Into the Woods 90's film script

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 9:13pm

Does anyone have a copy of the attempt to make ITW a flim in the 90s? I'm really curious to read it and how it compares to the movie. It would also just be fun to read.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 9:14pm

All I've seen around of that incarnation are demos of "Rainbows" and "I Wish," the two new songs written for it. Neither are particularly missed in this adaptation, or anywhere.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 9:21pm

Does anyone have a link to the demo of "I Wish?"

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 9:50pm

The only things I could say about the 90's film script (which I read and from what little I can remember) that it was a REALLY kid-friendly version of INTO THE WOODS, it cut a lot of the dark elements out, the Witch is more wicked in it, and the ending was an absolute insult to what Sondheim and Lapine created on stage.

"I Wish" was basically the prologue but just The Baker and his Wife singing and no one else (except for the Witch). Plus the Wife hiding in the Giant's (who is a man in that version) hair throughout the end of the film and reunites with The Baker to raise their child together.... NO! Just.....no.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 10:03pm

Musical Master do you know anywhere one could read the script?

[Len6677]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 10:09pm

That sounds God-awful, and would have been a huge insult to the original work. Sadly though, I am sure some of these people leaving reviews on IMDB and Fandango would have much preferred it.

[BroadwayNerd24601]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 10:32pm

"Several confusions of the play have been fixed. For example, Rapunzel is no longer related to the Baker, nor does she give birth to twins, so the question of why the family curse didn't affect her has been erased.

At the end of the first “act,” the Giant rises from his fall and goes on a rampage, allowing the rest of the story to unfold more-or-less as it did in Act II of the play. The intricate back stories of the Baker's father and the witch's mother have been deleted, eliminating "No More" and changing a bit of "Last Midnight." There is no "second bean," so the Baker's wife's scenes with Cinderella are fairly different. Finally, at the very end of the movie the wife reappears, having tricked the Giant into thinking she was dead.

Strangely, there has been no effort to integrate “Children Will Listen” into the action. Rather, the camera just switches to a shot of the witch singing the song against a backdrop of Rapunzel's tower, followed by a montage of the survivors going about their lives after the giant."

This was in a mental floss article.


Link Updated On: 12/29/14 at 10:32 PM

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 10:34pm

God that sounded awful.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 10:40pm

Actually, "I Wish" is a big ensemble song with random villagers piping in with their own wishes.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 10:47pm

@broadwayboy223, I'm sorry, I can't remember where I found it but it was online a year ago.

@icecreambenjamin, Yes. I most certainly agree with you and the fact that "Children Will Listen" was going to be done like that shows that the writers who wrote it didn't quite get the show. Thank goodness that James Lapine wrote his screenplay for the film we all know and love instead of that disastrous mess!

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 11:10pm

Well if you happen to remember where you found it let me know.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 11:25pm

I read somewhere that since Henson was named executive producer, all animals (including the Cow and the Wolf) were going to be muppet-like puppets...

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 11:39pm

Okay the Cow I understand but the Wolf? I don't think that idea could ever work, it has to be a live actor dressed up like a wolf; it gets the creeper factor in more (just like how Johnny Depp did it in the film).

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 11:41pm

What makes this even worse is that reportedly Sondheim thought the script was "really, really good" What the hell was he on.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 11:54pm

Additional characters were forced into the adaptation only due to Henson wanting to create other creatures. The Three Little Pigs were added into the story, as well as Jack's hen making a appearance and Cinderella's birds being puppets.

[justincharacter]

Posted: 12/29/14 at 11:54pm

Double post Updated On: 12/29/14 at 11:54 PM

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 12:26am

It appears everyone has had a chance to read the screenplay except me LOL On a side note searching the interwebs for the script led me to an early draft of the recent movie adaptation. From what i've read its truer to the dialouge from the libretto but theres also some extra flashbacks. It also has a spot for the new song that Sondheim wrote for the Witch.
Here's the link

[mattmarkowski99]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 12:40am

Thanks so much for the link. The script does seem different from the version they ended up using!

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 12:42am

I did wish that the movie screenplay was closer to the libretto. There were moments that i was waiting for that never happened.
I think that Into the Woods would have worked spectacularly well will Jim Henson puppets as long as it stayed true to the musical.

[Len6677]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 12:53am

I'd love to find that script as well. It does not sound good, but it would still be a very interesting read.

Rapunzel's one thing, but I could never get behind an ITW in which the Baker's Wife survives.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 12:59am

I know someone has the script locked away or it's online somewhere. It's really interesting to compare the early draft of the new movie to the final one (which is available online). IMO the best part of the ITW film is Meryl's emotional portrayal. Stay with me gave me chills. Making the baker's wife survive is equivalent to Tony not dying in West Side Story or somehow Mrs lovett not being killed by Sweeney. LOL

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 1:01am

If anyone is curious here is the final draft of the new film
Here is link

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 1:59am

Update from my searches apparently a copy of the 90's screenplay was sold on ebay in 2009

Here's the link

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 2:01am

Wow, even Last Midnight is pretty different in that early draft. Looks like she would have started transforming into the ugly witch as she threw the beans. And it's too bad that they cut her mother's hands dragging her into the ground. The Delacorte production staged the ending like that and I know it was a popular choice.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 12/30/14 at 2:08am

It's also interesting to note the flashbacks that show the Baker as a baby and his father AND mother. There were a couple others I thought were interesting too.