Once Upon a Time Behind the Magic coverThe Info Bit

Title: Once Upon a Time-Behind the magic

Genre: Non-Fiction

Publisher: Titan Books

Page Count: 176

Price: $16.99

ISBN-13: 9781782760290

The Review Bit

If you enjoy the TV show Once Upon a Time, or if you like it sometimes and argue with it at other times, you’ll find Once Upon a Time - Behind the Magic a good book to have around, perhaps on the coffee table or couch so you can have something to read during commercial breaks or while waiting for the show to start. My review copy is sitting here studded with bookmarks as I try to decide which bits to share and which bits to leave to you to discover for yourself.

The articles tend to be short, suited for browsing, focusing on different creators and their contributions-writers, prop makers, costume designers, actors, and others.The props feature in particular held my attention. There were plenty of intriguing details to keep my attention, things like the number of hats the Mad Hatter had and the difficulty they had designing them, or the details about Mulan’s sword which “has an oriental background but…also…some adaptions to it to fit her character, to fit her storyline.” I’m going to have to look more closely the next time she’s on screen. The same is true for other characters and other objects; there’s more there than a quick look reveals. The costume section, alas, is a little light, with only short one to three paragraph entries usually focusing on the cost of the outfit or the fashion-designer name. Aurora’s gown was the most interesting item here. Special effects and set design are again more detailed, with some meat to the discussion.

Each of the multiple interviews in Behind the Magic provides another angle from which to look at Once Upon a Time, but one theme that occurred often was family: Not just the family within the show, but the fact that most of the show’s creators watch and talk about the show with their families and that they appreciate being able to do so. I have heard actors mentioning the desire to act in something that their children could see, but until I read Isham’s interview, I hadn’t really thought: Of course, the other show creators might want to be able to chat with their children, too. And, whatever arguments I may occasionally have with the show, I do appreciate the absence of “gritty realism” that often threatens to overwhelm the screen. It’s nice to know the show’s creators feel the same way.

My only real complaint about the book is with the layout. There are lots of pictures in the book. This is a good thing: The book is about a TV show and there should be lots of pictures. Unfortunately, several of the pictures fall between the pages which is fine for the larger spreads but hard on smaller images where two people talking or confronting one another get squished together by the folds (and I’m not going to break the spine to flatten these out). Also, while the information in the various additional columns (“Did You Know?” “A Day in the Life of” etc) was interesting, it wasn’t quite interesting enough to make up for having large, colorful rectangles standing out on the pages. One interview with the producers had a side column on “Producing Essentials” that went on for several pages. Pearlman’s advice was worth including, but would, I think, have been better served by getting its own page rather than squishing it into three intrusive powder-blue rectangles off to the side.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It’s light, entertaining, and has interesting bits and snippets about the work behind the scenes, including some unexpected and heartwarming elements.

 

The Rating Bit
8/10 - The interviews are good, and I enjoyed learning behind-the-scenes details about prop creation, set building, music-writing and the like. While lots of pictures is a definite plus, too many of them fell between the pages. Also, I would have liked a little more substance to the “making of” sections, but there’s plenty for a bit of light reading here and there.