Once Upon Us
Play your story before you ask
Let your story set the scene. Once Upon Us turns your photos together into a short animated film that ends on the line you choose, so the question comes right as the screen goes dark.
Example frames in three of the six styles. Your film is drawn from your own photos.
End on your question
The closing line is yours: write the question, or the words right before it.
Keep it a surprise
There's no shared account and nothing to install: your film lives on a private link only you have. Play it from your phone, a laptop or a TV.
Add the moment you met
No photo of the night you met? Describe it and it's drawn with the two of you in it.
How it works
Add your photos
Add 3 to 60 photos of the two of you, from the first date to today. Once Upon Us reads the date each photo was taken and puts your memories in order.
Pick a style and your characters
3D animated, hand-drawn, anime, cartoon, claymation or comic book. We draw the two of you in that style three ways; you pick the pair that looks most like you, and we draw your first scene with them free, before you pay. They star in every scene of your film.
Make it yours
Your names open the film in the look you pick. Add words on screen, choose one of four songs and write your closing line. Then look over your storyboard, pick your film's length and pay once.
Pay once, by length
One-time payment, no subscription. Every scene can be redrawn 3 times.
Made with you, scene by scene. Add your photos, pick your characters and see your first scene free before you pay, then check each scene before it comes to life.
Start our filmQuestions
How do I make a proposal video?
Collect 3 to 60 photos of the two of you, pick a style and end on your question. Once Upon Us does the ordering, the drawing and the music.
How long should a proposal video be?
Short: 1 to 3 minutes keeps everyone in the moment.
How does Once Upon Us work?
Add 3 to 60 photos of the two of you and pick a style. We draw the two of you as characters in that style, redraw each photo with them and bring it to life as a 5-second moving scene, put in order by date, with an opening that carries your names, words on screen where you want them, the music you pick and your closing line.
What styles can I pick?
3D animated, hand-drawn, anime, cartoon, claymation and comic book. The whole film is drawn in the style you pick.
Will it look like us?
After you pick a style, we draw the two of you as characters three ways and you choose the one that looks most like you. That pair stars in every scene, so you look the same from start to finish. You check every scene before it comes to life, and if one misses, you redraw it for free.
More ideas
Gift guides
Styles
Updated November 6, 2026