Once Upon A Time — Answers

Here are the answers to my earlier questions.

Once upon a time, on today’s date, a wedding which was described as a fairy tale was celebrated. The first question is about that wedding, while the remainder are about opening lines which could be considered modern versions of ‘Once Upon A Time’.

One

This actress, who had starred in High Noon in 1952 and won the Best Actress Academy Award for The Country Girl in 1954, retired from acting in 1956 to marry in Europe. Who is she, and who did she marry?

Answer: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Grace Kelly made her film debut in Fourteen Hours (1951) and quickly rose to stardom with roles in High Noon (1952) and Mogambo (1953). Her performance in The Country Girl (1954) earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. In Monaco on 18 April 1956, she married Prince Rainier III in a civil ceremony, with a second religious ceremony taking place the next day. Now known as Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco, she and her husband had three children. Grace focused on children’s rights and the arts, founding the Princess Grace Foundation and AMADE Mondiale. She died in a car crash in 1982, aged 52. Her son, Prince Albert established the Princess Grace Awards in 1984.

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The remaining questions are about opening words, which could be considered a modern equivalent of ‘Once Upon a Time’.

Two

What work of historical fiction published in the mid-nineteenth century opens with the line ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…’, and who wrote it?

Answers: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, is a historical novel set in London and Paris during the French Revolution. It follows Doctor Manette’s 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille and his reunion with his daughter Lucie in London. The novel explores the conditions leading to the Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Renowned as Dickens’s best-known historical fiction, it ranks 63rd on the BBC’s The Big Read poll and has inspired numerous adaptations.

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Three

This Lego product, which debuted in 2001 in an online game, has appeared in comics, books, movies, and animations where it is associated with the opening words ‘In the time before time …’. What product is this?

Answer: Bionicle.

Bionicle, a discontinued Lego line launched in 2001, featured biomechanical heroes called Toa. The theme, which included books, comics, games and films, was a major success and influenced later Lego themes.

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Four

In the Star Wars universe what ten words open the nine ‘Skywalker saga’ films?

Answer: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Each Star Wars film, from the original episodes IV, V, and VI; the prequels, I, II, and III; and the sequels, VII, VIII, and XI, opens with the same text, logo, episode number, subtitle, and a three-paragraph summary beginning with ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…’

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Five

In music, which 1971 chart-topper begins with the phrase ‘A long, long time ago…’, and what singer-songwriter wrote and recorded it?

Answer: American Pie by Don McLean.

American Pie by Don McLean, released in 1971, became a number-one hit in the US in 1972 and topped charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It reached number 2 in the UK. The song, at 8 minutes and 42 seconds, was the longest to reach number one until 2021. Its lyrics, including the phrase ‘the day the music died’, reflect cultural changes and loss of innocence after the 1959 plane crash in which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper all died. McLean’s original recording was preserved in the US National Recording Registry in 2017. He celebrated its 50th anniversary with a 2022 European tour.

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