History Main / OnceUponaTime

-->'''George:''' '''Once upon a time''', or more specifically at the dawn of time, god, lower case "g", was getting busy with creation, as the kids these days are saying. He gave Toad a clay jar and said, "Be careful with this. It's got death inside". Pleased as punch and oblivious to the fact that he was about to become god's fall guy on the whole death issue, Toad promised to guard the jar. Then one day Toad met Frog. "Let me hold the jar of death, or what ever you call it", Frog begged. With a nod to Nancy Reagan's pros of wisdom, Toad just said no. But Frog was determined, and after much whining Toad finally gave in. "You can hold it, but only for a second", he said. In his excitement, Frog began to hop around and juggle the death jar from one foot to the other. Frog was an asshole. "Stop!" Toad cried out, but it was to late. Frog dropped the jar and it shattered to the ground. When it broke open, death got out, and ever since then all living things have to die. Makes you wonder how much better the world would be if frogs just stuck to hawking beer. So there you have it, the mystery of death finally revealed. We all die, some of us sooner then later. For me it's going to be much sooner. But that's only the beginning of my story.

Now, stories that began with "[[OnceUponATime Once upon a time]]" often ended with "...and they all lived [[HappilyEverAfter happily ever after]]." But [[FanNickname Once]] never got to the end of the stories -- he always stayed at the [[BeginningTropes beginning]]. And that is where he will always be.

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[[AC:CardGames]]
* There is a card game called "Once Upon A Time" revolving around storytelling. The stories always start with this.

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[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* ''OnceUponAForest''
* ''OnceUponATimeInMexico''
* ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'':

In a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams...

* ''{{Enchanted}}'':
-->'''Narrator:''' '''Once upon a time''', in a magical kingdom known as Andalasia, there lived an evil queen. Selfish and cruel, she lived in fear that one day her stepson would marry and she would lose her throne forever. And so she did all in her power to prevent the prince from ever meeting the one special maiden with whom he would share true love's kiss.
* ''TheSixthSense'':
-->'''Malcolm Crowe:''' '''Once upon a time''' there was this person named Malcolm. He worked with children. He loved it. He loved it more than anything else. And then one night, he found out that he made a mistake with one of them. He couldn't help that one. And he can't stop thinking about it, he can't forget. Ever since then, things have been different. He's not the same person that he used to be. And his wife doesn't like the person that he's become. They barely speak anymore, they're like strangers. And then one day Malcolm meets this wonderful little boy, a really cool little boy. Reminds him a lot of the other one. And Malcolm decides to try and help this new boy. 'Cause he feels that if he can help this new boy, it would be like helping that other one too.
* ''WarGames'':
-->'''Stephen Falken:''' Now, children, come on over here. I'm going to tell you a bedtime story. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. '''Once upon a time''', there lived a magnificent race of animals that dominated the world through age after age. They ran, they swam, and they fought and they flew, until suddenly, quite recently, they disappeared. Nature just gave up and started again. We weren't even apes then. We were just these smart little rodents hiding in the rocks. And when we go, nature will start over. With the bees, probably. Nature knows when to give up, David.
* ''YellowSubmarine'':
-->'''Narrator:''' '''Once upon a time''', or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland. 80,000 leagues beneath the sea it lay, or lie. I'm not too sure.
* In ''Film/EverAfter'' when Danielle's descendant is about to tell the "true" story of Cinderella she Lampshades this. She has recently read the works of the Grimm Brothers, so she has only recently learned the storytelling conventions:

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Edgar Allen Poe, ''The Raven'':

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''{{Bewitched}}'' "I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha (#1.1)"

-->'''Charlie Townsend:''' '''Once upon a time''' there were three little girls who went to the police academy - two in Los Angeles, the other in San Francisco - and they were each assigned very hazardous duties. But I took them away from all that, and now they work for me. My name is Charlie.

-->'''George:''' '''Once upon a time''', or more specifically at the dawn of time, god, lower case "g", was getting busy with creation, as the kids these days are saying. He gave Toad a clay jar and said, "Be careful with this. It's got death inside". Pleased as punch and oblivious to the fact that he was about to become god's fall guy on the whole death issue, Toad promised to guard the jar. Then one day Toad met Frog. "Let me hold the jar of death, or what ever you call it", Frog begged. With a nod to Nancy Reagan's pros of wisdom, Toad just said no. But Frog was determined, and after much whining Toad finally gave in. "You can hold it, but only for a second", he said. In his excitement, Frog began to hop around and juggle the death jar from one foot to the other. Frog was an asshole. "Stop!" Toad cried out, but it was to late. Frog dropped the jar and it shattered to the ground. When it broke open, death got out, and ever since then all living things have to die. Makes you wonder how much better the world would be if frogs just stuck to hawking beer. So there you have it, the mystery of death finally revealed. We all die, some of us sooner then later. For me it's going to be much sooner. But that's only the beginning of my story.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' "The Android Invasion: Part 1":

* ''MarriedWithChildren'' "Buck Saves the Day":

* ''MyNameIsEarl'', "Creative Writing":

* ''{{Salvage1}}'' (1979):

* ''TheDrewCareyShow'':
-->'''Mr. Wick:''' Gather around, everyone. Story time. Come on... gather around. '''Once upon a time'''... Johnson was fired. And everyone else lived happily ever after. Freaked, but happily.
* ''{{Titus}}'', "The Smell of Success":
-->'''Ken Titus:''' I got a little story I wanna tell you. '''Once upon a time'''... NO! If I help you now, you'll never learn to help yourself! [leaves]

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* The Small Faces, "Happiness Stan Suite".

[[AC:{{Poetry}}]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
* ''IntoTheWoods'' opens with this line being spoken by the Narrator before the music starts. The second act begins similarly, with the Narrator saying, "'''Once upon a time'''-- ''[music starts]'' --later..."

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[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

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[[quoteright:330:[[ThePrincessBride http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/once.jpg]]]]

[[TheOdyssey "Hear me, oh Muse,"]] commenced Bromosel.

* ''DoctorWho'' "The Android Invasion: Part 1":

* ''{{Farscape}}: [[TheMovie The Peacekeeper Wars]]'': "For the 89th time...'''once upon a time''' there was a boy named John and John was an astronaut. He lived in a far away place called Earth which is so far away you've never heard of it. One day when John was out doing astronaut things a big, blue wormhole gobbled him up and spat him out at the far end of the universe. Things were looking grim in Mudville, till our hero met an amazing living ship, made some nice new friends, and he hooked up with his dream girl. We could've lived happily ever after, but the Peacekeepers raped, chased and tortured us for years on end. And two months ago, we got our asses shot off again."

[[ThePrincessBride http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/once.jpg]]
[[caption-width:330:[[PraisingShowsYouDontWatch This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.]]]]

* Both PrincessTutu and {{Ookami-san}} have their narrators begin each episode with the japanese equivalent of this, むかしむかし（昔々） or "mukashi mukashi". It's rather purposeful, as each plays with and deals with Fairy Tale tropes.

* There was a card game called "Once Upon A Time" revolving around storytelling- the stories always started with this.

* Used interestingly in KurtBusiek's ''Trinity''. Once a race of aliens is telling their creation myth, it starts, "'''In the Longago. Aye, and in the Long Longago, and in the time before the Long Longago'''. In the Before, when nothing was..."

* ''OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' and ''OnceUponATimeInAmerica''. The Italian titles began with the rough cultural equivalent, '''"C'era una volta..."''' ('''"There was once..."''').
** The middle film, "[=~Duck, You Sucker!~=]"/"A Fistful of Dynamite" once had the Italian working title of "C'era una volta la rivoluzione," awkwardly translated as "Once Upon a Time...the Revolution," but this was replaced by "Giù la testa" ("Duck!").
* '''[[InglouriousBasterds Once upon a time,]]''' [[InglouriousBasterds in Nazi-occupied France.]]
* '''[[StarWars A long time ago]]''' [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway in a galaxy far, far away...]]

* An entire series of Martial Arts movies starring Jet Li called ''OnceUponATimeInChina''.

* ''TwiceUponATime''
* RockADoodle:

* [[{{Tangled}} "This is the story about how I died..."]]

* '''[[http://www.sesamestreet.org/video_player?p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_id=videoPlayer_WAR_sesameportlets4369&p_p_uid=386fd5b5-156b-11dd-bb51-597ab51d2e81 Once upon a time]]''' [[http://www.sesamestreet.org/video_player?p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_id=videoPlayer_WAR_sesameportlets4369&p_p_uid=386fd5b5-156b-11dd-bb51-597ab51d2e81 there was a king with three lovely daughters. And they all lived happily ever after.]]

* The opera "Spoon Mountain" on MisterRogersNeighborhood begins "'''Once upon a time''', not so very long ago. Not so very long ago."

* {{BillyJoel}}'s "Falling of the Rain" begins:

* The OpeningNarration from ''TheSolidGoldCadillac'':

* In BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Hakumen's arcade ending is a telling of how the story of the BlazBlue franchise began, and it even begins with Rachel narrating, "'''OnceUponATime''', there was a Black Beast."

* ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'', "Something Smells":

* Albert Barillé produced tons of educational animated series which all got OnceUponATime in their title, completed with the main subject (man, space, life, America, inventors, explorers...). They also shared a very similar cast of reccuring characters.

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* ''RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' uses the same phrase in narrating several plot points, most notably the story of the Prince and the Witch.

* Used interestingly in [[AstroCity Kurt Busiek]]'s ''Trinity''. Once a race of aliens is telling their creation myth, it starts, "'''In the Longago. Aye, and in the Long Longago, and in the time before the Long Longago'''. In the Before, when nothing was..."

* Used interestingly in [[AstroCity Kurt Busiek]]'s ''Trinity''. Once a race of aliens is telling their creation myth, it starts, "In the Longago. Aye, and in the Long Longago, and in the time before the Long Longago. In the Before, when nothing was..."

* ''OnceUponATimeInTheWest'' and ''OnceUponATimeInAmerica''. The Italian titles began with the rough cultural equivalent, "C'era una volta..." ("There was once...").

* [[InglouriousBasterds Once upon a time, in Nazi-occupied France.]]
* [[StarWars A long time ago]] [[ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway in a galaxy far, far away...]]

-->'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems\\

* Inverted in Emir Kusturica's ''Underground'' - the final words in the film are ''"once upon a time there was a country called Yugoslavia..."''

* [[RockADoodle "Once upon a time, back before I even learned how to tie my shoes, the Sun came up. Well, I know that each day, sunrise isn't such a big deal to some folks, but imagine for a moment, instead of rising up like this: (the Sun starts to rise from Earth orbit) One morning where you live, she took a look around, and decided to go back to sleep. This actually once happened to us. Let me tell you all about it..."]]

-->Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...
* Lord Dunsany in ''Time and the Gods'': "Upon an evening of the forgotten years the gods were seated on the hills."

* ''A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man'' by JamesJoyce: "Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo..."

* From ''The King's Chessboard'': "Once, long ago in what is now India there was a wise man who performed a service for the king of Deccan..."

Arrowroot cleared his throat. "Once upon a time," he began.\\

-->In the third season, Baldrick reads the story he wrote: "Once upon a time, there was a happy sausage named Baldrick. And he lived happily ever after. The end."

* [[http://www.sesamestreet.org/video_player?p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_id=videoPlayer_WAR_sesameportlets4369&p_p_uid=386fd5b5-156b-11dd-bb51-597ab51d2e81 Once upon a time there was a king with three lovely daughters. And they all lived happily ever after.]]

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', {{Koan}}s and sutras associated with the Sidereals inevitably begin this way: "Once, there was a maiden..."

* ''IntoTheWoods'' opens with this line being spoken by the Narrator before the music starts. The second act begins similarly, with the Narrator saying, "Once upon a time-- ''[music starts]'' --later..."

-->[[AC:This is a fairy story--the story of Cinderella and the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive four ugly corporation directors]]. Once upon a time, not so long ago, Cinderella went down to Wall Street, not in a gold coach drawn by six white horses, but in the I.R.T. subway.]]
* ''CallMeMadam'' has the song "Once Upon A Time Today."

* In BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Hakumen's arcade ending is a telling of how the story of the BlazBlue franchise began, and it even begins with Rachel narrating, "OnceUponATime, there was a Black Beast."

* The intro to ''{{The PJs}}'' starts with "Once upon a time in the projects," which is also the title of an Ice Cube song.

-->'''Patrick:''' '''Once upon a time''', there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.

* [[RockADoodle "Once upon a time, back before I even learned how to tie my shoes, the Sun came up. Well, I know that sunrise isn't such a big deal to some folks, but imagine for a moment, instead of rising up like this: (the Sun starts to rise from Earth orbit) One morning where you live, she took a look around, and decided to go back to sleep. This actually once happened to us. Let me tell you all about it..."]]

* [[RockADoodle "Once upon a time, back before I even learned how to tie my shoes, the Sun came up. Well, I know that some folks don't think sunrises are such a big deal at all, but imagine for a moment, instead of rising up like this: (the Sun starts to rise from Earth orbit) One morning, she took a look around, and decided to go back to sleep. This actually once happened to us. Let me tell you all about it..."]]

* The opera "Spoon Mountain" on MisterRogersNeighborhood begins "Once upon a time, not so very long ago. Not so very long ago."

* The James Taylor song "Our Town," used in the movie {{Cars}}, begins "Long ago, but not so very long ago..."

--> Once upon a time in the land of misty satin dreams\\

--> Once upon a time in the land of misty satin dreams//

[[AC:{{VideoGames}}]]

* From ''The King's Chessboard'': "Once, long ago in what is now India..."

[[caption-width:330:[[ThePrincessBride This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.]]]]

* [[StarWars A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.]]