Maurice's Castle

Maurice's Castle is an Enchanted Forest location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the twelfth episode of the first season.

Maurice's castle is an amalgamation of the merchant's city house from the Villeneuve version of "Beauty and the Beast," the merchant's country house from the Villeneuve and the Beamont version of the fairy tale, and the castle belonging to Beauty's real father in the Villeneuve version. It is also based on Belle's cottage from the Disney film Beauty and the Beast.

History

When Belle grows into a young woman, her father Maurice tries to interest her in a suitor, Gaston, whom she believes is vain and a notorious womanizer as the rumors say he is. Maurice stresses that their kingdom is at stake, because he requires the army of Gaston's father Lord LeGume to end the ogre skirmishes, but to do that, Belle must marry Gaston. Belle is upset at this, but when Gaston sympathizes with her and even offers to leave to ease her discomfort, she decides to go on a walk with him. Afterward, the two talk in the library, where she tells Gaston about her mother instilling her love for books, and then lends him her favorite one, Her Handsome Hero. When he tries to kiss her, she is momentarily fazed before directing his attention to An Alphabetized Inventory of Magical Antiquities, which states the mirror of souls can prove if a person has evil in his or her heart. Later, Belle's father tells her the ogres have breached the eastern region. Since the war is unavoidable now, Maurice brings up the arranged marriage again, since he cannot defend his kingdom without Lord LeGume's army. For the kingdom's sake, Belle accepts the proposal. ("Her Handsome Hero")

Sometime later, Belle and her mother Colette are preparing to escape the castle as ogres breach their guard walls. At the sound of an approaching ogre, they hide under a table, but when the ogre rips away the table, Colette sacrifices herself by staying behind as guards pull Belle to safety. Soon after, Belle loses consciousness and later awakens in bed, recalling nothing about what happened earlier. Unable to remember how Colette died, she discovers from a book that rock trolls can restore memories. She becomes interested in finding them, but her father doesn't want her to pay the price of magic. Maurice orders her to stay put, however, she secretly travels to Arendelle to find answers. Upon returning home, Belle learns from her father of how her mother died. Upon seeing ogres that have entered their kingdom's road, Belle suggests getting help from a wizard, Rumplestiltskin, despite the price for magic, as she wants to be as brave as her mother was. ("Family Business")

When Sir Maurice requests the assistance of the Dark One in a war he is losing against the ogres in his town of Avonlea, Rumplestiltskin offers protection in exchange for Belle's servitude. Defying her father and fiancé, she agrees to the terms of the deal and goes with him. ("Skin Deep")

After Roni casts a curse to unite the realms, Maurice's castle is brought to Storybrooke and now rests next to the Chinese village.^[2] ("Leaving Storybrooke")

Trivia

• Production Notes
• Cultural References
• Set Notes

Production Notes

• The same establishing shot of the castle is used in "Skin Deep," "Family Business" and "Her Handsome Hero," but with different color hues and clouds.

"Skin Deep"

"Family Business"

"Her Handsome Hero"

• The CGI model for the library in Maurice's castle is modeled on the Clementinum library in Prague. The curved ceiling with frescoes and the Solomonic columns (characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew) have the same shape and design, and the design of the bookshelves is similar. ("Family Business," "Her Handsome Hero")
  • The same CGI model was recycled and re-used for the interior of the Count of Monte Cristo's estate in "A Bitter Draught," which feature the same kind of columns, ceiling and windows as Maurice's library.

The Clementium library

Shelves and columns in Maurice's library

Columns in the count's estate

Ceiling in Maurice's library

Ceiling in the count's estate

Windows in Maurice's library

Windows in the count's estate

Fairy Tales and Folklore

• In the original version of "Beauty and the Beast" by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Beauty's father lives in a house in a city full of rich people, but when he loses his fortune, the family is forced to relocate to a country house. However, it is revealed that Beauty's real father is a king who lives in a castle. On Once Upon a Time, Beauty's father is the lord of a castle.

Props Notes

• A page in An Alphabetized Inventory of Magical Antiquities says: ("Her Handsome Hero")

[image begins]
can unleash written words
to become real objects

3″ x 7″

Simply place the glass over any text
and by saying the lines,
"Abracadabra.. Abracadabr.. A"

Mirror of Souls: If
someone has evil in their
souls, it will be revealed
in this mirror's gaze

Their eyes will glow
with demonic fire

Size: Approx. 17″ x 19″

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

See also

• An Alphabetized Inventory of Magical Antiquities

References