The 10th Kingdom: Difference between revisions

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[[File:10K_Avatar_Pic_7212.jpg|frame|Once Upon a Time is Now.]]

 

Take just about every well-known [[Fairy Tale]], myth, legend, oral history, and fantasy story known to man. Cross them with screwball comedy, an epic [[Hero's Journey]], fantastic (for television, anyway) special effects, and a lot of surprising twists. Add a dash of tragedy and mystery, a sprinkling of some rather serious ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|or should we say, ''Grimm''?]]) issues, and some great British casting, and what do you get?

 

 

Virginia Lewis, a down-on-her-luck New York waitress, and her ne'er-do-well janitor father Tony, are accidentally dragged out of their boring, miserable lives when they cross paths with a golden retriever (actually an enchanted prince) and an ex-convict werewolf (actually, half-wolf) -- one fleeing his stepmother the Evil Queen, the other working for her (sometimes). Complications and hi-jinks result, as magic spills over into New York (the Tenth Kingdom of the title), and soon the foursome end up via magic mirror in the world of the Nine Kingdoms, where fairy tales are real but "Happy Ever After didn't last as long as we'd hoped." Pursued by vengeful Trolls and their odious father, and [[Blade Runner|Rutger]] [[Ladyhawke|Hauer]] as a typically villainous but effectively chilling Huntsman, they must chase after the magic mirror and wend their way in and out of the lives of many fairy tale characters (always with a twist) in order to find their way home again.

Oh, and restore the prince to his throne, save the Kingdoms, learn a few valuable lessons, and discover some secrets that will resolve past tragedies. Something for everyone!

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Addictive Magic]]: The magic shoes. The Troll King appears to already be suffering from a crippling addiction to them at the story's outset, and Virginia falls under their spell very quickly. Somewhat deconstructed as well: the Troll King has an established shoe fetish and Wolf thinks Virgina just has a strong desire to be invisible, shrugging it off himself. Played with and lampshaded in that one of the pieces from the soundtrack is [[Invoked Trope|actually entitled]] "Addicted to Magic"...but instead of playing during anything to do with the magic shoes, it appears when Wolf tempts Tony with the magic bean, during the Dog Prince's [[Urine Trouble]] scene, and when the magic mushrooms are tempting Tony to eat them in the Deadly Swamp.

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Subverted. Wolf does get the girl in the end, but being a bad boy didn't help, and after his disastrous initial encounter with Virginia he spends a good part of the series reading self help books to reform himself. Played straight however with Sally and the shepherdesses, it seems.

* [[If You Know What I Mean]]: [[Invoked]] by Virginia when she tries to defend Wolf during his trial and suggests that the Peep girls are the easiest shepherdesses in the village. Cue shocks from most of the people present, as well as quite a few giggles from some of the other shepderdesses. Of course, it seemed to do more harm than good, considering what this "trial" [[Kangaroo Court|really was]].

* [[Large Ham]]: Wolf, most certainly, and also the Troll King and his children. The Queen mostly averts [[Evil Is Hammy]] and is normally underplayed and calm, outside of a couple of scenes.

{{quote|'''Tony:''' No, no! Once was enough.}}

* [[Literal Genie]]: Tony's dragon dung bean fulfills this trope to a tee: his first wish of making his landlord and his family become his slaves included the phrase 'and kiss my ass'...so every single Murray family member insists on doing exactly that with obsessive attention. The beer in the fridge is indeed neverending, to the point of making it explode, the vacuum he asked to 'clean the entire house' follows the directions to the letter (including trying to vacuum up the curtains), and even the beneficial wish of being able to speak to Wendell the dog is limited to only Tony being able to hear him, since he said "I" rather than "we". And when he wishes for money, {{spoiler|it is stolen from the bank, and the cops are quick to track it down.}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Series]]

[[Category:Fairy Tale]]

[[Category:Miniseries]]