Nobody Can Do Snow White’s Evil Queen Better Than This 14-Year-Old TV Show

Fairytale adaptations can be done in so many ways. It can be a family comedy, an action epic and even a horror or a thriller of some sort. There are endless possibilities for a creative mind to do whatever they want with the stories and go into the most unexpected directions.

Some creatives nail their ideas with great execution, while others cannot quite find the magic in themselves to create something extraordinary. The most recent example of a fairytale-gone-wrong that comes to my mind is none other than Disney 's Snow White. It has a stellar cast and huge budget, yet it failed to nail the most important part: connecting with its audience.

I know it's a hard thing to do, yet it doesn't mean that it's completely impossible. Back in 2011, one ABC show spectacularly cracked that code. And at its heart was a performance so deliciously wicked that it forever changed a bar for what I expect from villains.

Once Upon a Time (2011-2018): The Modern Take On Classic Fairy Tales

Once Upon a Time was a game-changer when it hit the screens 14 years ago. The show took familiar characters we all grew up with and dropped them into a modern-day setting.

The idea was simultaneously simple and brilliant. All fairytale characters were cursed by the Evil Queen to forget their true identities and live in a small town called Storybrooke. There were supposed to be no magic, no happy endings (the emphasis on supposed). When an outsider Emma Swan comes to town, everything's about to be changed.

Our favorite characters are just regular people living regular lives. Well, as regular as you can get when Snow White is just a school teacher and Evil Queen runs a whole town.

Lana Parrilla Is The Evil Queen We Never Knew We Needed

Speaking of the Evil Queen, Lana Parrilla's portrayal of Regina Mills (aka The Evil Queen) is something that deserves its own spotlight. From the moment she appears on screen, you just know you're in for a treat. She's complex, wounded, and absolutely fabulous.

Now don't get me wrong, the whole cast deserves praise. But I'm not overexaggerating when I say that the show creators really understood the assignment when they cast Parrilla. And I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

As AdmirableAd1858 on Reddit pointed out:

“Even though Gal isn’t the strongest actress I love her as Wonder Woman, but man Lana Parrilla really put her stamp on this character and IMO hasn’t been topped yet.”

So if you haven't experienced this magical show yet, or you want to give it a rewatch (like I'm currently doing), all seven seasons are available on Hulu, Disney+, Fandango at Home, Amazon Video and Apple TV+. The series’ take on good old fairy tales remains unmatched even 14 years later.