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Fairytales don’t always have a happy ending. Fans learned that pretty quickly with the ABC original show, Once Upon a Time. Although it stars a number of Disney characters, one princess in particular plays a pretty large role in kicking off Emma’s adventure. Here’s what we know about this drama series and its fan-favorite characters.

Snow White was the first official Disney princess

There’s plenty of magic with Disney’s award-winning princess films. However, as fans learned during one ABC series, all magic comes at a price. This television network premiered an original series featuring the adventures of fairytale characters in the real world.

Because her story kickstarted the Disney princess collection, it’s only fitting that Snow White (and her daughter, Emma,) be the stars of ABC’s drama series, Once Upon a Time. Once this series premiered during 2011, fans were reintroduced to Disney characters and new favorites like Emma and her son, named Henry.

Throughout the show’s seven-season history, fans saw Emma come to terms with her history and her relationship with this real-life fairytale. There’s also plenty of involvement from Disney-created fan-favorite characters, including Snow White herself.

Snow White is one of the main characters of ‘Once Upon a Time’

Although Emma is the main character of this series, there are plenty of cameos from beloved Disney princesses and princes. In fact, most of the main characters from this drama series originally appeared in Disney’s animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

That includes Regina, who, outside of Storybrooke, is called the Evil Queen. She poses a few problems for Emma, including trying to take her son, Henry, away from her. There’s also Snow White’s prince, Prince Charming, who in this series is known as the brave and kindhearted David Nolan. 

In Storybrooke, Snow White takes the name Mary Margaret Blanchard, acting as a teacher and a mentor to Emma as she learns about the history of the town. There are plenty of characters from other Disney movies in this series. That includes Belle (Beauty and the Beast,) Mulan, Pinocchio, and Captain Hook. 

However, this series introduces a few fairytale characters not yet apparent in Disney movies, like Mr. Gold AKA Rumplestiltskin. (Although he does play the love interest of Belle so, technically, he’s the Beast.)

'Once Upon a Time'
‘Once Upon a Time’ | Eike Schroter/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
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Disney released ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ over 50 years prior to the premiere of ‘Once Upon a Time’

While every season of Once Upon a Time is available for streaming on Netflix, most of the Disney movies that inspired the series are listed on the Disney+ streaming library. That includes recently released animated films, like Frozen 2, and live-action adaptations like Beauty and the Beast. 

If you want to binge-watch the latest and most popular Disney princess movies, head to Disney’s streaming platform, titled Disney+. To learn more about Disney+ and to subscribe, visit their website. 

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