'Into the Woods' Premiere Date: December 25, 2014, Character Names Retained By Disney
Disney is set to premiere their first adaptation of a Broadway musical, "Into the Woods" which will scheduled to hit the screens on Dec. 25 later this year. The film was adapted from a Tony award-winning musical of the same name, which was written by Stephen Sondheim and based on a book by James Lapine.
The adaptation has been made into a fantasy genre film where it centers on a childless couple setting out to rid themselves of a curse placed upon them by a vengeful witch. The Broadway play, while being an original musical score, has a story with characters taken from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
Disney's take on the Broadway musical is set in an alternate world of various Brothers Grimm fairy tales where a Baker and his wife must travel throughout the various fairy tale worlds such as "The Little Red Riding Hood," or "Rapunzel" and "Cinderella." The interactions of the childless couple with the various fairy tale characters turns a simple hunt for items into a meaningful tale about responsibility, the problems with wishes, and the legacy that we leave our children.
The plot is pretty straightforward and will feature the talents of Meryl Streep as The Witch, Emily Blunt as the Baker's wife, and James Corden as the Baker himself. Other stars making their appearance in the film are Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, and Chris Pine.
Disney has decided to retain the names of the characters instead of having them changed to their Disney counterparts. Rapunzel's prince in the original musical for example was intended to be named Flynn Rider based on the 2010 Disney animated film "Tangled," but they decided against it and instead kept the original names.
