ONCE UPON A TIME Writers Discuss Anna and Elsa's Move to Storybrooke

As BroadwayWorld.com previously reported, ONCE UPON A TIME season four is getting frozen. Characters from the hit new animated Disney musical, Frozen, will be joining the Storybrooke characters when the new season premieres on ABC September 28.

Variety spoke to ONCE UPON A TIME's Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitis about the new additions to the cast and what season four has in store for these fantasy personalities.

Kitis says, "The first half of this season will be Frozen, and that will be the arc. It's the characters from Frozen coming into ONCE UPON A TIME."

Horowitz adds, "It's not us doing Frozen, the sequel, as a TV show. Instead, it is taking the characters from Frozen and bringing them into the ONCE world, as you said, much in the way that we brought the Wicked Witch or Peter Pan, and finding the hopefully surprising way they intertwine with our characters and our mythology."

In regards to how exactly the characters will mesh with the rest of the story, Kitis says, "As Adam said, we're not doing the sequel. This is us taking Elsa and Anna and Kristoff and just a few of the characters, and they're coming into our world and so we're much more interested in crosses like Anna when she meets Rumplestiltskin and things like that. But all the things that are on our show are not canon."

Horowitz says this is not necessarily a new idea, but rather, "It's kind of like how we've dealt with all of our characters. The original "Snow White" movie still exists. The original "Cinderella" still exists. We sort of like to think of "Once Upon a Time" as a Disney cul de sac, where you can come in, you can play with these characters, you can see them in new fun ways, and then when you're done, you can leave and go back and they're right where they were... Elsa has been down many of the same paths that Emma has either been down or is going down, and because of that, they're going to find a way to bond and a way to work together."

Regarding their involvement with the other characters, particularly Emma, Kitsis also says, "And in the movie "Frozen," we saw Anna help Elsa come to a realization and give her some advice, and I think what's fun about "Frozen" and our arc this year is, you're going to see Elsa doing that for Emma." Read the full article here.

In the season premiere episode, "A Tale of Two Sisters," a scared and confused Elsa finds herself in Storybrooke and, fearful of the intentions of its residents, creates a powerful snow monster for protection. With Robin Hood's wife, Marian, back in the picture, Regina wonders if her "happily ever after" with the former thief has been completely quashed; while on their honeymoon, Mr. Gold finds an intriguing object that makes him question whether or not he should officially give Belle control over the dagger that makes him The Dark One, and Hook is dismayed to discover that Emma seems to be avoiding him while she tries to help comfort Regina after being the one responsible for bringing Marian back from the past and into Storybrooke. Meanwhile, in Arendelle of the past, as Elsa's sister Anna's wedding to Kristoff nears, Anna discovers that their parents - who died on-ship during a violent storm - were heading to a mysterious destination in a quest that may have held the secret to containing Elsa's out of control Ice powers. And against Elsa's wishes, Anna wants to finish their journey to find out what they were looking for, on "Once Upon a Time," SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Once Upon a Time" stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan,Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O'Donoghue as Hook, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry, Michael Socha as Will Scarlet and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.

Guest starring are Lee Arenberg as Leroy/Grumpy, Faustino Di Bauda as Walter/Sleepy, Giancarlo Esposito as Sidney/Magic Mirror, Sean Maguire as Robin Hood, Georgina Haig as Elsa, Elizabeth Lail as Anna, Scott Michael Foster as Kristoff, Oliver Rice as noble man, Pascale Hutton as regal woman, Raphael Alejandro as Roland, Jason Burkart as Little John, Christie Laing as Maid Marian and John Rhys-Davies as Grand Pabbie.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz and directed by Ralph Hemecker.

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