December 25th cannot get here fast enough, and I am not talking about finding out what Santa puts under the Christmas tree! Into The Woods hits theaters on that wonderful day, and if I wasn’t excited about this musical hitting the big screen before, well, let’s just say I may be singing along to the Into The Woods OBCR soundtrack post-featurette viewing while I write this.

(OBCR means Original Broadway Cast Recording in case you aren’t familiar.)

The new featurette hit Entertainment Weekly yesterday along with a selection of new images that include behind the scenes moments, character design, and set concepts in addition to movie stills. Take a minute here and watch the video. It’s just a few minutes long. I’ll wait.

HOW FREAKING AWESOME DOES THAT LOOK!? Considering Rob Marshall is in the director’s chair and Stephen Sondheim‘s holding the conductor’s baton firmly in hand, this musical theater fan is pretty comfortable embracing enthusiastic gushing over the potential of this big screen adaptation. Meryl Streep herself talks about the “musical quality” that Marshall possesses, and the enthusiasm from all the actors over the ensemble nature of the cast and how they have worked together is encouraging.

Did you catch Johnny Depp howling?

Unlike the previous trailer for the movie, this featurette gives a lovely glimpse at the music and vocals we can expect to carry us right into the woods alongside the characters. And despite many doubts that have been expressed by fans and the media over the Disney-fication of the stage show that is decidedly not G-rated, I think it’s safe to say some of the less kid-friendly plot lines will get some expression even if they’re not spot on identical. You did notice that was Emily Blunt‘s Baker’s Wife that Chris Pine‘s Prince Charming was kissing at one point, right?

Now that you’re as excited as I am, here’s a gallery of the new images that were released, too. Tell us which fairy tale you’re most looking forward to in the comments below!

Source: EW