Playbill is reporting that Stephen Sondheim revealed several plot changes for the upcoming Disney film adaptation of his Tony Award-winning musical Into the Woods. These changes came to light at event in New York where he met with a group of high school theatre teachers. In addition to mentioning that the sexual connection between Red Riding Hood and the Wolf being eliminated, he mentioned other changes being made to the film adaptation:
“You will find in the movie that Rapunzel does not get killed, and the prince does not sleep with the [Baker’s Wife].” He added, “You know, if I were a Disney executive I probably would say the same thing.”
Another teacher asked if the song “Any Moment,” which bookends the encounter between Cinderella’s Prince and the Baker’s Wife, had been cut. “The song is cut,” Sondheim stated. Following outcry from the teachers, Sondheim added, “I’m sorry, I should say, it’s probably cut.”
When pressed that he should have stuck up for the inclusion of the song, Sondheim said that he and Into the Woods’ Tony Award-winning book writer James Lapine did so. “But Disney said, we don’t want Rapunzel to die, so we replotted it. I won’t tell you what happens, but we wrote a new song to cover it,” he said.
Disney’s version of Into the Woods will be released December 25.