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." Bionicle features the line "In the time before time...". The opening line of the TV series Merlin features the line "In a land of myth, and a time of magic..." The first episode of Ivor the Engine'' opens with the line "Not so very long ago, in the top left-hand corner of Wales..." See also In the beginning (phrase) All's Well That Ends Well Happy ending It was a dark and stormy night References External links Folktale Openings English phrases Recurrent elements in fairy tales Traditional stories Redirects from opening lines