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First Trailer for INTO THE WOODS, a Musical, Has Zero Singing or Songs

Behold! The first trailer for Disney’s Into The Woods, directed by Rob Marshall. The movie is based on the musical of the same name written by James Lapine and legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Set in fairytale land, Into The Woods sees familiar characters who set out on a journey, only to have their paths eventually cross in, you guessed it, the woods. As you might imagine, things get complicated rather quickly.

First and foremost, and I speak on behalf of many of us at Nerdist: Where is all the singing?!

This is still a musical, right? So, uh, what happened to… oh, I don’t know, the musical aspects of the musical?

 

If you’re not a Sondheim fan (and if you’re not, join us!), all this trailer shows us is your basic fairytale movie. On the one hand, it does look gorgeous. I love the costume design and the beanstalk effect, and what little we saw of the Giant and the Wolf, but… there wasn’t a single hint that this is one of the best musicals of all time! It’s especially shocking when you consider the director is known for (and credited in the trailer as) the guy who brought you Chicago.

Outside of that unfortunate omission, the movie looks great.

 

Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) looks beautiful, yet believably broken from years of abuse at the hands of her stepmother.

 

 

The beanstalk and the casting of a young Jack and the Giant are all wonderfully realized, and I appreciate that Rapunzel basically looks like she walked out of Disney’s animated version.

 

I wasn’t sure about James Corben and Emily Blunt as the Baker and his Wife, but now that I’ve seen them in costume and in their kitchen I’m sold… although I’d still like to see her sing something. The Baker’s Wife is one of my favorite characters in the stage version of the show, so I’m hoping her movie counterpart is handled with respect.

 

Chris Pine as The Prince is… well, yeah. I mean, he’s Chris Pine, so he looks like royalty. Again, it would be nice to hear him sing. I’m not even sure if “Agony” is even in the movie still, but if it is (and it should be) I hope Pine can knock it out of the park.

 

We got another good look at Meryl Streep as the witch…

 

This is the only glimpse of Johnny Depp as The Big Bad Wolf, and it seems promising. Like he’ll be some kind of lecherous hipster.

 

And The Giant looks like, well, a giant. So that’s spot on!

Seem like all the elements are in place, with the exception of the recently announced cut subplot between the Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. I have to admit when the score kicked in towards the end of the trailer it got me pumped to see this on the big screen. That said, I must insist the next trailer have at least ONE song! If Disney needs a suggestion, I would probably start with “Giants in the Sky” and then fade into the ending of the “Prologue” with quick cuts from the film. That’s just me though, and I’m no hotshot movie producer, so what do I know?

What do YOU know? Got a better song suggestion? Did you hate this trailer? Did you love it? Did you watch it on mute while humming the score from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar? If you did any of these things (especially that last one) tell me about it on Twitter or in the comments below.

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Comments

  1. Jesse says:

    I understand that you don’t want to show off all of the music but at least show some of it to SELL the movie.  There is so much great music in the Show that you can have some in the trailer while still saving the big numbers.  it’s not like les miserables where you don’t really need to show all the music because everyone knows the main songs.  even they played part of i dreamed a dream in the teaser. people need to hear the music if they want people to want to see the movie.

  2. Sharon Anne says:

    Well… it just goes to show that you can’t go into these things with predetermined expectations. You have to look at this as a new story (based on an old one) with new twists and turns by this specific team of producer/directors. “heavy sigh”

  3. Molly says:

    I’m a huge Sondheim fan (played Charlotte in a production of A Little Night Music), but I am so furious by the deaths, songs, and relationships which have been edited out for this movie I cannot bear to see it. I am so incredibly disappointed Sondheim sold out for the Disney cash.

  4. I am a HUGE Sondheim fan and played The Baker’s Wife in a production years ago, and I am really bummed out by this trailer. Not sure if I can bear to watch what Disney does to this. 🙁

  5. JustinHoskie says:

    Seems a downright shame. Seems an awful waste!
    Such a nice, plump frame
    Wot’s ‘is name has…
    Had…
    Has!
    Nor it can’t be traced……

  6. Jeff Barbose says:

    Yeah, but how breathtaking does Chris Pine look?!?