This film seems too crude to be a Disney film, which must be why it is rated P.G. (Parental Guidance Suggested), but it is. The worst parts were Rapunzel's adoptive mother, the Witch (played by Meryl Streep) using the term "raping" figuratively, and the Big, Bad Wolf (played by Johnny Depp) talking about Little Red Riding Hood's lack of "lumps" in a lecherous tone. It is also ominously sexist when Cinderella's Prince tells a woman that he can physically capture his own damsel.
To link these fairy tales, James Lapine (who wrote the play and the screenplay), has the Witch send a barren couple (a Baker and his wife, played by James Corden and Emily Blunt, respectively) on a quest to collect a hood as red as blood, such as Little Red Riding Hood's red riding hood, a cow as white as milk, such as Jack's milky white cow, a golden slipper such as one of Cinderella's slippers, and hair as yellow as corn, such as Rapunzel's, to remove the curse so that the Bakers can have a child. Little Red Riding Hood is a gluttonous shoplifter, played by Lilla Crawford. Jack is played by Daniel Huttlestone. Rapunzel is played by Mackenzie Mauzy.
To further link the fairy tales, the Baker inherited magic beans from his father, who was the man who stole rampion from the Witch's garden in the original fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhem). in the original fairy tale, the Witch was an enchantress named Dame Gothel. In this James Lapine version, the Witch tells the Baker that his father stole the magic beans from her, which caused her to appear to be less of an enchantress and more of an old witch. As a result, the Witch tells the Baker, she punished the Baker's father by cursing his entire lineage with barrenness. Her motive for offering to remove this curse is to appear young and enchanting again, which she can do if she obtains the red riding hood, the milky white cow, the golden slipper, and the hair as yellow as corn. The catch is that she may not touch any of these ingredients herself.
When the Baker prepares to go into the woods, in search of the ingredients, his wife offers him his father's coat, which he refuses, but his wife discovers the magic beans still in one of its pockets. She keeps them, and eventually ends up using them to barter for Jack's milky white cow.
Jack's mother (played by Tracy Ullman) is not amused when he returns home with five beans instead of five "pounds" (presumably British, given the accents of the actors) so, thinking that the beans are useless, she throws them onto the ground around her home.
Placing this tale in the British empire is another example of James Lapine taking literary license, since the the Brothers Grimm were German, and their tales grim accounts of events in places which Germany would eventually include. The English word "grim" is derived from the Dutch word "grim" and the German equivalent, "Grimm."
Having served with the United States Army in what was West Germany before the Berlin Wall fell, I had the opportunity of seeing for myself the tower, in Bräunsdorf ("Brown's Village"), from which Rapunzel allegedly let down her golden hair, as well as the famous musicians' Bremen Town, and the famous Pied Piper's Hamelin (Hameln, in German).
Also, in the original fairy tale, Jack takes the initiative to sell his mother's cow the first day it failed to give milk, whereas, in this version, Jack regards his mother's cow, Milky White, as his best, male friend, despite his mother's repeated attempts to explain to him that only female cows give milk.
The morning after Jack's mother tosses the magic beans, Jack discovers a beanstalk has grown where beans were, and climbs it to discover a Giant, from whom he steals golden items, making several trips up and down the beanstalk, and finally chopping it down, causing the Giant to fall to his death. In the original fairy tale, the Giant murders Jack's father, and takes possession of all of his belongings, so Jack merely reclaims what would rightfully be his inheritance. In Jame Lapine's version, Jack is merely a thief and a murderer.
James Lapine incorporates two princes in his version of these events: one for Cinderella, and another for Rapunzel. He has one of them address the other as "good brother," which supplies a logical explanation for how these princes are contemporaries in the same kingdom wherein lie "the woods" where Rapunzel lets down her golden hair, Red Riding Hood meets the Wolf, Jack sells his cow, and Cinderella relinquishes one of her golden slippers to the Baker's wife for her last magic bean.
As in the original fairy tale of Cinderella, the Crown Prince has a festival with a ball three nights in a row, and Cinderella attends the ball each of the three nights. In another Disney version of this fairy tale, Cinderella wears glass slippers. In the original version, Cinderella wears satin and silver slippers on the first night, and golden slippers on the third. No mention is made of the material in her shoes the second night, but her attire is more glorious each night than the previous. In this version, however, Cinderella wears the same attire, including golden slippers, all three nights, and flees into the woods. On the first night, the Baker's wife notices that her slippers are gold, as required to lift the Witch's curse. On the second night, she attempts but fails to take one of the slippers by force, and on the third night, she trades both of her shoes for the one Cinderella still has after leaving the other stuck in the pitch her Prince has spread on the steps in an attempt to prevent her from escaping his clutches when she chooses.
Fortunately, the two Princes seem to agree that Cinderella's Prince is destined to inherit their kingdom, so there is no quarrel between them, except over whose beloved is more captivating. Cinderella marries her prince, and Rapunzel's tears heal her Prince's eyes (after her mother blinds him), and they might all live happily ever, but they don't.
Instead, a series of unfortunate events occurs. For example, the Giant's wife arrives, begins destroying the kingdom, and threatens to destroy more of it unless she obtains Jack so she can avenge her husband's death. Also, Cinderella's Prince attempts to seduce the Baker's wife.
Personally, I found Meryl Streep's acting the most entertaining, although all of the actors in this production are very talented actors and singers. I especially enjoy how curt and to the point the Witch is. For example, when the Baker and his wife argue about losing the cow, she interrupts by screeching, "Whooooooooooooooooooo cares? Cow's gone. Get it back!" Towards the end of the show, when most of the members of the cast are blaming each other for various woes, she is the only one who proves willing to accept the blame and move on to the decision at hand: to sacrifice Jack to the Giant's wife in order to save the rest of them, or to withhold the boy and risk almost certain annihilation.
Some of the characters stop to contemplate and sympathize with the points of view of the Giant's wife and the Witch, but remain "at odds" with them anyway.
Will the Baker's wife succumb to the Prince's wiles? Will the Giant's wife avenge her husband's death by killing Jack? Who, if anyone, will live happily ever after? Watch "Into the Woods" to find out!
Review by William Mortensen Vaughan
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