In a recent story in The New Yorker, Stephen Sondheim had a lot to say about Disney‘s take on his musical "Into The Woods." While he seemed pragmatic about the whole thing, citing the realities of Disney having to deliver something for families and a mainstream audience, Sondheim has come out today a lot more supportive about the project.
While he was directly quoted about the changes which included Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) not getting killed, and the prince (Chris Pine) and baker’s wife (Emily Blunt) not sleeping together, it would appear Sondheim was perhaps putting the cart ahead of the horse. In a statement issued to Playbill, he clarifies that at the time of the quotes, he had not even seen a rough cut of the movie, and moreover asserts he was very involved in the transition to the big screen. In fact, he’s now positively happy about the movie overall. Here’s what he had to say:
So, was there some PR pivoting or was Sondheim perhaps getting a bit too excitable before actually knowing what the final cut would look like? Anyway, there’s plenty of time to tinker as "Into The Woods" isn’t due until Christmas Day.
