Modern Variants
- Don McLean's "American Pie" begins with the phrase "A long, long time ago...".
- All six of the Star Wars films begin with the phrase "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ...".
- The musical Into the Woods begins with the Narrator's line, "Once upon a time." The second act commences with his line, "Once upon a time...later..." The musical is a retelling of many famous fairy tales.
- In the Singaporean comedy series Under One Roof, Moses Lim's character Tan Ah Teck begins his stories with "Long before your time, in the southern province of China ...".
- In the 2010 Edgar Wright film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the opening scene narrates the words "Not so long ago, in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada."
- The opening line of the theme song to MST3k is: "In the not-too-distant future ... next Sunday, A.D."
Read more about this topic: Once Upon A Time
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or variants:
“We must open our eyes and see that modern civilization has become so complex and the lives of civilized men so interwoven with the lives of other men in other countries as to make it impossible to be in this world and out of it.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)