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Movie Review: The Wizard of Oz

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Welcome to Project Fairy Tale! If you want to learn more about this fun event head over to my intro post!

Okay my friends, be prepared because I am about to fangirl all over the place. I will try my best to be coherent but The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland is one of my top 5 favorite things in the world. I have loads of print companions to the movie and between those, Oz Wikis and IMDB, I have devoured all of the trivia I possibly could over the years, and before we start I am just want to say that no, there was no suicide on set. While in college I took a film class and studied the film frame by frame and I can tell you with conviction that it is a bird on set and not an “angry munchkin” or the like taking a stand against casting for the film. Okay? Okay. Moving on…

I’m not going to sum up the film because it is unfathomable that anyone would be unfamiliar with it and if you are, stop what you’re doing and go watch it right now. You’re welcome.

Instead we are going to go over some less known fun facts about the movie!

  • The song “Over the Rainbow,” performed by Judy Garland, was ranked number 1 in AFI’s “100 Years, 100 Songs” list.
  • The Library of Congress has named The Wizard of Oz the most-watched motion picture in history.
  • While The Tinman is singing “If I Only Had a Heart” you may remember a female singing, “Wherefore art thou, Romeo.” Does that voice sound familiar? It should because it is voiced by Adriana Caselotti, also known as Snow White!
  • This is not the first film adaptation! Larry Semon produced a film in 1925 starring Oliver Hardy (yes, that Oliver Hardy) as The Scarecrow. This version had very little magical elements and was used as a point of reference for the 1939 film.
  • At the time, full on fantasy films did not do well in the box office. It was because of this that the writers and directors of The Wizard of Oz decided to stray from the original plot and make Dorothy’s trip to Oz a dream sequence instead of a literal trip to the land.
  • The script was changed a lot. Originally, there was a spoiled princess in Oz who had outlawed all forms of music, at one point in the film she was to go up against Dorothy in a singing contest.
  • Another scene that was dropped (which gives me the sads) was a point at the end of the film where Hunk (The Scarecrow) is leaving for college and asks Dorothy to write to him. This was supposed to set up a hope in the audience for a romance to bloom between the two characters. Though this was dropped, Dorothy still tells The Scarecrow before she leaves Oz “I think I’ll miss you most of all.” I don’t blame the gal, Hunk is well…a hunk!
  • The film was originally thought to be too long compared to other films of this time, therefore the production team cut many scenes. One of the more popular scenes that was cut was a song and dance sequence titled “The Jitterbug.” The outtake that still exists is actually a “home video” taken by the composer during a dress rehearsal. You can find this outtake on the newest DVD in the featured extras OR if you are old school like me and have the VHS if you watch all the way after the credits, it appears – this was one of my favorite things about watching the movie as a kid. (If you do watch the YouTube video..and you should…you can skip ahead to about 57 seconds in, that’s when it gets good!)

  • Rumor has it that Shirley Temple was up for the role of Dorothy.
  • Buddy Ebsen was originally cast as The Tin Man but within ten days had to be recast as he was in the hospital in critical condition due to the aluminum powder he was forced to wear while in character. No full footage of Ebsen as The Tin Man has ever been released.
  • One of the first directors of the film had Judy Garland dressed in a blonde wig with what has been described as “baby doll makeup” and she played the part in an exaggerated way.
  • Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch) was burned during her exit in her first on screen scene. The grease from Hamilton’s makeup caught fire immediately and burned her badly enough that she was out of the studio for up to six weeks.
  • Due to her injury, Hamilton refused to shoot another scene in the film in which she flies on her broom in a cloud of smoke. Her stand-in performed this scene instead and was injured due to a malfunction in the smoke machine!
  • The “horse of a different color” was actually four different horses covered in different colored (and flavored) gelatin. The cast had to keep the horses from licking themselves in between takes!
  • The famous song, “Over the Rainbow” was almost cut from the film! Producers thought it to be too long and too “old” for the intended childhood audience.

Those ruby slippers!

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I was lucky enough to visit the pair currently on display at The Smithsonian National Museum of American History! While we were there they told us that they need to replace the carpet in front of the case very often because it gets worn from so many people stopping in front to see the slippers! These slippers were auctioned off in 1970 for only $15,000!! One pair was on display at The Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota but they were stolen in the summer of 2005. Another pair is owned by actress Debbie Reynolds. It is reportedly unknown how many other pairs of ruby slippers there are at this time.

So there it is, as I stated in my review of the original novel, it was not my favorite in the series. I could even go as far as to say that The Wizard of Oz film starring Judy Garland is better than the original novel written by L. Frank Baum. I know every single line and sing the songs at the top of my lungs, I have a crush on The Scarecrow and adore Aunt Em, especially when she says, “Almira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn’t mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For twenty-three years I’ve been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now… well, being a Christian woman, I can’t say it!” You go girl!

In truth, this movie was one of the best things about my childhood.

Christmas Love: TV Movie Edition

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Today Janice from from Janicu’s Book Blog is here to tell us all about her favorite made for TV Christmas movies! You know the ones that you obsessively cannot stop watching (just me?) but you know you should? The ones where Joey Lawrence makes a gal fall back in love with Christmas and into his arms? THOSE MOVIES. Take it away, my friend!

When I volunteered to guest post over here at Books Take You Places, I knew EXACTLY what I was going to post about: Christmas movies. And not just Christmas movies, TV Christmas movies. Every year after Thanksgiving, I clap my hands with glee and set TiVo to record the made-for-TV movies produced by Lifetime, Hallmark, and ABC Family. My husband, who is Jewish, rolls his eyes and pats my head, but this is what he gets for marrying me. I likes my cheesy holiday movies. 

Much-used tropes include:

  • A workaholic who spends too much time WORKING and not APPRECIATING the love of FAMILY during the holidays. Bonus points for their children not getting to see their parents enough because of their job.
  • Some back story where someone’s past has made them cranky during the holidays, and someone else has to show them how to enjoy it again
  • A family struggling financially before Christmas but thanks to the HOLIDAY SPIRIT things are always sorted out by December 25th
  • Matchmaking Santa / Elf / Mrs. Claus
  • An office Christmas party where someone makes a fool of themselves
  • A character who believes in extreme Christmas decorations
  • A character named “Holly”, “Carol”, or “Nick”

Here’s a selection of what I’ve watched this year and my thoughts on each. This may be a long list but it is no where near as many Christmas movies I have seen. Should I be admitting to this? Eh, what’s a little indulging… 
(links are to the channel pages for these movies)

It’s Christmas, Carol! (2012, Hallmark)
Carol (Emmanuelle Vaugier) is a heartless head of a publishing house who only cares about profit and not about good books. She treats everyone badly – to the point that her employees are starting to revolt. They remember the good old days, when Eve (Carrie Fisher) was still alive and heading the business. On Christmas Eve, Carol is visited by Eve’s ghost, who shows Carol her past, present, and future in order to have Carol think about the way she’s living her life.

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My take: This is set in book publishing, so you’d think I’d be more enthusiastic about this one, but I’m leaning towards telling you to skip it. Carrie Fisher can do no wrong, so it’s not her fault – this was just a really cheesy remake. The character of Carol was pretty extreme, and I had trouble holding back my disbelief at several things: that she fought against the ghost right up to the point that she suddenly gave in and flipped over to being Good; that she had to use a search engine to look up the plot of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol even though she’s a BOOK PUBLISHER; and that her employees can start revolting but then do a 180 just because of one speech at the end. I wouldn’t rewatch this. 

All About Christmas Eve (2012, Lifetime)
Eve (Haylie Duff) is an event planner struggling to please a demanding boss (Connie Sellecca) when she meets a cute guy at a bar named Aidan (Chris Carmack), and gives him her card. He turns out to be the CEO of a giant social network company called Gobble and hires Eve’s company for a end-of-year event. Eve has to fly to California for the job, which means missing a trip with her boyfriend Darren, but on the morning she takes her flight, two different paths emerge: one in which she misses her flight, and one in which she makes it.

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My take: Hmm, I don’t know. This was very Sliding Doors, complete with the coming back home in time to catch her cheating boyfriend timeline. The upside of the plot being literally two stories was that this was one of the more unpredictable Christmas movies I’ve ever watched. I suspected Eve is supposed to be with Aidan in the end, but while she was in California flirting with him in one timeline, she’s unemployed and nursing a broken heart in another, and I wasn’t sure how everything would all tie together. The downside is that there are some very weird, what-just-happened moments in this movie, and I’m not sure how I felt about how things ended (although – yes, this has that required happily ever after). 

Christmas on Chestnut Street (2006, Lifetime)
When an employee at the Great American Store overorders Christmas lights, his friend Lou (Robert Moloney) saves him from being fired by suggesting a Christmas light competition. Daughter of the store owner Dianne Crouch (Kristen Dalton), a rich overachiever with her life planned out, decides that Lou needs to decorate his house and win the contest (with her supervision of course). This give the two of them an excuse to get to know each other. All the while, the town goes crazy decorating their houses for a chance to hours of free shopping at the store. 

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My take: Lots of nutty neighbors going overboard competing for the prize in this one. At one point there’s a fistfight over the last roll of some white covering. This couple has a very in-your-face relationship – arguing over everything, including if they are on a date and if one is falling for another.  But the impediment for their relationship (besides their class difference) becomes the contest itself. Has a little twist ending, which might not be that twisty.  There were things I liked about this relationship (the chemistry), and those I didn’t (Dianne was made out to be the flawed, not-easy-to-get-along-with character while Lou is painted as patient and perfect one she’s lucky to have found – it was unbalanced). 

A Bride For Christmas (2012, Hallmark)
Unable to disappoint people, Jessie has said ‘yes’ whenever her boyfriends have popped the question, which has been during a weather forecast, on a theater marquee, and on a Jumbotron. As a result, she’s broken three engagements – the latest on her wedding day to a plumber named Mike (Sage Brocklebank). Bachelor Aiden (Andrew Walker) bets his friends he can get a woman to want to marry him by Christmas, and chooses Jessie when he meets her at a art show. Despite her turning him down for a date, he uses her interior design business as an excuse to spend time with her. 

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My take: Cute. Despite the whole “bet” thing, Aiden doesn’t really come off as a jerk, which is a feat, and I liked the way they actually seemed to complement each other (both dog, card game, and horror movie lovers). I also liked that there was a good use of sappy, happy faces when this couple admits they like each other. Rather nice romcom holiday fare and a cute couple. 

Once Upon A Christmas (2000, PAX Network – showing on Hallmark now)
When the balance of Naughty versus Nice tips over to “Naughty” for the first time, the daughter of Santa Claus (Kathy Ireland) leaves the North Pole in order to prove hope still exists. If she can get one family, the Morgans – single dad Bill (John Dye) and his two spoiled children off the Naughty list by Christmas, her despondent father won’t give up and retire as he threatens to. 

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My take: Eh. This falls on the treacly side of the Christmas movie spectrum, where Santa Claus is real and Kristen Claus is his perfect, good daughter. Her older sister, Rudolfa (yes, really), reminds me of a cheesy Disney villainess come to life and plans to turn Christmas into a holiday were people give each other joke gifts. Kathy Ireland’s character is generally angelic and speaks in hushed, reverential voice that really grated on my nerves. The point of the story is to have Morgan siblings Kyle and Brittany learn to be less spoiled and for their father to realize he needs to spend more time with his children, but this story was just so preachy it was difficult to enjoy. (There’s a sequel, Twice Upon a Christmas that I haven’t seen).

Hitched for the Holidays (2012, Hallmark)
A couple of single people, Rob and Julie (Joseph (Joey) Lawrence and Emily Hampshire), pretend to be together to fool their families (she to stop her parents from setting her up with her ex-boyfriends, and he to fulfill his sickly grandmother’s wish to see her grandson married). 

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My take: Decently cute. This had a traditional romantic comedy storyline with Christmas trappings. There’s the meddling but well-meaning families on both sides and both have issues they have to overcome in order to get together (she would rather tell “white lies” to spare people’s feelings than tell it like it is, and he runs away before his relationships get serious). The movie involves a lot of getting to know each other time in the guise of their pretending for their families. It’s a pretty typical romcom, but I did like that she’s Jewish and there is a funny storyline that involves him pretending to be Jewish too (so we have a bit of Hannukah overlapping with Christmas in this one). I liked this couple’s friendly banter. 

Come Dance With Me (2012, Hallmark)
Jack (Andrew McCarthy) decides to secretly learn how to dance in order to impress his girlfriend Demi (the boss’s daughter) before Christmas, but begins get close to his dance instructor Christine (Michelle Nolden). Jack is in for some trouble in more ways that one: he’s involved in development that means demolishing buildings that the dance studio is part of, and Christine, not knowing this, turns to him for advice when she gets a notice of eviction. 

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My take: Depends on if you can overlook the hero being something of a dishonest guy. For most of the movie Jack lies through omission about his part in the dance studio being torn down, and the longer he did this, the less comfortable I was. I was in accordance with his best friend who told him to tell the truth early on (who Jack ignores by the way). In the meantime, he isn’t the best boyfriend to the girl he’s supposedly dating – you get the impression he’s with her for because of status and not for herself. There was good chemistry between the main couple though – I think their acting holds this story together. 

The Mistle-Tones (2012, ABC Family)
The Snow-Belles are an elite Christmas caroling group that performs every Christmas at the local mall. When a slot is finally open for a new member, Holly’s (Tia Mowry) bad luck robs her of getting to the audition on time, and the Snow-Belles dictatorial leader Marci (Tori Spelling) wouldn’t let her in the group anyway. Still determined, Holly starts her own group out of people from her office and convinces the mall manager to make the performance a contest for the best group to sing at Christmas. 

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My take: A little campy, but they know it, and the singing is good. I spent a lot of the movie marveling over how much Holly’s uptight boss Nick (Jonathan Patrick Moore), looked like Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s younger brother. This has a lot of training montages and at first seemed to be about the Snow-Belles versus the Mistle-Tones, but a romance sort of sneaks in there. It’s predictable fluff. Nice karaoke bits in here. 

Lucky Christmas (2011, Hallmark)
Holly (Elizabeth Berkley) is a single mom struggling to make ends meet with three jobs and a son, when her car is stolen with a winning million-dollar winning lottery ticket in it. She goes on TV to stop the thieves from being able to cash it in. Mike (Jason Gray-Stanford) is a construction worker whose dad’s company is in trouble. One night when Mike is sick, his idiot friend’s car is booted, so he “borrows” Holly’s car. Now Mike has to deal with the repercussions and try to make things right without getting in trouble himself. 

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My take: Is alright. On the drama side of the romantic comedies.The lottery ticket/ stolen car thing is a reason to get Mike and Holly together while also throwing a wrench into their relationship before it starts (see also practically every romcom). This is one where the side stories add substance to the main romance (Holly’s son’s need for a father figure, Mike’s problems with getting his older brother to listen to his ideas for the business). And I sort of wanted to strangle Mike’s friend for most of this movie. 

Love at the Christmas Table (2012, Lifetime)
Sam (Dustin Milligan) and Kat (Danica McKellar) have spent every Christmas Eve together with their parents and their friends. From 4 to 30, we get to see these two grow up together, but somewhere in their twenties, things get complicated. In the present day, Sam is ready to ask Kat to marry him and looks back at the years. 

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My take: I actually really liked this one. These holiday parties look like fun. Everything takes place at Elissa Beth’s house (Lea Thompson), a friend of Kat’s father, Kat’s surrogate mother, and a Christmas junkie (something that gets explained – with a surprising link to Great Expectations). Kat and Sam pretty much indulge in a lot of shenanigans at the kid’s table every year, and when they get into their twenties, they start getting romantically attached, but never seem to actually get together. The relationship is further complicated by Sam leaving for college and job opportunities in the city while Kat stays and works at her father’s business. There was a nice amount of depth to their characters as these life choices and other things are actually discussed and part of the story. And the ending was pretty sweet – it was on the side of “this wouldn’t happen this way in real life”, but it was still nice. 

If you want to catch some of these (or to see what else is showing), here are some links for you.

HALLMARK:

ABC FAMILY:

LIFETIME

And THE MEGA LIST here at the Christmas Specials wiki

Wow! How bad is it that I desperately want to go and watch all of these holiday movies? Even the ones that you said weren’t that good? Personally, I stay away from Lifetime and Hallmark but when I was a Companion my little old lady friends would watch them obsessively and once I started I couldn’t. stop. watching. Thanks so much for helping me indulge in my closet love of (somewhat cheesy) holiday movies!!

The Ghost of Christmas Past

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Moving along with our Holiday love over here, we are focusing on our favorite holiday movies from our childhood! I have some of my favorites which I hope to review on the blog in the next few weeks. (Namely, those holiday classics like The Island of Misfit Toys and of course, A Muppet Christmas Carol) Brittany from The Book Addict’s Guide is here to share her favorite holiday films with us. Let’s see what some of her favorites are!

CHRISTMAS EVERYDAY

Christmas Everyday is a movie with YOUNG Erik Von Detten before he appeared in several Disney movies/TV shows and decided never to wash his hair again. This movie is sort of a Groundhog Day for a different holiday – Christmas, of course – and our protagonist EVD needs to figure out how to get his act together, be nicer to his family and his little sister and also figure out how to get the girl! He’s gotta get it all right or else he’s doomed to repeat Christmas (which doesn’t sound half bad to me) until he figures it out!

This was one of my favorite Christmas movies as a kid and every year I try to catch it on TV (when it’s actually on) and somehow each year I keep missing it. 

THE SANTA CLAUSE

The Santa Clause is another Christmas classic – and this one I DO usually catch when it’s on TV. I love the idea for this movie and I usually enjoy Tim Allen’s roles (in case you didn’t remember, the Home Improvement episodes are my all-time favorite Halloween episodes…). I hated the mom’s haircut in this movie and totally didn’t get that, but I guess that’s only a minor thing, right? It distracted me as a kid. Loved Bernard’s role at the head elf – although I felt bad that Santa DIED. What!? – and I always thought that one other kid elf that kept popping up was kind of cute (I think I was young enough at the time to think that….). Anyway, love the movie and the message behind it! Lots of Christmas fun!

VARIOUS MUPPET MOVIES

My family has always loved the Muppets! No need to go into deep explanation here since (I HOPE) we all know who the Muppets are – but we used to watch Muppet Family Christmas MANY times over when my sister and I were kids (“Watch out for the icy patch!”) and for some reason our Christmas party at school when I was in elementary school (Catholic Pre-8 school) ALWAYS had a viewing of A Muppet Christmas Carol. I’m not sure why, but I’m pretty sure we watched it almost every dang year while we got sugared up with candy and cookies. These two are definitely a big part of my history!

WHITE CHRISTMAS

White Christmas isn’t specifically a kid’s movie, but it was another family favorite in my household! My mom always loved Danny Kaye and maybe a little less Bing Crosby since these were actors she grew up with in her home as well. We LOVE musicals and my mom, my sister, and I always used to watch old movies with Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby (Holiday Inn would be a good Christmas one too!) so I always get nostalgic when watching this one!

HARRY POTTER

So the Harry Potter movies aren’t Christmas movies (but apparently ABC Family doesn’t know that), but I really like the Christmas scenes that are in each one! The clip above is from HP1 and it’s one of my favorites! It still helps me get in the Christmas spirit.

ELF

I’m pretty sure I don’t have to say much about Elf! This is more of a movie for my sister and I – We try to watch one of the MANY showings that play on TV each year and I swear, I never get tired of it. I think I even saw it two, maybe three times in theaters when it first came out. Can’t wait to watch it again this year!!

MEAN GIRLS – JINGLE BELL ROCK

Mean Girls isn’t a Christmas movie either. Not by a long shot. But would it be Christmas without a skeazy rendition of Jingle Bell Rock? I guess the answer to that question is yes, but I still think this scene is ridiculously fun. Fun fact: One of my friends in high school (male friend, by the way) loved this scene in Mean Girls so much (yes, he loved Mean Girls) that he convinced our choir teacher to include Jingle Bell Rock in one of our holiday medleys. Very true story.

Britt, I also had a rather interesting winter show for choir after this movie came out. They wouldn’t let us do the moves so we added them (inappropriately) to our dance in the pep rally…Rebels, I know. I also agree with you, The Muppet Christmas Carol is like my FAVORITE and I put on every year while decorating my tree!! Also, HP totally counts.

Happy Ho Ho Ho To You!

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Today is the kick-off for the CHRISTMAS FUN that will be happening on the blog this month! We have Kristina here from Gone Pecan talking about her favorite holiday tunes! I’m a hateful sort of person so I made her stick to only SIX titles lest she get carried away with the Christmas LOVE, bah, humbug indeed!

I am partial to The Christmas Song performed by Nat King Cole myself but I have been rocking my “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” Pandora playlist since Thanksgiving! Let’s hear what K has to say…

When Alyssa asked me to guest post I agreed automatically since she is awesome sauce but to say I’m slacking in posts for November / December is putting it mildly. It’s the holiday season and life gets in the way of the blog.  It also doesn’t help that I’m not a fan of Christmas. Maybe it’s because I live in south Louisiana where even though we are in December it’s still in the 70s and there is always at least a 50/50 chance I can wear shorts on Christmas day.  Maybe it’s because everyone makes enough money to just buy what they want so Christmas is filled with less gifts each year and more cash and gift cards or maybe because I make my grandmother’s pralines and I have so many requests each year that I have to start making them three weeks before taking up what little weekend time I have left after trying to shop for gifts.  Or the real reason may be that it doesn’t help me with my anti-social tendencies.  (Bah Humbug!)
Regardless of all these things there is one thing I love that is a direct result from this holiday. The music. Ah yes, I’m a sucker for Christmas music. We even have a couple of stations where I live that switch to all Christmas music all the time after Thanksgiving.  So after thinking about what kind fo Christmas related post I could do why not talk about my favorite songs of the season?
 Louisiana Christmas Day by Aaron Neville – I’m from Louisiana so this one doesn’t need much explanation.  🙂
Last Christmas by Wham! – Ah, George Michael my first crush on someone that later came out as gay.  Note I did say first because apparently I have a knack for picking the closeted gay member of any boy band (I’m not saying that they all have at least one gay member nor that there is anything wrong with that, just that is who I end up crushing on and they are playing for the other team.)  But come on, George Michael when he had that scruffy beard, leather jacket, and aviator glasses?  I know I wasn’t alone.
Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton – Hard Candy Christmas is hands down my favorite Christmas song of all time.  We’ve listened to this song so much that my brother who is NOT a country fan can identify this song by the fifth note.  (Believe me we’ve tested him.)  This song plays in one of the best movies ever The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and if the name alone doesn’t make you want to watch it I have nothing left to say to you!
All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey – This is my second favorite Christmas song.  I sing it every single time it comes on (and maybe do a little dance) regardless of who is around me so I apologize to anyone that has been subjected to this demonstration.  How can you not want to sing/dance to it though?  I feel the need to point out this is the ONLY Mariah Carey song I like and I’m pretty sure it’s going to stay that way.  (SIDE NOTE:  They sing this in Love Actually as well, a version that I can accept since the little girl singing is so darn cute.)
Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley – Every now and then there comes a song that my whole family sings.  This is one of them.  We not only sing it, we act it out, and definitely include the back up singers.  There is a local radio DJ that loves all things Elvis and he said something about Elvis hating this song and not wanting to record it so he told the back up singers to make up the most ridiculous riff they could.  I have no idea if that’s true but I find it funny.
Mele Kalilimaka by Bing Crosby – I admit it, I like this song almost entirely for that fact that I learned how to say something in Hawaiian.  I feel more cultured.  I know, it’s sad.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra by Wizards of Winter – Have you seen that new Volkswagon commerical with the guy playing air drums in his car?  (my favorite part is when he tosses the drumstick up and catches it).  This song has the same effect on me and I LOVE IT.
So while I spend Christmas with my family trying to pretend that I actually like it (not hanging with my family mind you, just the holiday) and trying to convince myself that I shouldn’t stuff my face with everything sweet I’ll be listening to all my favorites.  What about you??

Thanks, Kiki! Some of these songs brought back some fond memories for me and some I have actually never heard before! Love me some Dolly Parton though! Rock out kids! Share the love, what songs do you HAVE to listen to this time of year?

Once Upon a Time…

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In keeping with the fairy tale theme of this week’s review I have to shamelessly promote some things that I love, love, love.

First, the new abc series, Once Upon a Time starring Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White and Josh Dallas as Prince Charming. Though it has not been admitted that the producers of Lost used Bill Willingham’s Fables series as an influence there is a very similar plotline. The characters in Once Upon a Time are stuck in the “real world” much like the characters in Willingham’s Fables series.

Only a few episodes have aired but so far it is awesome!! The characters are likeable and Lost fans will enjoy the way in which the episodes are focusing on the past lives of the characters and what brought about the evil queen’s ire. I will be honest and say that at first glance I fell in love with Sherriff Graham, played by Jamie Dornan, and I am convinced that he has a big bad wolf alter ego (see below: love affair with Bigby Wolf) but I do have to admit that Josh Dallas has charmed (pun intended) his way into my heart after the last episode.

Definitely give this show a chance, it is quite loveable; also check out the website for some fun extras!

 

Once Upon a Time airs on Sundays at 8pm.

My second guilty pleasure is the fantasy miniseries, The Tenth Kingdom, which aired on NBC in 2000.

The Tenth Kingdom follows the adventures of a woman, played by Kimberly Williams and her father, played by John Larroquette, after they are transported from New York to the world of fairy tales. Ultimately they must help Prince Wendell save his kingdom from his evil stepmother after she has turned him into a dog! The show originally aired over a course of five nights and is almost seven hours long. There are many familiar faces on the cast including Scott Cohen as Wolf (LOVE him, I realize that this is probably shocking), Ed O’Neill as the Troll King and Dianne Wiest as the evil queen.

There have been many rumors about a second film being made but I try not to have high hopes, for now I will have to appease myself by watching my DVD over and over again :]

Check your local library for this movie, if you like fairy tales you will love this!!