Once Upon a Time (TV series)

This article is about the 2011 American series. For the various French animated TV series, see Once Upon a Time....

Once Upon a Time
File:Once Upon a Time title card.jpg
Genre	Fantasy Adventure Drama
Created by	Edward Kitsis Adam Horowitz
Starring	Ginnifer Goodwin Jennifer Morrison Lana Parrilla Josh Dallas Jared S. Gilmore Raphael Sbarge Jamie Dornan Robert Carlyle Eion Bailey Emilie de Ravin Meghan Ory Colin O'Donoghue Michael Raymond-James Michael Socha Rebecca Mader Sean Maguire Andrew J. West Dania Ramirez Gabrielle Anwar Alison Fernandez Mekia Cox
Composer	Mark Isham
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	155 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Eddie Kitsis Adam Horowitz Steve Pearlman David H. Goodman Andrew Chambliss
Producers	Damon Lindelof Christine Boylan Robert Hull Kalinda Vazquez Jane Espenson Daniel T. Thomsen Brian Wankum Kathy Gilroy Ian Goldberg Liz Tigelaar Samantha Thomas Jerome Schwartz Helga Ungurait
Production locations	Steveston, British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia
Cinematography	Steven Fierberg Stephen Jackson Tony Mirza
Editors	Geofrey Hildrew Mark Goldman Scot J. Kelly Joe Talbot Hall
Running time	43 minutes
Production companies	ABC Studios Kitsis/Adam Horowitz
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	HDTV 720p
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release	October 23, 2011 (2011-10-23) – May 18, 2018 (2018-05-18)
Related
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

Once Upon a Time is an American fantasy adventure drama television series that aired for seven seasons on ABC from October 23, 2011 to May 18, 2018. The action alternates between two main settings: a fantastical world where fairy tales happen; and a seaside town in Maine in a town invented for the show, called Storybrooke. The "real-world" part of the story unfolds with the characters of Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) and her 10-year-old son, Henry Mills. Henry discovers the other people of the town are fairy-tale characters; and the audience is shown the backstory of the town's people as fairy-tale characters, in conjunction with their unfolding stories in the "real-world". In the seventh and final season the "real-world" portion of the story takes place in Seattle, Washington (in the fictitious neighborhood of "Hyperion Heights"), with a new main narrative led by adult Henry, and his wife and daughter.

Most of the show's characters are extracted from famous fairy-tales of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and popular Western literature, folklore, Arthurian legend, and Greek mythology, as well as original Disney characters from The Walt Disney Company. The fantastical part of the story begins in the world of Snow White and Prince Charming, and later encompasses the worlds of Wonderland, Neverland, Oz, and Frozen's Arendelle.

Once Upon a Time was created by Lost and Tron: Legacy writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. The core themes of the show are hope and optimism. Horowitz told The Hollywood Reporter that they had a conscious purpose to "do a show that had optimism at its heart", as they "felt like there was so much darkness in the world". Kitsis said: "We are guys who like to see the world as half-full, not half-empty", and it's about "seeing that among all the trials and tribulations of life, you can persevere and find light among the darkness"; "it's that ability to think your life will get better". Star Jennifer Morrison told the Calgary Herald that it's a show about hope and positivity and connectivity, which "encourages people to believe in themselves and believe in the best versions of themselves and to have hope to have the life that they have."