Once Upon A Time--A Video Game Please?

It should be no secret by now that I love television.  There are so many great shows out there, and new ones are being produced every day.  My most recent love is ABC's Once Upon a Time.  This is a lighthearted fantasy series about fairy tale characters being cursed to the "real" world, and forgetting their fairy-tale selves. The series focuses on Snow White's daughter, who escaped the curse, but grew up in our world, unaware of her true heritage.

This series came out a couple of years ago, as fairy tales are the new "in" thing in Hollywood right now.  You just have to look at all the movies being produced off of fairy tales to see my point--the latest movie being Maleficent, with Angelina Jolie.  The trend is to make them darker and edgier, in an attempt, I suppose, to appeal to today's youth and more cynical audience.  When I first heard about Once Upon a Time I was only slightly interested, and I assumed it would be more of the same.  I didn't bother to watch the first season when it aired, and later I caught a couple of episodes on Netflix, but it was never must-watch television for me (psh, got better things to do, like sort my socks).  A lot of the characters seemed whiny, and for whatever reason, I didn't find the story-line compelling.

However, I would watch it occasionally when I wasn't in the mood for anything else, because a part of me did really like the idea of all these fairy-tale characters interacting with each other.  The fairy-tales have a definite Disney influence to them, and I love Disney (if you don't love Disney, I don't know if we can be friends).  So part of me liked to see my favorite Disney characters interpreted into live action tv-show.  Getting to see Snow White interact with Jiminy Cricket (who owned a Dalmatian named Pongo) was fun.  Disney crossover is why Kingdom Hearts is one of my all-time favorite video games.

Different Levels.

Same Game.

Awesome.

So episode by episode I made my way through the first half of the first season.   Then something happened.  First, they added Alice in Wonderland  characters into the show--specifically, the Mad Hatter, one of my favorite characters.  The addition of him automatically made Once Upon a Time more interesting for me because I adore all things Alice in Wonderland.  Then, secondly, the storytelling began to pick up some pace and develop.  Characters died.  Other characters became involved in an affair.  Things changed and the show wasn't afraid to shake up the status quo.  Combining this with some serious character development is what ultimately got me hooked.

And I mean 'hooked' in the literal sense.

The show's characters are definitely its greatest strength.  They are so well developed--hardly anyone is pure good or pure evil.  For example, take Captain Hook.  Introduced in the second season, he starts off a straight up villain, but then we later learn that the only reason he's a villain is because he wants to take revenge on Rumpelstiltskin for murdering his true love.  Come third season, he's actually an ally and love interest to the main character Emma.  We get to see Hook develop from a revenge obsessed villain, into a man trying to change his ways and redeem himself.  Likewise, on the other end of the spectrum, we have Snow White, who is goodness and pureness personified, until, angry and upset about events that have happened, tricks the Evil Queen into murdering Cora, the Queen's mother.

DID YOU SAY SNOW WHITE COMMITTED MURDER?!

Watching the fallout of her decision is fascinating, as is the back-and-forth feud between her and her stepmother.

Once Upon A Time also brings in characters from classic literature and myths, such as Doctor Frankenstein, Robin Hood, and the King Arthur legends.  It's such a fun show, one of the only show where you can type a sentence like this: Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Prince Charming, and Captain Hook, along with the Evil Queen and Emma (Snow White's daughter) head off to Neverland to rescue Henry from the villainous Peter Pan.  With the help of Ariel and Tinkerbell, will they succeed?

The Evil Queen and Tinkerbell.  This ain't your typical Disney movie kids.

What I wish we could have one day, is a video game of the show.  Think on how awesome that would be if it was done well.  You could play as different fairy-tale characters, fight monsters, and different levels could take place in different worlds--for example there could be a level in Snow White's Castle in the Enchanted Forest, a level in Storybrook, Maine, and another level in Neverland.  And this is only scratching the surface of all the potential.  There is a reason why Kingdom Hearts is so popular, and a large part of that is getting to play with some of your favorite Disney characters.  Think how cool it would be here to do the same?

  In fact, Once Upon A Time isn't the only television show that would make a sweet video game.  I honestly don't understand how Supernatural hasn't produced a kick-ass video game yet.  I wish television studios would wake up and realize the potential profits these games would bring them.  Alas, it is yet to be.

Fun Fact of the Day: The Kingdom Hearts series has sold over 17 million copies world-wide.  So there's definitely a market for crossover Disney video games.

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!

Some Geeky Thoughts for the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!  I hope that you all had a fun and safe holiday, whatever one you celebrated.  The general craziness of Christmas and New Year's Eve for me, derailed my blogging schedule a bit, mainly because I was like this all last month:

IT'S HOW MANY DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS?!

So I thought I'd start off my first post of 2014 by sharing some things that, as a geeky person, I'm looking forward to this year.  I'm also thinking that many of my posts this year will be containing a list of some sort, just because I always like reading list articles--I think they create a state of excitement (WHAT WILL BE NUMBER ONE?!?! I MUST KNOW!!).  But this post, I think I just plan to ramble my way through various topics, because I can. : )

So right off the bat I have to say one of the things I'm looking forward to the most this year is more British television.  If you read this blog at all, you know I am a serious Doctor Who fan, so it is killing me slowly inside that I have to wait until August (possibly longer!) for a new episode.  I can't wait to see what Peter Capaldi's Doctor will be like.  The glimpse we had of him in the Christmas special wasn't enough time to really establish anything about him (other than that he doesn't know the meaning of personal space).

Personal space?! What's that?!

But Doctor Who isn't the only British television I'm excited about.  Nope.  This month we get the return of Sherlock--which I streamed through my computer on New Year's Day.  It lagged a bit, and my laptop got infested with malware, but it was totally worth it.  No way I could wait until the 19th for it to air in America (that's just crazy talk).  I have mixed feelings about the episode, but overall I'm very happy to have the show back.  (And so is tumblr, judging by the way it blew up after the episode aired.)

I'm planning on continuing to watch all of Merlin on Netflix--such a great show and also family friendly.  And the BBC has got a trailer out for a new series, The Musketeers, which I definitely plan on checking out, (and not just because Peter Capaldi is playing Cardinal Richelieu).   Check out the trailer:

I'm not sure when it will air in America, but I can't wait.  I've always loved costume dramas, and this production looks really fantastic.

2014 also looks to be a great year for geeky movies.  I'm particularly excited to see Captain America: Winter Solider, the new X-men movie, Veronica Mars, and of course the conclusion to The Hobbit.  (Not until December!! *dies*)  How to Train Your Dragon 2 is also coming out this year I believe, and the animation looks just as great as in the first one.

Of all those movies, the one I most want to see is The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  My love for anything Middle-Earth knows no bounds.  Because this is the last year of the trilogy, a big part of me is thinking of going to Comic Con again this summer.  The pros of that is it's Geek Paradise, there's a big chance Peter Jackson will be there with the cast of The Hobbit and I could potentially fulfill my lifelong dream of meeting Orlando Bloom, and then I might stumble into Benedict Cumberbatch and kiss him.  The cons of Comic Con is that last summer it broke my bank account, and I can't afford to do that again. (Dang adult responsibilities.)

This year I'm also going to get back to writing--continuing this blog, which I've been having so much fun with, even though I'm pretty sure my mom is the only one who reads it.  (Thanks mom! I love you.)  But I also want to get back into the fanfiction scene, as well as maybe finally get around to working on, and *crossing fingers* finishing a first draft of my own novel.  The hardest part for me about writing, is getting away from all the distractions of other stories that I love.  I'll sit down, say to myself, 'time to write,' and then the next thing I know I'm on chapter 35 of one of the best Harry Potter fanfics I've ever read, and also, it's 3am.  (sadly, I'm not making that up.)

This year is also the year I plan to get to know the Eighth Doctor better.  Ever since I saw The Night of the Doctor, my love for the Eighth Doctor (and consequently, Paul McGann) has exploded.  I've already bought quite a few Big Finish Audio Adventures with him.  They are AMAZING!!  If you are a Whovian, and you haven't checked out Big Finish, stop reading this right now and go to their website.  They have many adventures with the Eighth, Seventh, Sixth, Fifth, and are now starting episodes with the Fourth Doctor--all voiced by the original actors.  It's a very fun way to get more stories with some of your favorite Doctors, and in Eight's case, one of the only ways.

I'm looking into a way to expand my blog a bit, so I can have a separate section dedicated to me exploring both the Big Finish adventures with the Eighth Doctor, and also reading and reviewing his novel series.  There are 73 books published starring the Eighth Doctor--I plan to read them all.  So if you are a fan, I recommend you check it out once I figure out how to get it up and running.

You want to blog...about me? 

Looking back at 2013, I think it was a fantastic year.  I discovered Doctor Who in time to celebrate its 50th Anniversary.  I still can't believe that I got to be in the same room as the Doctor at Comic Con.  I also made some new geeky friends and reacquainted myself with some old ones. I battled a skeleton king and came out alive (okay, so maybe it was on a video game, but still!).  I dressed up as Harry Potter at work on Halloween and wasn't fired (always a plus). 2013 was a good year.  I'm hoping 2014 will be just as wonderful!

Happy New Year!!

Fun Fact of the Day: Peter Capaldi was the lead singer of punk rock band, Dreamboys, which included Craig Ferguson (notable Doctor Who fan) as the drummer.  Basically, Craig is friends with the Doctor--so jealous!

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!!