacies as we go along, this section will be a brief, note-like breakdown of the major storylines happening.

  • Anna and Elsa in Arendelle. The sisters wish to find out the destination their parents’ shipwrecked voyage intended to have. Elsa be like, “Hmmm I want to know but I also have the leadership of a kingdom resting on my icy shoulders.” Meanwhile Anna’s all, “Let’s go and find this place ahehee!” It’s a good balance.
  • Elsa in Storybrooke. Having emerged from Rumplestiltskin’s vault (we don’t know yet why or how she was there), Elsa is a-runnin’ through the town stirring up much speculation about an icy trail.
  • Maid Marian reunites with Robin Hood. Regina is none too happy about this one. After finally finding her happy ending, it’s taken away from her as Marian, supposed to be dead, comes back from the past with Emma and Hook. Reverting back to her evil roots, Regina turns to her old accomplice (and magic mirror) Sidney Glass for assistance in eliminating Marian.
  • Rumplestiltskin and Belle are married. They’re in a new house, too. Adorbs.

 

Thoughts

Let’s dive right in to what we’re all most excited about: Frozen. Elizabeth Lail as Anna and Georgina Haig as Elsa are difficult performances to assess because there are so many different layers to these characters’ presence here. For one, it’s disorienting but thrilling to realize there is a weekly television primetime drama about Frozen. That’s kinda awesome. I’ve gotta say, this is amazing. So there’s that mind-blownage (yep, blownage) that we need to wrap our heads around first. Additionally, we’re getting acclimated to Anna and Elsa’s similarities and differences with their animated counterparts, then we’re viewing the dynamic they bring to the program’s existing characters, and finally we’re zooming in on the performance itself. Anna and Elsa here are pretty much dead ringers of Frozen‘s heroines, and Lail and Haig have the characters nailed: Anna overly excited and willing to help, Elsa majestic yet worried. At times I felt like Anna was a bit too excited while Elsa seemed to have learned nothing from Frozen about love overpowering fear. I guess it’s a long process, but in any case the acting performances are commended at capturing the spirit of these two now-iconic characters.

Elsa-Once-Upon-a-Time

The season premiere was, as expected, Frozen heavy. The show clearly realizes the property will reel in a lot of new viewers expecting to see a lot of Anna and Elsa, and this first episode of the season plays to that strength. Whereas normally when a new story is introduced on the show, small fragments of plot and characters are revealed over time, here we’re full-throttle Frozen right out of the gate. We see not only Anna and Elsa, but also Kristoff, Sven, Grand Pabbie (!!!), and even the fierce snowmonster Marshmallow.

Regina-Once-Upon-a-Time-Season-Four

That being said, longtime fans are not left in the dust, and one of the premiere’s integral plots involved the return of a character newbies have no clue about, Sidney Glass (aka the Magic Mirror, aka the Genie). I must say: Regina. Come on, girl. Let’s not do this. It’s a love-hate relationship with Regina every time. She’s so great at being evil but I want her to make the right decisions so badly. Honestly after such a deep transformation last season into becoming a hero (protecting Snow White’s baby, breaking the curse with true love’s kiss to Henry, defeating Zelena with light magic), it is disappointing to see how easily Regina can revert back to her old ways. I was hoping she’d be a bit more grounded, and I didn’t expect the writers to take such a drastic step backward with her. I’m very interested, though, in the question Regina asked that had never been considered before: who wrote that book of stories, and why does the villain never get a happy ending? Those answers have me quite intrigued and offers a signature Once perspective-shifter. Love it.

 

Moments

The What-The-Heck Moment: I watched the episode in a room full of friends, all in college, and we absolutely flipped our flagellas at the sight of Grand Pabbie. Truly, what in the world. We weren’t really happy or angry, just did not see him coming and thought it was amusing that the writers would include him. I mean, really, Grand Pabbie has now been on this show but Aladdin hasn’t. Just let that sink in.

The Magic Moment: Perhaps Once Upon a Time‘s most positive attribute is its focus of the depth of family, whether one you’ve been with forever or the one you’re creating wherever you are, or a little mix of both. It is moments that highlight this concept that infuse good, old-fashioned Disney magic into the series, and this episode packed an extra punch of Pixie Dust with a scene that had me softly teary-eyed. That was when Belle and Rumplestiltskin had their first dance as a married couple, dancing to “Beauty and the Beast.” While Once typically does follow the Disney version of the fairytale stories, it has never used Disney’s actual musical themes until now. It was a very nice touch.

The Woah Moment: Again, involving Disney music, but this time to deliver a twist. Once has the art of the cliffhanger down to a science, and really does a great job at surprising its audience. As Rumplestiltskin examined the artifact found in his new home, I was floored with excitement when the blue sorcerer’s hat appeared. In a season centered on Frozen, I didn’t anticipate any other new stories to be introduced, and here we go implementing Fantasia. What does this mean, though? Yensid? Some form of a sorcerer and apprentice? Would they be so bold as to have Mickey Mouse on this show?

Rumplestiltskin-Sorcerers-Apprentice

 

And then there was this. [Insert incoherent fansquawk.]

Do-You-Want-To-Build-A-Snowman-Regina-Emma

So, what did you think? A few questions to sound off on in the comments and get conversation flowing:

  • Are you happy with Frozen‘s inclusion on the show?
  • How do you feel about Regina bringing out her evil side? Did Robin Hood make the right decision? Did Regina respond in the best way to that decision?
  • Do you think it’s true that Arendelle is nothing but a green screen animated with the realism of Snapchat art?
  • What were your “moments” this episode?

Sound off below!

Once-Upon-a-Time-Season-Four

Tags: abcfrozenonce upon a time
Previous Post

‘Top Cat Begins’ To Be Released In 2015

Next Post

‘The Nut Job’ and ‘Planes: Fire & Rescue’ Manage to Cross $100m Worldwide

Blake Taylor

Blake Taylor

Blake is a scriptwriter at Elevation Church, where he develops documentary shorts and creative elements as part of the film team. He graduated Appalachian State University studying Electronic Media Production and is an alumni of the Disney College Program. Blake’s favorite films are Mary Poppins, The Lion King, and Toy Story 3. You can find him on Twitter (@blake_242) and visit his blog at blakeonline.com.

Related Posts

Animation Addicts Podcast #241: The Aristocats – Crème de la Crème à la Edgar
Animation Addicts Podcast

Animation Addicts Podcast #241: The Aristocats – Crème de la Crème à la Edgar

March 3, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #240: Review of ‘Disney Princess – The Concert’
Animation Addicts Podcast

Animation Addicts Podcast #240: Review of ‘Disney Princess – The Concert’

February 23, 2022
‘Disney Princess – The Concert’ Review: One More Reason to Have Your Tiara Ready
Disney

‘Disney Princess – The Concert’ Review: One More Reason to Have Your Tiara Ready

February 17, 2022
[OPINION] 10 Heartwarming Animated Adverts to Watch This Holiday Season
Coronavirus

[OPINION] 10 Heartwarming Animated Adverts to Watch This Holiday Season

December 17, 2021
Load More
Next Post
the_nut_job_planes_fire_and_rescue

'The Nut Job' and 'Planes: Fire & Rescue' Manage to Cross $100m Worldwide

Discussion about this post

Popular Posts

  • ‘Disney Princess – The Concert’ Review: One More Reason to Have Your Tiara Ready 197 views
  • Don Bluth to Release Autobiography in Summer 2022 77 views
  • Animation Addicts Podcast #240: Review of ‘Disney Princess – The Concert’ 72 views
  • Animation Addicts Podcast #239: Rotoscopers 10-year Spectacular 67 views
  • Animation Addicts Podcast #238: ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ Hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 52 views
  • 11k Fans
  • 12.1k Followers
  • 5.7k Followers
  • 5.3k Followers

Recently Added

Animation Addicts Podcast #241: The Aristocats – Crème de la Crème à la Edgar

Animation Addicts Podcast #241: The Aristocats – Crème de la Crème à la Edgar

March 3, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #240: Review of ‘Disney Princess – The Concert’

Animation Addicts Podcast #240: Review of ‘Disney Princess – The Concert’

February 23, 2022
‘Disney Princess – The Concert’ Review: One More Reason to Have Your Tiara Ready

‘Disney Princess – The Concert’ Review: One More Reason to Have Your Tiara Ready

February 17, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #239: Rotoscopers 10-year Spectacular

Animation Addicts Podcast #239: Rotoscopers 10-year Spectacular

February 15, 2022
Animation Addicts Podcast #238: ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ Hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100

Animation Addicts Podcast #238: ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ Hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100

February 9, 2022
Rotoscopers

© 2019 Rotoscopers

Important Links

  • About
  • Support
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Privacy Policy
  • User Posts

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Podcasts
    • Animation Addicts Podcast
    • Every Episode Ever
  • Reviews
    • Animated Movies
    • Art Books
    • Blu-ray/DVD
    • Live Action
  • Interviews
  • Opinions
  • Studios
    • Aardman
    • Blue Sky Studios
    • Disney
    • Don Bluth
    • DreamWorks
    • Fox Animation Studios
    • Illumination Entertainment
    • LAIKA
    • Lucasfilm Animation
    • Paramount Animation
    • Pixar
    • Sony Pictures Animation
    • Reel FX
    • Studio Ghibli
    • Warner Animation
  • Animation Calendar

© 2019 Rotoscopers

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Posting....