Top 10 'Once Upon A Time' fan made videos

What makes a good show so good? Many people champion or complain about special effects. Some focus on setting, but a good story, whether it’s in a book or on screen, is comprised of intricate and relatable characters. Often, people want to see what they want, but cannot have, hence the “happily ever after” addiction. However, there is something so much more attractive about realistic relationships that have ups and downs and aren’t always happy.

Once Upon A Time fits the bill for a good story. The characters are dynamic, in fact they seem to change more often than we would expect, but true to life, these changes are always the effect of events that elicit strong emotional responses. These characters are relatable, because even though the events they face may be magical in setting, the human interaction is very realistic. We’ve all been children who want to be loved, and at times feel misunderstood or cheated. We’ve all been in love at some point in our lives. Perhaps it was for the better; perhaps the worse, but in love none the less. A broken heart, or unrequited love are things that are easy to grasp and allow us to empathize with the characters.

With such a wonderful mix of fantasy and reality, relatable characters that don’t feel forced, and a penchant for ambiguous endings that aren’t completely happy or completely devastating, it’s no surprise that Once Upon A Time has garnered such a strong following. In fact, many fans have gone so far as to make their own videos that incorporate popular love songs with clips from the series. Here is a top ten list of Once Upon A Time fan made videos.

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10. Gilligan’s Island Theme Song

Every fandom must have some silliness, and this video satisfies that requirement. Although the character comparisons don’t really match up, there are some clever analogies. For instance, during the part of the theme song that describes the trip as a “three hour tour,” the video clip shows the hands moving on the clock tower. I suppose Gilligan and crew had it good compared to OUAT’s 28 year curse.

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9. This Is My Time

A lot of excitement has occurred over Once Upon A Time’s inclusion of the main characters from Disney’s Frozen this season. There’s no exception with fan made videos. This video begins with scenes from the animated movie Frozen, and moves into the live action characters of Elsa and Anna within the Once Upon A Time universe. However, the overall focus seems to be on the development of Emma’s powers and how they are based on love. Every time the chorus belts out “This is my time to shine,” there is a scene with Emma using her shining magic, and in the end accepting it as she accepts Elsa’s outstretched and understanding hand.

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8. I Just Want You to Know Who I Am

I can just picture Regina singing in the dark of her room at night, “And I don’t want the world to see me, ‘cause I don’t think that they’d understand.” And, let’s face it, “everything’s made to be broken,” even evil curses. Although this song will always evoke the sadness and unfairness I first felt at seeing the ending of the movie City of Angels, it does have a place here. Don’t we all just want to be understood?

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7. Dark Side

“Everybody’s got a dark side” perfectly captures the emotional conflict of Red Riding Hood as she traverses the land mine filled terrain that is her relationship with Peter. Moving from the fear that he is the ware wolf to the determination to stay with him regardless, then to discovering that she was the one who was the big bad wolf all along.

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6. Dare You to Move

To the great pleasure of all Captain Swan shippers, this fan made video focuses mostly on the second half of season three’s development of Hook and Emma’s relationship. Always in a complicated situation, “I dare you to move” sums up the hesitant restraint or blatant confrontation of their interactions.

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5. Far Away

Nickelback’s Far Away is a very moving love song. It is also fitting with the initial story of Once Upon A Time. In particular, the reference to being misused in the first verse is poetically descriptive of what Regina had done with her curse. Transporting everyone to Storybrooke, no one knowing who they really are, or who they love is a flagrant misuse of them, destroying their happiness in an effort to find her own. “In this time, in this place,” she sets them up to make mistakes, but she sorely misjudges the power of true love.

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4. Wonderland

This wonderful compilation of clips features each character as Natalia Kills sings about how she is not them. During the chorus line “I don’t believe in fairy tales,” we see images of Emma from season one, while she is still wrestling with Henry’s insistence that they are all characters from fairy tales.

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3. More Than a Mystery

Focusing on Mary Margaret and David Nolan, this video captures their turmoil with the lyrics “I want to be declared your one and only / Hear you say that I’m your destiny / And I want you to be / More than a mystery to me.” It seems that there is always something in the way of their happiness. Even after they remember who they are and share a loving embrace in the middle of the street, the video ends with the scene where they can only see each other through a mirror.

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2. Give Me Love

Opening with “Love is the most powerful magic of all,” spoken by Rumple, and followed by his “Love makes one sick…[it] has killed more than any disease,” sets the stage for this fan made love themed video. This fan really thought out the timing for this video, as the lyrics “turned into alcohol” play while we see Mary Margaret, Ruby, and Ashley out drinking, and the lyrics “play hide and seek” while Emma and Neal run to the car after shop lifting at a mini-mart. It’s also poignant that the song focuses on giving love in the form of a kiss and a major theme of Once Upon A Time is true love’s kiss.

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1. Wait

This fan made video features clips from season one that focus on the development of Mary Margaret and David Nolan’s relationship, flashbacks to Snow and Charming in The Enchanted Forest, and interactions between Emma and Henry. The song lyrics are something you could picture the characters actually saying. It’s very fitting, especially for season one prior to the breaking of the curse.