Disney's Into The Woods - How NOT To Adapt a Movie

[@Snugboy]

HI EVERYONE WHO CAME FROM THE SIDEWAYS VIDEO! Thank you so much for coming and watching! This video is pretty old now, and I've made a lot more videos that are less crap but thank you so much for following!

[@Lordblow1]

It isn't that bad. Made me binge the rest of your vids after I also watched the Zelda TP vid.

[@clacks5605]

I came here from Sideways, and I’m glad he introduced his fan base to this channel! It’s great!

[@Dina8485]

Hello! This movie was terrible!! When Jacks mom died I was glad!!! Thank you both for explaining the original

[@raaid22]

I am enjoying it

[@MrSamwise25]

I have a rather different take on the movie adaptation. I discovered the play by first watching the movie, and I really liked it! I loved the music and characters and themes. I watched the play's recording afterwards, and I enjoyed it more. But, I'm still not really bothered by the same things you were. The movie does a lot of things I like! For me, there's one big problem with the movie adaptation: it's not clear when the second act starts. It makes the part of the movie after the first act feel strange, tacked on, and dragging the first time you watch it. I think this could have been fixed by including the reprise of the intro "into the woods" song. It needed to be clear that we were starting a whole new set of conflicts.

[@averyeml]

What bugs me the most about the movie is that Into the Woods has such humor and they cast a bunch of actors who would have CRUSHED it if it’d been comedic, but then went dark and straight and weird.

[@iisgreen6930]

Exactly, like you went ultra-realistic and cut down the humor, but then cast James Corden?

[@francescaoyanedel4895]

you're so right wow what a waste

[@yukikanegawa7470]

@@iisgreen6930 It's so weird for him to be in so many musicals. He's not a good actor or singer and he's not all that well liked either is he? Like he has Carpool Karaoke but that's basically it and no one watches that for James they watch for the guests. If anything the more he participates vocally the more the comments are about how annoying he is and how he's talking over the person they're there for.

[@ethethespian6374]

@@yukikanegawa7470 it makes no sense, especially in his most recent role

[@mithramusic5909]

The criticism of this movie never makes much sense to me. It's usually criticized for leaning AWAY from the darkness of the musical, but now the problem is it didn't leave the humor in. Idk, i loved the movie, and that's after years of loving the show. I think the adaptation was fantastic.

[@MissingSirius]

The worst crime of the movie, to me, was giving Rapunzel a happy ending. It completely knee capped Last Midnight. The witch has to be right in some sense.

[@Lovelyduck10]

Poor Rapunzel cant catch a break

[@overlydramaticpanda]

Giving Rapunzel a happy ending completely screwed over Rapunzel, her Prince and the Witch's entire character progression in the second act. In the show, Rapunzel going nuts and dying isn't just a random choice to make things darker and edgier in the second act -the entire second half of the story is about the characters facing the various consequences of their actions; the consequences of the Witch's treatment of Rapunzel for both of them go way above and beyond an "I hate you and I'm leaving home so there!" teenage tantrum which is how it comes across in the movie. The Witch was an abusive mother and it directly results in her daughter losing her mind and dying (quite possibly committing suicide depending on the staging) right in front of her. The show even explicitly says as much when Rapunzel tells the Witch "because of the way you treated me, I'll never never be happy". There's a clear and understandable reason why the Witch then becomes so mercenary about sacrificing Jack - you're not meant to agree with her but it's understandable why she's going off the deep end; in the movie, there's no real reason for why she's suddenly all "I wanna kill this random little boy who's done nothing to me because...I suddenly care very much that people I don't care about are dying, I guess..?" and it's ridiculously jarring that the film is suddenly pushing the audience to feel so much sympathy for her when she's just an abusive mother whose daughter has escaped her clutches. But then god knows Modern-Disney - the company that built its entire reputation off the back of its founder's desire to consistently push the boundaries of what could be shown and accomplished in family entertainment - can't risk traumatising the kiddies by killing off one of their precious princesses or even hinting that marriage to a handsome prince *won't* just magically cure all the trauma that comes from growing up with an abusive parent... Also, aging down Jack really screws up his development as well. Plus it makes Giants In The Sky unintentionally far more creepy than it should be...

[@karinasharma3632]

yes.

[@juliawhitmore3991]

Exactly. She's not good, she's not nice, she's just right.

[@jackal59]

@@juliawhitmore3991 The first time I heard that line sung, it floored me.

[@lora1002]

As someone who’s never seen the show and only saw the movie adaptation... you could have never convinced me it was a comedy HOLY SHI- Disney messed up with this one.

[@sp8cescience433]

Same

[@BluesMoth64]

Yeah I had no idea it was a comedy!!

[@Sofia-re3hj]

you HAVE to watch the show, it's so funny! there's a recording here on youtube

[@megelizabeth9492]

Kind of, anyway. The first half (act) is more comedic, while the second is a bit more serious, with comedic moments.

[@kentinson1670]

Holy fuck, it's supposed to be comedic? Shit, how the fuck did Disney managed to do that?

[@Moonstar79]

The director of the film bragging to the creators of the original show about how his adaptation did better than their stage musical ON CHRISTMAS felt like an asshat move

[@monicapetras8227]

I agree completely “hey remember your very successful musical that you gave us rights to adapt. Well more people have watched it in two days than ever saw the stage show 😙”

[@julbird2115]

And it’s such an unfair comparison, too

[@lafinoutloud]

@@julbird2115no it truly is, movie theaters are so much more accessible/cheaper than plays are.

[@phousefilms]

@@monicapetras8227 It's easier to have people watch it more in two days if you add all the theatres playing it in theatres across the world, lol. Much more brave to do an on stage performance where you don't get second takes and cuts.

[@mickipellerano111]

good call. what a tool that guy is.

[@houston_co7769]

Not gonna lie the agony scene in the movie makes me laugh everytime I see it

[@dillonohlemiller9027]

That’s the ONLY scene they nailed

[@OverLordJenn]

It was the only time I laughed when I watched it. Like they hammed it up and it was great

[@sosha20]

there are some things about the film i enjoy, but tbh it's not much--a few lyric changes, agony, and a few sets pieces

[@GrainneMhaol]

Chris Pine is unreasonably charismatic.

[@lanagievski1540]

The only scene memorable enough for me to remember

[@Hello-pp3hl]

Disney's biggest issue is they don't determine the audience they try to appeal to. They want new people to experience classics, but at the same time try to appeal to people who already know the originals, and end up confusing and upsetting both audiences

[@crimsonmask3819]

Nah, this was just butchery. It could have brought a great story to an audience averse to watching the stage production, but instead, it gutted that story and created a movie that serves no purpose, if not deterring people from ever seeing the original.

[@kentonbaird1723]

Hmmm, what do I google to see how well the movie performed in China~?

[@LaDracul]

It turns out there was always plans for a feature film since the '90s...they REALLY should have done it then before this mountain of bad decisions.

[@crimsonmask3819]

@Ty The Great It significantly isn't, though. I'm not saying that the movie doesn't do a great job adapting what it (faithfully) does, but it's deeply cut, and the narrative changes are not all trivial.

[@nanalove3819]

For me the issue is more that they don't get why people like the show in the first place. And because of that, they completely miss the point.

[@hychro]

You missed out something else that got cut. When the Baker tries to get Milky-White to follow him and just picks up the prop instead. It’s one of my favourite jokes in the original show!

[@vitraartist2622]

I remember seeing some failed production where the cows leg flies off into the audience and it was hysterical

[@celebrityguest.9530]

god i love that part

[@artisannoteworthy]

I loved that they were so aware. Like the characters KNEW it was all a story, IN the show.

[@nathancreek6086]

That and the "two tears miraculously fell into his eyes and cured his blindness" *Rapunzel forcefully sobs directly into each of his eyes* are the two best jokes that couldn't work in the movie because they used a real cow and didn't have a narrator

[@hychro]

@@nathancreek6086 well they did have a narrator, just not a physical one

[@alexp.d3689]

You forgot to mention that by not killing Rapunzel the witch becomes just a selfish ashole than someone who wants to save more lifes... In the original she says " Wake up ,people are dying all around you ,you are not the only one to suffer a loss ... When you're dead you're dead ,it's time to get this boy to the giant before we are all dead meat ... " In the movie she doesn't suffer a loss cause of the giant ,and she comes out as selfish

[@clementine1827]

Trueee

[@IngenuousSoprano]

The Witch's Lament has much less of an impact too. It just doesn't cut as deep if it's not after Rapunzel dies.

[@cbrownjc7633]

Last Midnight, my favorite song in the show, just doesn't hit the same way when Rapunzel isn't dead. In the stage show, The Witch sings that song because, after having watched Rapunzel die, she just does not give a FU*K anymore - the others won't let her give Jack to the Giant and, in some small way, avenge Rapunzel's death. Why does she even care that she can't give Jack to the Giant in the movie? She hasn't lost anyone. She could have just left them all earlier to go and find Rapunzel, who's still alive out there somewhere. The whole motivation for WHY The Witch is so angry and sings Last Midnight is completely gone with the way the film did it.

[@IngenuousSoprano]

@@cbrownjc7633 this. Yes. You understand it completely.

[@Laylia_]

I remember being shocked that rapunzel didn’t die in the film because I was certain in one of the teaser advertisement pictures they shared they showed her laying down in what looked like a foot print.

[@nokocchi1983]

*no more james corden in movie musicals. society has progressed past the need for james corden in movie musicals. actually there was never a need in the first place*

[@jackdonohue7893]

He was good in Into the Woods though.

[@aylaandemily3591]

@@jackdonohue7893 very good idk why people didnt like him :(

[@wordswarsandsymphonies]

yes please ugh he was such a drag in the prom

[@expendableindigo9639]

This movie was so bad it made James Corden look like a good actor by comparison. I actually think he's a good fit for the baker, because the plot is making fun of him and (from what I remember) he's never goofing around alone on-screen and hogging the camera like Adam Sandler or Jack Black or his other movies.

[@aylaandemily3591]

@@expendableindigo9639 lmfao the movie was so good and there was nothing wrong with james cordens performance i do i agree that couldve gotten someone else to play the role but i think he excecuted it well.

[@Iamjustherek]

.I was PISSED when they cut the narrator! I loved the 4th wall break of them feeding him to the giant because when I first saw the musical I was so blown away by the twist lol

[@crstph]

ITS NUTS-that moment where he says something and everyone goes quiet and just..Looks at him. AND THEN KILL HIM AND DOOM THEMSELVES TO NOT HAVING STRUCTURE OR A GUARANTEED ENDING ANYMORE AND U WATCHING LIKE WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED???

[@jamingrythm584]

True, but like to be fair how would you incorporate that into a movie. It works on stage, but it being in a movie would be weird.

[@frostfang1]

@@jamingrythm584 well movies have narrator's sometimes. Usually it's the MC, Raya is the most recent Disney movie to do it... You can go real cliche with it, someone reading the book aloud, and maybe you see them like a ghost physically observing what's going on and singing about it while holding the book. Maybe when they are alone singing they get more corporeal but when the characters are there they are less so, sometimes only being a voice, but then the characters look at them for that scene...and bam corpreal...and then they start to run away, drop the book, the book disappears and the characters are on em.

[@jamingrythm584]

@@frostfang1 I know movies have narrators, but most don't have them as seperate physical characters, which is why I thought would be kind of weird, especially with the approach that Disney went with. But ya, that idea could work maybe, although the narrator doesn't have any songs, so maybe kind of a Series of Unfortunate Events narrator type thing would probably work well

[@Turt3752]

@@jamingrythm584 I’d like to note that Monty Python and the Holy Grail did have a scenario when an old historian narrator man is randomly murdered by a character. In that it’s played for laughs because it fucks up the time period of the movie. Ofc Monty Python is nearly total nonsense so eh

[@Watergirl22196]

I feel like you've gotta have the Agony Reprise in the movie because without it in the film the Prince seducing the Baker's Wife really comes out of nowhere especially since there's no time skip in the film so like literally the day the Prince gets married he's ready to get his infidelity on.

[@pedroxqui]

yeah, that's the song that reveals the true nature of the princes, they like to conquer, get bored and move on. God knows how many fairy tales they seduced in the woods befores and after

[@ladyshar42]

I missed this one so much. It almost ruined the whole thing for me honestly.

[@Nuttycomputer]

The reprise also echos the theme where everyone gets their wish but still aren’t happy. The Princes get their “dream” girls but aren’t happy. I think if you cut the reprise you have to cut agony completely. Otherwise the Princes don’t get their act 2 wish regret.

[@merlinthetuna]

The weirdest thing is (having only seen the movie), I vaguely recall there being an Agony Reprise where the princes mention how bored they are of marriage, and now watching this I'm wondering whether it's a ~2 line exchange or whether I fabricated that memory wholecloth.

[@Strawation]

@@merlinthetuna Pretty sure it was a 2 line exchange when they passed by each other on horses (while looking for their wives)

[@hollyberryblue3642]

SO GLAD to hear someone talking about how casting Jack as an actual child in the film ruins the jokes and the dynamic with his mother!! Like, I feel like one could argue that in the stage/broadway production they casted an adult bc it would be easier to not have an actual child in that kind of stage performance, for logistics sake, but I feel like if Jack was actually meant to be really young they could've found an adult actor that seemed a lot younger? Just feels like yet another thing that points to how Jack being on the older side of childhood (like you said, teens, maybe twenties), is kinda what MAKES his character, imo I probably feel strongly about it bc Jack is one of my favorites from into the woods :') & "giants in the sky" is also one of my fav numbers from the show (I can't imagine the number of times I have listened to "a very nice prince" and "first midnight" just to get the giants in the sky part, since they're all a single track, or just skipped forward altogether lmao)

[@EmmieHunny]

I agree. Jack is supposed to be 18 and Red is supposed to be 16. There’s a lot of stuff lost in the film by casting them as preteens.

[@ffarff]

Jacks my favourite too and they did him so wrong. A character that's so sweet and just not into reality forced by his own actions to and deal with the grimmest stuff of life as an adult. I Guess This Is Goodbye is the highlight for me, I was so annoyed to see it chopped. That one short song beautiful sentimental and dark humour all in one.

[@overlydramaticpanda]

Jack being aged down was probably one of two things that *immediately* pissed me off about the film (the other being the decision to give Rapunzel a happy ending). Jack's entire story arc is about him actually needing to grow up, act his age and take responsibility of his own life and decisions, and having an actual 12 year old going through that arc is genuinely ridiculous since a 12 year old really can't be expected to take care of themselves. In the show, the Mysterious Man shouts at him for being told what to do by his mother, even saying "a boy your age" with the implication that he's clearly too old to be being treated like a little boy; after the Giantess attacks the village, he tells his mother that he wants to hunt for her and even says that "[he's] a man now"; even the entire resolution of his arc has him asking who's going to look after him, the Baker saying that it's time for him to look after himself and then Jack rejecting Little Red's offer to be his new "mother" by saying he just wants a friend (and a pet). They really couldn't have made more clear that Jack is *not* supposed to be an actual child and is instead an immature and somewhat dense young man in his mid-teens at the *very* least if they tried. Hell, the lyrics of Giants In The Sky basically have the innuendo running through it that equates his experience up the beanstalk and stealing from the Giant to a guy who sleeps with a married woman and is almost caught by the woman's husband. Having Jack be a literal child completely misses the point of his entire character to an almost insane degree, plus it just makes Giants In The Sky incredibly creepy rather than endearing. It's like having a literal child sing Not While I'm Around from Sweeney Todd when that song is also full of pretty blatant Oedipal subtext-- oh wait...

[@taylor33tv54]

I can’t stand giants in the sky in the movie and I always mute or skip. I dunno why it just annoys me so much and gets stuck in my head but not in a good way. But it sounds so much better in the musical I don’t know what it is but I could actually not only tolerate but enjoy it. Also yeah changing Jack’s age completely wrecked his character, I loved him in the musical

[@kabiraltaf]

Agreed. Jack being a teenager in the show makes the line "and she gives you food and she gives you rest/and she draws you close to her giant breast" have a whole another meaning.

[@dommitchell4319]

Can we also talk about how aging down Little Red and Jack completely undermines their arc, especially Jack's?

[@technopoptart]

i dunno, red was pretty close to where she was supposed to be and her lack of worldliness is not harmed by it in the least still not ok with jack tho'

[@EveryDayALittleDeath]

Red wasn't aged down much, and I don't think it hurts her arc at all, but they completely ruined Jack by aging him down. Like yes Daniel Huttlestone is a talented young actor but he's TOO young.

[@ladyshar42]

@@EveryDayALittleDeath they had originally cast a very young girl for Red and it caused a huge controversary b/c they had already cast Johnny Depp as The Wolf. When that news hit, everyone was like "you can't have Johnny Depp singing "Hello Little Girl" to a 8 yr old." Just too creepy. Both Red and Jack are supposed to be teens.

[@Strawation]

@@ladyshar42 But Little Red Riding Hood's original tale is about pedophiles/adults who are into minors. "Just too creepy" feels like a weird point to make when that is the point.

[@brayermoth]

@@Strawation again she's young, but not supposed to be an actual child. When you have an adult man singing Hello Little Girl to an actual little girl it pushes past campy and a little uncomfortable into unneeded grossness. You're confronting this reality with the audience not bitch slapping them with it.

[@lunatickgeo]

Cutting out the Narrator/Mysterious Man also takes away one of the most subtle yet sublime piece of writing in the end, when the Baker's Wife tells the Baker to "Just calm the child. Look, tell him the story of how it all happened ..." and he starts telling the story with how the Narrator starts the play, it comes full circle. The Baker is the Narrator, who is played by the same actor as the Mysterious Man, who is the Baker's father. He has become his father but in a good way, because he has not run away. The Witch then coming in with Children Will Listen just hammers the point home. Marshall only saw the superficial "oh look Cinderella and Jack and Little Red are all in the same story!" and either ignored or was incapable of seeing the heart of the play.

[@SabinaCabanero]

Technically the baker’s father’s spirit came but not him as A mysterious man. In the musical His identity isn’t revealed until they make the potion

[@hannahbrennan2131]

My biggest gripe with the movie is that they completely missed the whimsical, farcical tone of the musical. Also, they tried to give the movie a darker tone, but they also took out some of the darker elements of the show. It's almost as if a company whose bread and butter it is to sanitize dark fairy tales was the wrong company to adapt a musical that returns those fairy tales to their dark roots and makes fun of them. Disney isn't capable of that kind of nuance.

[@partiallyvoid]

Exactly! Into the Woods' whole theme was subverting the whole fairytale trope (ironically by going back to the roots of the original tales) but it also achieved this in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek yet uplifting manner. The musical is kind of a masterclass at balancing tone in my opinion. It manages to critique fairytales while still retaining enough humour, optimism, and whimsy to be considered a fairytale (in the popular sense) itself and that's such a hard thing to achieve.

[@cranberryrosebud]

I bet Disney will make a Shrek remake at some point, and cut out the 70% of jokes at fairytales' expense.

[@megelizabeth9492]

nto the Woods was always going to difficult to translate to the medium of film, since so much of the humor, and even story structure itself is based in musical theatre conventions and realities, tbh.

[@Enriqueta_Fuentes]

I will say that Lilla Crawford did a good job as Red Riding Hood, you can clearly see that she has Broadway training and I think she leaned into the camp very well

[@oconnell.shannon]

She was also Annie

[@kassiogomes8498]

Everyone did a great job. They are wonderful actors.

[@watermelon1835]

Lilla Crawford was fantastic, I also loved Huttlestone as Jack

[@vegpuppy255]

I think they cast Little Red and Jack too young, in the movie. I’ve always read their characters as being on the verge of adulthood; 15-17 age-range. I find that, if they are played in that age-range, the characters can have a broader and more fulfilling arc. The “teens” in the play seem to need to have the arc of growth in the play, but I find, if the characters are cast too young, the arc is more sad, because of all of the death and destruction and the kids being too young to process that big of a trauma, rather than teenagers losing their innocence and learning to cope and grow up in such an imperfect world. Personally, I relate more to teens learning to grow up and mature in a very imperfect world rather than pre-teen kids being forced to grow up way too early and beyond their capacity. That’s just sad, not hopeful.

[@mchastings]

I thought both Jack and Red were spectacular acting but the absolute wrong casting choices for the roles. Not due to anything they did wrong but just due to the nature of the story for their original ages. You could maybe get away with it with Little Red but Jack was unforgiveable.

[@newtpollution]

Bless you for talking about the pit orchestra. As a former pit monkey we get overlooked a LOT despite how vital the orchestra is to the stage musical

[@mylesm4335]

We appreciate you!!

[@donnadoddridge1788]

As a fellow former pit monkey I agree, it’s nice being appreciated for all the hard work that the pit does

[@annikorpi2895]

I played Rapunzel in our college production of Into the Woods, and at the end of the second to last performance, one of the orchestra players asked me why I got the biggest laugh at the end of the show. Because he could never see it, but was curious to know what was consistently funny. 😂 As I sang the last theme for Rapunzel, I would just abruptly stop and dead pan the audience before I walked away. It got them every time. Lol.

[@donnadoddridge1788]

@@annikorpi2895 That is one thing that kind of sucks about being in the pit, we can't really see the performance (I would go up and sneak peeks when I wasn't playing, but I never got to see the full show) so we would just have to interpret the dialogue and what was happening by audience reactions. A lot still remains a mystery lol

[@newtpollution]

@@donnadoddridge1788 I'm a bassist and through sheer luck of where I'm situated in the pit, often got to catch glimpses of the show whenever a particular number finds itself at the very edge of the stage. Over the years I've gotten to see the majority of "Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, the very end of the villager's song ("Kill the beast!") in Beauty and the Beast, a few random bits of Valjean solos from Les Mis, and one or two of Reno's songs from Anything Goes, but would I love to just once get to watch the whole damn show and not whatever's hanging over the edge while I have a few measures of rest.

[@hospitalgal101]

Not to mention how the film totally ignored the fact that the wolf and Cinderella's Prince are supposed to be played by the same actor but we already know the movie was throwing themes out the window.

[@EmmieHunny]

The wolf and Cinderella’s Prince are played by the same actor, but they are not the same character. That kind of thing works well to help sell narrative and nuance on a stage, but a movie is too in-your-face for that kind of thing, because it would confuse the audience.

[@hospitalgal101]

@@EmmieHunny I wasn’t saying they were the same character. I get your point, but it’s one of the reasons I don’t think Into The Woods is a good candidate for a film adaptation

[@megelizabeth9492]

That's just more of an original cast president than anything else, and probably isn't meant to have symbolism beyond that.

[@hospitalgal101]

@@megelizabeth9492 I don't know, I haven't seen tons of versions of the show but it is definitely more than just simply being a precedent set by the OBC. It ABSOLUTELY carries a lot of symbolism within the show.

[@aidangarrett8170]

I play the wolf in my theatre's into the woods show, but I don't play Cinderella's prince. That might be because I'm a girl, but the point is it doesn't always happen

[@hayleymarks5224]

here after Sideways' recommendation! You're about to gain a BUTT TON of views my dude

[@TajFaerie]

SAME!

[@QUSAI1996_]

I even subscribed

[@wes4439]

Same 😀

[@cspd1151]

Lol same

[@fernandoalvarez3782]

saaamee

[@IvoirePunk]

Agony was the one single moment in this movie that was PERFECTION. The level of ham and camp was fantastic. I still pull it up occasionally to rewatch on its own. Other than that I liked the sets and most of the costuming. (Needed to be brightened though) And you honestly just cannot have Into the Woods without Bernadette.

[@Soroboruo]

The bit where they're splashing around and ripping open shirts and going "oh he ripped his shirt so I guess I... do that but more???" is so freaking hysterical. Honestly pretty much all that stuck with me from the movie.

[@IvoirePunk]

@@Soroboruo EXACTLY! It was the best scene in that movie (and one of the best movie musical adaptation scenes period)

[@fc7777fc]

Agony is so strangely the only part of the movie that's even close to what the musical is actually supposed to be, and it makes me question the movie so much more because there was clearly someone around who had some grasp of the source material if that scene was able to happen

[@IvoirePunk]

@@fc7777fc seriously like at least a couple of people actually seemed to understand or came close to it

[@dontyellatme369]

100% agree. The performance really captured the absurdness of the princes and their stories to a T and was hilarious. Another thing I liked was their interpretation of On The Steps Of The Palace. I love Kim Crosby and how whimsical her performance was, but the way they set up Cinderella on the actual steps of the palace stuck in pitch and getting to see her make the decision in real time was really enjoyable. I have literally no other good things to say about the movie.

[@turbonerdo6838]

2:05 Sideways vids on the top of the recommended tab. "Now the circle is complete. Once I was the apprentice, now I am the master"

[@Lemieux_channel]

“Bernadette Peters is basically the equivalent of Jesus.” As a theatre kid... *I can confirm*

[@FritzFoxPirate]

She is amazing

[@oliverdelica2289]

Fair enough

[@krose6451]

Have you seen her preformance of No On Is Alone? Ive listened to it too many times.

[@mervyngreene6687]

Pretty much....

[@imjustdandy9799]

I agree that Meryl Strep was the stand out performance in the movie, which was shocking to me because I’ve seen the Mama Mia movie... she really put in the work on her vocal training.

[@sosha20]

truth

[@ladyshar42]

I was pleasantly surprised by her as the Witch. Went in expecting to be underwhelmed.

[@scottjohnson5415]

She probably did the crap Mama Mia movie to pay off a mortgage. She started out in theatre, and I think she knew she had to honor a Sondheim production by stepping up to the plate.

[@amanda1271]

@@scottjohnson5415 thank god you said it. I got to the second number in mama mia and couldn't keep watching because it was just so bad. Every time i hear someone talk about it they're just singing its praises and i thought i was insane for not liking it

[@Maerahn]

Oh my god, thank you so much for saying that! I thought I was the cattiest bitch in the world for thinking her singing in Mamma Mia was WOEFUL - I cringed SO HARD through her 'rendition' of 'The Winner Takes It All - but now at least I can say I wasn't alone. Christine Baranski's performance of 'Does Your Mama Know?' was the one saving grace of that movie for me - she nailed it, because, unlike everyone else, who seemed to be under the illusion they were Bringing The Broadway Experience, she embraced the full-on, campy nature of what she was doing and ran with it.

[@fatimagic1365]

"ensuring his cast could carry a tune was almost secondary" this, along with the inexplicable "gritty realism" trend is a big part of why so many recent movie musicals fall flat. i'm totally not trying to sound like a theater snob when i say this, but the performers in a movie musical should, first and foremost, be able to sing in a way that fits the part. say what you will about lin-manuel miranda, but at the very least, he casts theater people in theatrical roles and (unlike, say, tom hooper) he's not visibly embarrassed to be making musicals. like, i don't think that's asking for much.

[@DoraG99]

I relate to your James Corden disdain lmao

[@donnadoddridge1788]

Especially after Cats lol

[@lazergecko1346]

I literally just get tired of hearing his voice. There are barely any modern musical adaptions of some of my favorite shows that don’t have him in it. It’s just annoying

[@DoraG99]

@@lazergecko1346 saaaaame! There's so many things I see where I'm like "hmm I'd like to check this out" then I see him in the trailer and I'm like "nope!"

[@michaelroth237]

I don't get his appeal at all.

[@jaycee330]

They should have gotten Nathan Lane instead.

[@LOONACORE]

In Anna Kendrick's defence she was an ex-broadway performer since the age of 12 and performed in musicals for about a decade before moving to film. That being said, having transitioned to film, I'd imagine it'd be quite difficult to maintain a theatre performance voice if you're not actively practising regularly

[@Pandemonioxo]

Yeah thats whats hilarious is james Corden started doing musicals on the west end and Broadway LMAOOO i feel like Ana gave a very good vocal performance and part of it comes from the fact the director just seemed to tone down the whole…musical aspect of the musical, which i can imagine was very limiting. Its clear they didnt want the actors to really disappear in their roles like you do on stage either. They wanted you to watch Anna Kendrick being Cinderella, not watch Cinderella in a movie.

[@lafinoutloud]

I think she performed well. Her and Meryl Streep had the best vocal performances imp

[@nimeshsingh4943]

@@Pandemonioxo Agreed- the makeup and costuming is just not hitting. Hollywood always just banks on big name casting for musicals bc people are stupid and don't pay to see musicals otherwise.

[@johnfregosi6202]

If only they did it in the live action storybook style of “The Princess Bride”

[@swimmyswim417]

With hilarious self-awareness and the characters playing off of the narrator’s commentary? Hell yeah, that’d be fantastic. The Princess Bride is also a parody of traditional fairytale adventures, so adopting the same tongue in cheek humor for Into the Woods would make for a far more entertaining and loyal adaptation to film.

[@almightycinder]

I think it needed something like Rocky Horror Picture Show. The way the movie did the criminologist.

[@nathancreek6086]

The version they did at the Regents Park theatre (that's the version I saw it in I don't know if it originated somewhere else) has a Princess Bride style set up with a kid being the narrator who ran away from home into the woods and is telling himself the story and it's so good and would have worked so well for the movie where a narrator could easily come off as too cheesy

[@teodorapetkovic]

Wait they slowed down the songs in the movie? I never noticed that! No wonder it dragged despite being shorter than the musical

[@na1959]

your fault probably got slowed down because of the sudden age rating change. The musical is for adults. The movie is for kids. Kids wouldn't be able to follow the fast paced tempo of your fault and thus wouldn't understand what the characters are saying. I'm thinking, most of the problems would have been solved if the movie had the same age rating as the musical. Then the songs would have been fastened and it'd created more time to add the elements that were missing.

[@teodorapetkovic]

@@na1959 the fact they aimed it for kids is probably 30% of all problems, really. Too bad the other 70% comes to weird casting and 'realism'

[@na1959]

@@teodorapetkovic honestly, I think you can be realistic AND add humor... Plus, the actors would be so great at it..they're all great comedy actors..

[@IngenuousSoprano]

When Paper Mill did a revival of Drood, they slowed that down too.

[@EmmieHunny]

@@na1959 I think they slowed it down for the sake of the ACTORS. Sondheim is the most difficult Broadway music there is. James Corden wouldn’t have been able to do it, for sure. Anna Kendrick maybe could have done it, but then the other two in the number were actual children (instead of the older teenagers they are written to be in the libretto).

[@GippyHappy]

I think Agony is the best part of the movie. It's the only time the actors actually seem to be having fun and believably interact with each other. They also get to move around the environment and play around in the water, which is a good example of improving something through adaptation rather than just adapting it 1 to 1

[@heneedsloveoooh]

''stop asking me questions i cant answer'' has a similar vibe to ''dont ask me questions im frightened of questions'' and i hope people get that reference

[@human_collector0]

;) Welcome to Falsetto land.

[@Gracehasyoutube]

Yesssss. Chip (the actor who played the baker in the musical) also played Mendel in the original production of Falsettos.

[@mamaumbridge2272]

@@Gracehasyoutube he also played marvin in In Trousers

[@cascharles3838]

Ayyy that's what I thought

[@FritzMonorail]

MENDEL

[@ColtraneAndRain]

The anatomically "correct" wolf on stage was so uncomfortable and perfect! And Jack being a 20 something basically living in his mother's basement was a perfect counter point to Children Will Listen. I didn't hate the movie, but I loved the stage show.

[@daveatron_]

such an odd adaptation. they cast a bunch of actors who have been in tonnes of funny roles, and then they just...... took out all the humour and didn't allow them to be funny??? bizarre

[@artisannoteworthy]

Agreed. I'm most mad about Depp. He's a funny guy, AND he can sing. Tim Burtons Sweeney Todd is easily one of the highest rated (modern) movie adaptations because it was so close to the Broadway version. Things had to be cut, but it was clear Depp and Burton already loved the source material, and were respectful about it. Depp went through SO many singing lessons to do it right, and the guy CRUSHED it. He HAS the talent; but the movie ItW just killed the characters and pace. I'd pay just about anything to see him return as the Wolf AS the Broadway version. Hell, give him the role of the Baker or Narrator and he would kill. But the tempo ruined so many fun, funny and MEANINGFUL songs and pacing....

[@marieking5969]

I’m going to say that “your fault” in the movie made me die inside a little. That’s all I even remembered about it. Also the lack of narrator kind of killed the fun.

[@gypsymelon]

Killing the narrator off was so great and unexpected in the play--what a shame to drop it from the movie

[@jimmckee771]

What's worse is they still had voice over narration and it was from James Corden for some reason.

[@seronimo__7735]

@@jimmckee771 I guess the implication is that it was all him telling his son the story at the end?

[@riyak.7393]

@@seronimo__7735 ehh, I feel like that's a little of an overused trope. Is that just me?

[@cranberryrosebud]

@@jimmckee771 If only they'd fed James Corden to the giant...

[@Error403HRD]

I hated the movie and didn't realize it was a stage musical, so now i have to watch it in its original form

[@roza2633]

it's on youtube and honestly so much better! so have fun watching

[@EveryDayALittleDeath]

Please do, the stage musical is brilliant and beautiful

Please check it out on KZbin! I've watched it many times, while the movie itself I can't bring myself to watch it until the end. The stage recording is endlessly entertaining

[@sentientshadow126]

@ I was the same and didn't even know the movie was an adaptation. I watched it with some family and by the end of the first act we were all basically thinking, "Oh, finally it's over." Then act two rears it's head and we all collectively go, "There's more?! Nope." To this day it's literally the only movie I could see to the end (and I watched The Last Airbender's film adaptation). I may consider watching the musical but that sorta live-show isn't much my schtick and the movie's definitely soured me on it (even with the foreknowledge that the play is infinitely better); to this day the phrase "into the woods" regardless of context doesn't sit right with me. Perhaps an overreaction but I saw the cast and we were hyped and then we got... well, that.

[@yeonsung30ryeo]

@@sentientshadow126 Yo I feel you coz I felt the same way when I saw the cast. Totally disappointed with the movie. Found the stage musical and it's my favourite thing now. Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife was a riot. She's just so funny.

[@MarySamios]

The one thing that bothered me the most about the movie was that the Wolf was a separate casting from Cinderella's Prince Charming. The double casting of Wolf/Charming was such a statement, I found its loss downright heartbreaking.

[@pokemata1035]

To be faiiiirr Johnny Depp made a killer wolf........you take some and you leave some....

[@dillonohlemiller9027]

The two songs they nailed: On The Steps Of The Palace and Agony

[@tealversace]

Anna's broadway history really comes through in her delivery of steps imo

[@mattman15]

And Last Midnight.

[@blankadams3120]

I don't remember laughing in the first act of the movie until "I need your slipper so I can have a baby!" In the play, I was laughing at the witch during her 'Greens' lines...

[@katiehowell2537]

The payoff of that line when Cinderella sees the bakers with their baby is so golden too, Anna Kendrick's face is the best

[@aliceduren6542]

Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, *J A M E S C O R D E N*

[@syra1541]

ikr

[@thomholbrook7286]

Missed the thing that broke the movie for me. The play takes advantage of the proscenium arch. Plays aren't as real. There is more of an agreement between cast and audience that we know this isn't "real". And Into The Woods takes advantage of being able to have the characters being a bit more 2D. They're in a fairy tale world. Well, until they kill the narrator. Then the play let's everything shift to being more real world. And that's key. Fun first half, a real world life-is-rough second half. But the movie is just one tone start to end. All real feeling. I saw the movie first and after the halfway point I was confused why the movie kept going. Seemed wrapped up but didn't stop. Because the narrator being killed and the tone shift weren't there to signal that everything had changed.

[@megelizabeth9492]

Yeah, a lot of the show is just so engrained in the conventions of live theatre, trying to make it work on film without a significant reworking, is like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. What works on stage, will not necessarily translate to film and vice versa. Like, even the structure of the play itself is dependent on having a clearly defined act break, in order to allow the audience to reset, and show that time has passed in story.

[@Pandemonioxo]

I think it wouldve been so brilliant if they used 2D animation and played with the trope of the old disney animated princess movies and fairy tales and slowly had it become darker and more grounded to reality, playing with the tropes of the new disney live action remakes. It wouldve been so incredible on such a meta level!!! Especially coming directly from disney!!!!

[@thomholbrook7286]

Ooh. I never thought about animation being used as a "stage." Like using animation to set the fictional world and then maybe transitioning to fully live action when things get "real."

[@leonidesbabanto1585]

@@thomholbrook7286 that was kinda what happened with Enchanted, isn't it? The fictional, fairy tale-like world is all animated in 2D, but it becomes fully live action in the real world. it could have worked with into the woods too now that I think about it

[@jesuiszrr]

I'm here from Sideways!

[@obiwankenobi9141]

Me too!

[@jesuiszrr]

@@obiwankenobi9141 🙌🏽

[@flynnmorrow6945]

Yup!

[@randallcarissa]

*b e a n* *t h e m e*

[@MissMCwuffles]

I feel like I’ve been waiting years for someone to make a video like this - the play lends itself so well to bright colors, and a sense of comedic fantasy, even in the darker moments - and I hated how Disney threw it out the window for the most part

[@caittails]

I know this video is almost a year old, but Sideways just referenced it and AAH I CAN'T AGREE MORE! I've already shared it all over the place, so look out for a huge bump in views (hopefully)!

[@pauline1809]

do u not watch videos older than a year

[@aquadropuwu5190]

You know, the "Stop asking me questions I can't answer!", despite being far less literal (and in most angles, less mature) than "It's not that easy." It's actually the best and most mature answer anyone can give. Because there IS no answer, no one can answer the question of what objective "good" is and that is the theme of the song. It's so artistic and gave me a new look on just how awkward this adaptation decides what to censer and what not to including this line(by removing all subtlety), the very thing this song speaks against.

[@lollypop123452]

TBF I think Into the woods would make a fantastic animated movie, if given a proper budget and director.

[@sosha20]

howard ashman (the man behind the music in the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, and a few numbers in aladdin) had a whole argument that animated works best for musical adaptations because they're on the same level as stage when it comes to suspension of disbelief

[@robofistsrevenge3288]

I'm 90% sure it was supposed to be an animated musical at some point in the early 90s (I _believe_ directed by Jim Henson but can't recall) with people like Robin Williams, Danny Devito, Goldie Hawn, Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, and flipping Cher attached. Would've been fascinating to say the least.

[@JPLEYONKO4]

@@robofistsrevenge3288 oh, that's a tragedy it never was made. That's a big Hollywood regret. And they could've casted broadway actors/voice actors who can sing, do the singing parts. No autotune needed.

[@maia_gaia]

Omg never forget when in Les Mis, they cast all the students from actors who had previously played Marius.... Like the talent that went to waste ....

[@hisnameisbruno9310]

I will never understand why Fra Fee wasn't Marius

[@maia_gaia]

@@hisnameisbruno9310 yes!!! Like don't get me wrong Eddy Redmayne wasnt as bad as some of the other cast members, but when he's singing with people who are just so clearly more trained, it's jarring. Of course, a lot of those issues would be better covered if they hadn't been SINGING LIVE

[@cijmo]

Eddy redeemed himself with his Empty Chairs but all the Valjeans and students who played background characters. Aaron was a great Enjolras because, while he hadn't played the role, he is a big Broadway star. And the Thenardiers! There were so many better than those two.

[@hisnameisbruno9310]

@@cijmo I agree that Eddie did a great job with Empty Chairs, but I just don't buy him in his scenes where he's supposed to be in love. I think it's because the live singing was a terrible idea, but he always looks unsure of himself. I think probably his worst scene with that is Red and Black, but that might be bc the rest of Les Amis outshines him in their solos.

[@nathancreek6086]

The background talent of Les Mis is incredible... Eponine, Enjoloras, Gavroche, the bishop, the students, lovely ladies, factory workers, turning women and peasants are all actual theatre actors and then they ruined it by shoving Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne into the lead roles. Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter did kind of work for the Thernadiers tho (much better than they were in Sweeney Todd at least)

[@rowandunning6877]

i feel like just by virtue of the play's message, it doesn't work as a movie. Like the whole point is that the first act ends with everything already seemingly resolved which is a thing that doesn't happen with musicals, but like...it does happen with movies. I mean you could make two movies but like even then, movies rarely end on cliffhangers while first acts of musicals almost always do to some extent. You're supposed to have intermission going like, "what the hell is the second act gonna be, everything's been resolved." You don't walk out of a movie theater saying that cause movies don't usually end on cliffhangers

[@annabelcrescibene4257]

It’d be interesting if it was almost like the cursed child play where it’s in two parts but your supposed to see them as close to back to back as possible.

[@crstph]

fun fact: i went to a performing arts summer camp and we only did the first act ahsjnsjsbd

[@InkHeart17]

The first time I saw the play at my college, I thought the end of the first act was the end of the play since it had a happy resolution and I walked out to the parking lot. Then I thought of the playbill I had been given and I was sure I'd read that there was supposed to be an intermission so I went back. The ushers probably thought I'd just taken a smoke break b/c they let me back in and I was just in time to see act two begin.

[@IkeOkerekeNews]

Many movies end on cliffhangers, the fuck?

[@erinchristman2669]

I think it could have been done creatively... Happily ever after, camera pulls away, credits start rolling and then...enter giant.

[@anjelicafami7369]

Do the people who make stage-to-screen musical adaptations watch at least one musical? And digest the musical? And research what in the world is a musical? What makes a musical a musical? And what makes the musical so magical? And why the stage is so magical? Like??????????

[@CreoTan]

SO MANY movie adaptations of musicals are made by people who DONT LIKE MUSICALS for some FUCKING reason, it's the most frustrating thing in the world bc they'll literally miss the entire POINT. The music is the POINT of a MUSICAL

[@IngenuousSoprano]

Short answer: ... I don't think so. Unless it's Chicago. Chicago had a great adaptation.

[@jaycee330]

@@IngenuousSoprano But it was directed by the SAME DIRECTOR, who should have done a much better job than this mess.

[@amandalynn4979]

My answer: Unless it's Chicago, Tick Tick Boom, or In The Heights, I don't think so.

[@jrpggolf]

To be fair, this movie means I can technically call Anna Kendrick my favorite Disney Princess.

[@baddealdude807]

this overwrites all valid criticism

[@redactedredacted6656]

I blame Les Mis for the gritty and drab Into The Woods film

[@OfficialROZWBRAZEL]

Basically blame Tom Hooper

[@emilyglass6625]

I enjoyed most of the Into the Woods movie on the first viewing, but on the second time through I realized that it’s take on the second act seemed to crush out all the moral ambivalence that gives the original its meaning. These characters are huge rationalizers. (The emotional arc that you have to portray, rapid-fire, to get through “Moments in the Woods” blows my mind. She is simultaneously caught up in feelings about all her repressed dreams and desires while talking herself into the conclusion that infidelity to her husband will sweeten her life with her husband by making her appreciate it more - ye gods, the complexity!) All the protagonists are so lovable and relatable, but they all have feet of clay, yo. Their songs often end in pat conclusions, but those conclusions aren’t like victories or pure happy endings. They’re what the characters need to say to themselves in order to move forward. “No One Is Alone” is BOTH genuinely beautiful and real and intimate (the “people make mistakes!” passage breaks me every time) and also desperate and ambivalent at the same time. The characters are about to do an us vs them thing at the same moment they are trying not to pass on that message to the next generation. It’s not cynical. It’s pure pathos. If you play these same songs and strip out the helplessness or the too-desperate cheer, they’re not just less meaningful, I think they actually get a little monstrous and inhumane... Btw, the omission that bothered me the most, after “No More,” which is essential, is the Act I finale. I get the Witch/Stepsisters bit stuck in my head so hard but it’s too challenging for me to sing so I just butcher it humming to myself whenever the earworm strikes lol. I also love the “you have to act”/“you can’t just act, you have to listen” dyad probably more than all of “Children Will Listen,” even.

[@ffarff]

Was pretty disappointing you can't just act felt like an afterthought in the credits instead of the conclusion message.

[@DrummerMiles]

It's criminal that they cut No More out. I couldn't agree more that it's the most important part of the whole damn show. Great video

[@twilitvigil5066]

You know, I'm one of those people who saw the movie without ever having heard of the original and also thought it was pretty meh. I even passed up a chance to go see a school production of it because I thought that the story, while interesting in concept, kinda sucked. This makes me really wanna see the original, though, so thank you! It's on KZbin, right?

[@Snugboy]

It sure is! Definitely give it a shot. It still might not be your thing if you don’t like musicals, but the singing and zaniness is a lot less jarring because the medium supports it.

[@LudySanchez96]

One of my favorite part of the musical is when the baker grabs the cow by a handle on top and run with it like a suitcase, and thats such a good gag to add in the movie but they went all "serious,dark and realistic" that sucks.

[@megelizabeth9492]

That gag just wouldn't work on film, I don't think. Live theatre can get away with stuff like that because it's less "real" than film. Since plays, by nature, are performed on stages to an audience and are somewhat limited to that space, there is an implicit agreement between the players and the audience to suspend our disbelief, despite the obvious "unreality" of it all. With movies, it's a little different. Since film is being presented as "Real Life", you have to earn suspension of disbelief, and it's much easier to loose it.

[@BlindTruths]

Except Anna Kendrick started on the stage she didn’t start in the movies like what she’s most well known for as far as I can understand is what was Camp or something? To be honest I thought she was the only one that was even remotely decent other than Chris Pine.

[@ColorOfSakura]

Anna Kendrick was definitely a stage performer first and had her biggest film acting credit in Camp for a long time, but she became a big breakout star because of a little movie called Pitch Perfect. That said, she easily has one of the most standout performances in the film version of Into the Woods, but sadly I think the adaptive choices made didn't help her out.

[@alfredstevens5276]

She had a bona fide Tony nomination at age 10. At the awards she sang “Life upon the wicked stage” with the unsavory looking Cabaret Girls. Google that perf.

[@erinchristman2669]

Not to mention this brings it full circle. Stephen Sondheim actually appeared in Camp, attending the performance when Anna's character sings "Ladies Who Lunch." She is brilliant in it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWncaqOEps-nmJI

[@LaDracul]

She can't act. Let's stop pretending she can.

[@BlindTruths]

@@LaDracul lol okay, Donald. Say that to her Tony award and Academy Award nominations.

[@reeselemaster2316]

the fact that into the woods won best original score over the icon that is phantom of the opera just serves as a testament to sondheim's incredible talent. even though it's not nearly as epic and showy as phantom, into the woods' subtle orchestral melodies create the perfect world for the show

[@SithLadyDarhVamp]

This is how I feel about Phantom and the 2004 movie, compared to the 25th anniversary recording. I feel you.

[@felicitysmoak3757]

I never saw the movie but when you said that they cut out the narrator, my jaw dropped

[@AG_KEMPER]

I fell in love with this show in high school, and it quickly became one of my favorite shows. My mom didn't get why I loved it, as she saw it live in the 80s and just...didn't get it. For some reason, she loved the movie version and doesn't get why I don't like it. Thank you for putting my feelings into words!

[@aidangarrett8170]

I saw the movie before the stage musical, but I still knew that the stage musical came first. The original is so much better. I love funny stuff and the movie was just not funny at all.

[@CuckooKukri]

You were WAY nicer than I would be. I feel like Disney missed the entire point of this musical and it hurts me.

[@Pupppeteer]

4:15 haha imagine training your life to be the best and James Corden outruns you!

[@Snugboy]

lmaoo

[@CrazyChiks1000]

I recently rewatched the adaption remembering it being okay but as soon as they jumped straight into act two; I remembered why I had only watched it once before. I was flabbergasted by the choice to cut the Baker's Father as No More genuinely makes me emotional every time I hear it. It's such an amazing song and it's integral for the story especially the second act. Plus the change to Rapunzel's story made me almost scream in theaters when I saw it. That is so important for The Witch's character and why she's SO apathetic later and destroys the message of her last song at the end of musical as she had to learn the hard way that children will listen to everything you say and parenting effects the child and can lead to consequences to both parties. While I get it's Disney, Rapunzel dying is a must, it's not something that can be changed; her running away isn't big enough for the Witch's character arc. There's a reasons she's even more apathetic and frustrated in The Last Midnight and it's because while she was a terrible parent to Rapunzel, she was ALL she had and I think deep down was dependent on this daughter and did love her. It's just such a shame because Into the Woods is a musical I saw locally about 8 times and I cried at the end every time. It's such a deep and complex musical that really hits home for me and the adaption might be one of the worst I've seen.

[@clairemarx6049]

11:25 Don't ask me questions! I'm frightened of questions!

[@Snugboy]

HAHA

[@selectedshipper8282]

We stan falsettos in this house

[@geniehossain3738]

This is a top tier comment 🤣 HEPAtitus hepatitis?!?

[@Alice-nl4wq]

Every time I remember that they cut no more I get angry all over again, also I love the chip zien recognition here he’s one of my favorite actors. His “no it isn’t” in your fault has so much weight to it and says so much while James’s is just eh in my opinion

[@cecilietejno5544]

This was terrific, and helped me understand why I couldn’t get through the movie adaptation. I was lucky to watch the original cast on Broadway and even though I was 6-7(?) the show had me cackling the whole way through.

[@daniella_otsuki]

I'm glad you said you liked Meryl Streep performance. I just watched the musical and had watched the movie years ago. I agree in all the points you make, this musical could've been so good on screen but a lot of it got lost in the translation. I feel like I experienced a whole different piece. The baker and his wife's dynamic, the narrator, the characters age's... There so many things. But I still think I like Meryl Streep's witch more than Bernadette's. I can't exactly explain. Her performance is so nuanced plus I particularly liked her "last midnight", contrary to the other songs I think slowing it down made it better. And I love her "you're so nice..."

[@henrique5231]

I remember feeling that the movie just draaagged ooon for ages 😩 but watching the stage version with the original cast I don't get that feeling at all!!! By the way, Sideways also brought me here! 🤗

[@otterzrkuhl]

Always appreciate a Sierra Boggess shoutout.

[@nathanforester5993]

This musical's adaptation had been in development for years and originally way back in the 90s it was going to have a cast consisting of Robin Williams, Cher, and David Bowie among others.

[@amandalynn4979]

WE COULD HAVE HAD ROBIN WILLIAMS PLAY THE BAKER?!

[@isaacrichter3269]

Into the Woods simply doesn't work on film... or at least not in the modern mainstream movie format. The biggest hurdle to overcome is that Into the Woods is a show that depends on its intermission to achieve its desired effect. The audience gets an intermission to recalibrate between the tone of the more whimsical tone of first act and the darker tone of the second act, and since a movie doesn't provide an intermission, then the tone shift was always going to be quite jarring (it's also why both Ever After and the Act II opening were going to be cut no matter what). That's also leaving aside the fact that the material was never going to work as a Disney movie and the fact that the big fanbase meant they were going to try to fit as much of the musical experience as they could into the film. This adaptation never really stood a chance. That still doesn't excuse them removing the Mysterious Man, and yet keeping every beat that he was essential for without adapting them accordingly.

[@IngenuousSoprano]

Very interesting point and perfectly valid! Perhaps if they did it more like how we used to do movie musicals (e.g. My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof), with the intermission and if they had really promoted it as a full on event, it would have had a chance.

[@bfish89ryuhayabusa]

I know at least one modern movie had an intermission. I think it was either Moulin Rouge or Chicago.

[@Attmay]

Something else boomers got rid of for no good reason.

[@Lollovovisossa7]

I watched the movie a little while back and i didnt even understand it was supposed to be comical until 2/3 in. I thought it would be a dark somewhat serious adventure type musical, thats how bad they botched this movie adaptation. It makes so much more sense now knowing about the original musical.

[@DisneyAndSpiritLover]

Not including the reprise of "Agony" was a crime!

[@letmehaveaonelettername.]

THATS WHY I DONT REMEMBER IT!! i watched the movie first and only just watched the og musical on youtube and i was so surprised when i heard the reprise!!

[@nokocchi1983]

i love into the woods so much ;-; its so important to me. great video!!!

[@Snugboy]

me too!! and thank you!!!

[@KavanBahrami]

Agony reprise also served as solid worldbuilding, looping in additional fairy tales into the mix. Greatly missed by me.

[@timothymcqueen3408]

How does each real life human look like a rubbery cgi motion capture monster? How do you fucking achieve that?

[@Snugboy]

lmaooooooooo

[@claytonsackett8237]

I agree with everything that you said! Big fan of the musical. Great job consolidating all of those thoughts. I do, however, disagree with you when you said that it was ok to cut the Agony Reprise. This is the first time that we've seen the princes openly be unfaithful. Without this the 'Moment In The Woods' song kind of comes out of left field. This is especially needed if you have a different actor for the wolf and Cinderella's Prince. Being slightly aloof is not the same as being unfaithful and this song spells it out for the audience in a way that is humorous and sad. It shows how unhappy they both are with their princesses now that time has passed. (One of my major gripes with the movie is how for instance Baker's wife gets pregnant immediately and we move on into Act 2. The characters have to live with the decisions that they've made in order for the consequences to those decisions and their choices in Act 2 to feel earned.)

[@kelseyt3807]

I agree that witch's relationship with Rapunzel was good in the film however I haaaated Meryl's performance of Last Midnight. It's hard to beat Bernadette Peters but she brought this youthful tone to the singing while Meryl's fell flat. It didn't move me as much. That also could be though that over all I cared for the character's less in the movie adaptation. I remember bringing my friends to the showing of the movie cause I love Into the Woods, they all had no experience with the show. They all thought it was "long, dark, and pointless."

[@silentsmurf]

Came here after Sideways referenced you and then I realized I just recently watched your Marriage Story/Being Alive video. Hope to see more Sondheim and musical theatre videos from you, they are really fantastic and well thought out.

[@user36able]

Lilla Crawford (Red Riding Hood), Anna Kendrick (Cinderella) had both performed lead roles in Broadway musicals before acting in this. Anna had been in High Society and A Little Night Music, as well as a musical version of Jane Eyre and the musical movie Camp. Lilla had been in Annie - as ANNIE - and in Ragtime. (In fact, Anna was at one point, one of the youngest people to have ever been nominated for a Tony.) Daniel Huttlestone (who plays Jack) had been in stage versions of Les Mis and Oliver (playing the lead) and he had also been in the movie version of Les Mis, where he had to sing live. These people are experienced performers who have had to sing extremely well, eight times a week. They can definitely sing. Disney apparently just - likes to use autotune, in order to make the singers' voices more uniform or something.

[@Attmay]

I'll never say a bad thing about Dame Gladys Cooper's singing again.

[@notoriouslybratty]

Cutting ‘No More’ is the most unforgivable thing.

[@roza2633]

here from sideways, i really love this video! movie versions are such a hit or miss (usually miss...) i wish broadway stages were more available considering how many people can't ever see them live, so i really appreciate that there is a video of into the woods... thus... no one needed the movie

[@matthewdalessandro5975]

Came from Sideways and man this nails so much of what I hated from watching the movie. Thank you! I don't know why they tried to shoot it straight, the humour is the point. And the narrator dying is a great part of the story, it shows just how unhinged things are finally getting for the characters. Could never understand why they'd cut that. And you were so right on the Baker's song to his dad, cutting his dad in general just shows they didn't understand the point of the show but I remember when I gave the movie a chance, being so mad watching James Corden cry over the song I wanted to hear!!

[@abiroro]

the recap of what they cut with the sound edit was HILARIOUS. im subscribing. (also i have to point out that i came from Sideways' video like everyone else here lmfao)

[@larrywells8804]

And now I'm going to go rewatch into the woods. Play version.

[@sarahcb3142]

My biggest issue when I saw it in theaters was the complete shift in tone. In theaters it went from a fairy tale comedy to dark comedy/tragedy and that contrast between the first and second act is what makes this musical so great imo. I mean, they literally murder the narrator of the story and now it's not a safe fairy tale with a guaranteed happy ending anymore but the characters are now free to delve into anarchy, murder, infidelity and existential crisis. In the movie, it's a dark and bleak story set in realism (not fairy tale like at all) with hints of comedic relief (not a comedy). So when the characters start doing all these bad things you're like "well yeah, they've always been like this." There's no tone shift, no shift from fairy tale to more realistic conflict and the characters don't suddenly take matters into their own hands because they've been free agents the entire time. It's a total tonal misstep that changes the emotional impact of the story leaving it a hollow shell of its former self. Another huge thing is changing the characters. The video mentioned changing Jack's mother from a loving but frustrated woman into a horrible abusive one and Jack from a bumbling adult into an innocent kind child but there are more. For one, Red Riding Hood and the Wolf was really uncomfortable. In the musical Red is definitely young and bratty but she's clearly a woman. She's been spoiled her whole life and it's her arrogance that gets her in trouble with the charming masculine wolf who's definitely still a predator but the tone is different. In the movie Jonny Depp plays an Uber creepy pedophile (all comedy removed) that stalks a self centered but overall kind girl (a child) who is uncomfortable and trying to escape (a total reversal from Red being somewhat taken with the Wolf in the musical). It's just kinda gross. There's plenty of others bit that duo's change really stood out to me. Plus I agree with all the things said in this video too! Choosing celebrities over broadway actors, auto tuning a music driven plot, slowing down the frantic pace to one that drags, toning down character actions when it gets to the darker second half, and removing all mortal ambiguity and turning it into a Disney life lesson.

[@EvaSofie]

Sondheim prefers actors who can sing, which is what most of these actors are. The creator of this video does a disservice to this cast by ignoring that at least half of them from Broadway, and most are good singers with experience or just a surprise. other than a select few (Chris Pine). This is just not an example of that.

[@withalittlehelpfrom3]

Movies like this are why I'm so grateful In The Heights exists, and was made to be on the silver screen! Yes, the casting controversy is real and valid-AND the movie is just really good.

[@mightyasterisk8333]

Hey this was fantastic. Into the Woods the PBS version is absolutely incredible

[@phineasfacingfront7806]

On my first time watching this film, I was someone who had no idea about the existence of Broadway, I fully went into this thinking it was an original piece of work. I was quite pleased by the movie till the wedding and then the whole earthquake giant thing happened. believe me when I say it quickly became my FAVORITE movie for a loong time, then I discovered it was a Broadway musical adaptation, thus birthing my fairly long phase as a musical theatre version of a 'weeb'. lol good or bad adaptation this movie definitely helped in waking up a side of me I never knew existed, my love for musicals stared because of this movie.

[@LemonHayd]

the film holds a soft spot in my heart because it introduced me to the far superior version :#)

[@DaveTexas]

I saw the original production of Into the Woods on Broadway in early 1988. It was a truly life-changing event for me. Joanna Gleason and Chip Zien were phenomenal! I was seated next to Kim Crosby’s (Cinderella) husband and young daughter, too, which made the experience that much more special, especially when the daughter called out "Mommy!" When Cinderella first appeared onstage. In addition to this, I’m a professional musician who works exclusively in live theatre - opera, to be specific - and so I fully understand what goes into producing and performing in live stage musicals. Rehearsal after rehearsal, performance after performance, having to continually remind yourself that you must make every performance feel fresh and new for your audience. You might have done the show dozens or hundreds of times, but many in your audience have never seen the show before and you want them to be as entranced and enchanted by your performance as the opening-night audience found it. All that’s to say that I refused to see the movie because I knew I would be completely disappointed by it. I’m almost always terribly let down by movie adaptations of musicals/operas, especially post-1970s. Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp was an abomination. I love Into the Woods more than I love Sweeney Todd, so there was no way I was going to taint my memory of seeing the original production by seeing something…inferior. I saw the first national touring company of Into the Woods and became irrationally enraged by the way they switched the Baker & Baker’s Wife’s house position with Cinderella’s house. It was a relatively minuscule change, but it upset me so much that I’ve never dared see the show again. (I’m on the autism spectrum here and I get very, very, very bothered by change of any sort. It’s why, after seeing Michael Crawford, Steve Barton, and Sarah Brightman in Phantom shortly after it opened in New York in 1988, I’ve never watched any production - or the film adaptation - of Phantom. I don’t want to do something that would poison my memory of the original cast performing the show.) I’m so glad we have the PBS presentation of Into the Woods to preserve the magic that was the original production. I saw Chess on Broadway during its seven-week run and wish we had a visual record of that production to watch any time we’d like. I know it was filmed because there were multiple high-end professional video cameras set up around the theatre when we saw the show, but I’ve never been able to find who produced the video recording or what was ever done with that recording. I suppose it was just done for archival purposes, but it sure would be great to have a copy of it…

[@Snugboy]

@@DaveTexas thank you for this lovely comment! appreciated reading it. I believe that a lot of Broadway shows are filmed for archival purposes and are stored at the Lincoln library or something a rather in New York City. Maybe could try there for that chess run? Thank you for watching!

[@c.w.r.794]

The second half of the stage show is an hour and a half, whereas the second half of the film is 50 minutes.

[@MCmaraudeurs]

Great video! Very well produced and you made your opinion very clear! I haven't seen Into The Woods in any form, nor did I see any Walt Disney musical adaptation, but I love video essays so you catched my attention right at the start until the very end Keep up the good work

[@MrHammers]

This is crazy! I don't really dig musicals all that much, but it's crazy to see how much Hollywood can butcher a musical even with such a "talented" cast. Great stuff man

[@Snugboy]

Glad you enjoyed even if it’s something g you’re not into!

[@cerrida82]

Their next project is Once On This Island, my other favorite musical. I'm worried.

[@tomemeornottomeme1864]

Honestly I really don't like musicals either, but I *adore* Into the Woods.

[@heartlightintuition]

Thank you so much. This movie broke my heart, especially the missing narrator and mysterious father (who by the way, are played by the same actor in the original). The moment when the narrator dies was actually more than just a hilarious joke to me (it was that too). It is also a vital part of an enormous and very rapid shift in tone, that begins when we learn of the first character death (I think it's Rapunzel). From being a fun, fluffy silly show, suddenly we learn that characters can die randomly, and then almost immediately, the narrator himself dies, leaving the story telling to be carried by the characters themselves. This sets us up for the profound mood of "No One Is Alone" as the characters realise that they aren't alone and that they are responsible for the outcome, together. For anyone who have only seen the movie, I beg you to try the original. It's an utterly different story and so worth a watch.

[@pedroxqui]

Just a minor correction... I wouldn't say that rapunzel is too emotional... after all her traumas, she obviously has some serious PTSD... and I would add that at some point she doesn't have her twins anymore and seems to get worst... why? idk, but could be another huge trauma

[@4dultw1thj0b]

Well yeah, but that's how the prince sees her since he doesn't have the depth or empathy to understand what she's going through.

[@EmmieHunny]

I think Rapunzel suffers from postpartum depression and no one is willing to stop and actually listen to her distress and dismisses it. The PTSD doesn’t help, either.

[@tomemeornottomeme1864]

@@EmmieHunny I mean, to be fair, they are in the middle of an apocalypse.

[@Elphiyero10]

Well, yes, that's obviously the case, but the point is that the prince DOES think she's too emotional and that's why he leaves her. Because he's a jerk.

[@EmmieHunny]

@@tomemeornottomeme1864 She was that way and her prince was already trying to get with Snow White before the giantess came.

[@percysowner]

I'm obviously way, way late to the party, but I am so glad that way back when I bought the CD of the Broadway production of Into The Woods. I was looking forward to the movie, but never saw it due to reviews. I still revisit the original and am waiting for my grandkids to become old enough to finally see and appreciate it.

[@kiraalldredge48]

Here from sideways! I'm excited to watch this!!

[@ricky_or_robin2]

the year this movie came out my sister wanted a copy of it for christmas and our parents got us the stage musical by mistake, it was a blessing in disguise

[@kailikesboba4490]

The studio autotune on No One Is Alone made me so sad it felt like it took away from the performance

[@digifreak90]

"Your Fault" drives me nuts in the movie. Not only does the tempo drag like crazy, but the singing is emotionless (except for Meryl's one line in that song).