20 Once Upon a Time fairy tale and Disney adaptations ranked worst to best

Cinderella

Cinderella's story wasn't a major storyline, but it's still a magical adaptation we liked to see! There was a twist with Rumple wanting to take her firstborn child, combining the two fairy tale stories the way ONCE does best. For me, the more interesting part of the adaptation is Cinderella and the prince's cursed selves, Ashley and Sean. They were separated in Storybrooke because his father didn't want him around her, though she was pregnant with their baby. But Emma is able to bring them together!

Once Upon a Time always made it a point that none of the characters are completely good or completely bad. They make mistakes too. And Cinderella did, ratting her stepsister Clorinda out to Lady Tremaine about her romance with Jacob. And this led to Tremaine taking Clorinda to the Land of Untold Stories and away from her love. I mean, with the way they all treated her. I can't blame her. But it goes to show that not everyone is perfect.

The Little Mermaid (Ariel)

In this version of Ariel's story, it was so fun to see her interact with the other fair tyale characters, including Snow and Killian! Though this poor mermaid is separated from her love so many times. First is after helping Snow, Regina punishes Ariel by taking away her voice. She's able to reunite with Eric until Black Beard comes along and places him on a deserted island. Unfortunately, Killian doesn't make the right choice in helping her.

But, Ariel does reunite with the prince eventually. But, there's one more time in season 4, Elsa punishes Black Beard and his crew for working against her family and Ariel gets accidentally caught up in it. Sheesh! Give this mermaid a break. Eventually they're reunited once and for all, and I will say I liked having this version of Ariel. She put Killian in his place when he needed it. And then their dynamic turns fun when they start to get along. She even helps Killian speak to Emma through the conch shell when they're separated by Gideon.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood and the Evil Queen. Who knew they'd make such a wonderful couple? Outlaw Queen is definitely one of my favorite ships from the series, and I still haven't forgiven the writers for the way they ruined their story and killed him off. But the adaptation of the Robin Hood story is a great one. He has the same morals and attributes as the original, but the character still felt fresh and that was thanks to Sean Maguire. I just love that he and Regina are True Love and the inclusion of this story really worked in the Once Upon a Time universe.

Little Red Riding Hood

Once Upon a Time's adaptation of the Little Red Riding Hood story is still one of my favorites and brought with it one of the biggest shocks of all early on in the show! It turns out that Red is actually the wolf in the story that the whole village is afraid of. Granny was trying hard to conceal this secret, even from her, and protect Red for years. It works until she unfortunately accidentally kills her boyfriend Peter in wolf form. It's a tragic ending to this relationship and something we definitely didn't see coming. We don't get much more of Ruby until season 5 where she ends up in Oz and falls for Dorothy. And yet, another couple you wouldn't have seen coming! It provided great representation and was unique.

Pinocchio

August was a complicated character that made a lot of bad decisions, especially when it came to Emma. Imagine if he'd stuck around and she actually had someone with her growing up. But, that is the point of Pinocchio. He was tested over and over to make sure he was worthy of being a real boy, or later on man in August's case. And I mean, we have to admit that was a lot of responsibility for him to go through the wardrobe alone in a new world with a baby in tow. Oh, Geppetto. It's understandable he wanted to protect his son, but it would have been better for everyone if Snow was able to go with Emma instead.

I think this story was utilized really well. I mean, even Geppetto and Jiminy Cricket's backstory was one I wasn't expecting. Jiminy's trickster parents fooled Geppetto's leading to their tragic fate of becoming puppets for the rest of their lives apparently (they remained in Mr. Gold's shop throughout the series). And because of this, Jiminy turns into a cricket and remains by Geppetto's side as he grows up.