“That Tax Avery Wolf great intuition!”

In an interview Coleen Atwood describes the creation of  The Lascivious Wolf for Into and Woods and that Johnny’s idea…

 

 

It’s a special day for Into the Woods because the movie today is released on DVD/Blu-Ray.

A special interview I found on the net and precisely on Beliefnet, a website with great content, please check out, involves Coleen Atwood one of the most-known costume desinger in Hollywood.
Born in the State of Washington, Yakima, one of the works she loves to remember are The Silence of the Lambs, Big Fish and Edward Scissorhands.

Coleen Atwood has been for a long time a great collaborator and costume designer of a lot of Tim Burton’s movies/productions with Johnny Depp including Alice in Wonderland and the new one: Alice in Wonderland – Through the Looking Glass – coming soon in theaters.

She says of costumes that “They’re the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth. It really does establish who they are“.

Three Oscars won with Chicago by Rob Marshall the director of Into the Woods, , Memoirs of a Geisha and Alice in Wonderland, Atwood joined a wonderful team of creatives. The movie wanted by Disney Studios, directed by Rob Marshall , music and words by legendary Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine the same creators of Broadway’s musical
Great cast with Meryl Streep as The Witch , Johnny Depp in the role of the Lascivious Wolf, Chris Pine as the Prince,  Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood just for naming someone.
Talking of the Lascivious Wolf portrayed by Johnny Depp, Atwood listened Johnny Depp’s suggestion.

Coleen Atwood told to the reporter she wouldn’t never have loved a wolf completely covered by fur.

Johnny at the same time suggested a “Tex Avery Wolf”.

It was a success.

 

Tax Avery was a cartoonist of great success. Born Frederick Bean “Tax Avery” in Taylor Feb 26th 1908,  died in Burbank,  Aug 26th, in 1980. He invented The Wolf, Droopy, The Screwy Squirrel. Still imitated, thanks to Johnny and Coleen Atwood another tribute to a great creative.

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

Let’s go all together from this tuesday… Into the Woods!

Into the Woods debut on DVD this next Tuesday

Eventually Into the Woods will debut on DVD this Tuesday.            (thanks to Lory Depp Girl for pictures)

I admit I love this fractured fairy-tales so badly. Created by legendary god of Broadway Stephen Sondheim with James Lapine in 1987,

 

Into the Woods became  immediately one of the most successful musical of Broadway and one of the three most favorite shows to put on stage every year from schools and theaters all around the USA.

A success because of the problematic involved in the fairy-tale and because there are many characters in this story.

A baker and his wife can’t have children because cursed by a Witch -Meryl Streep – (this first fairy tale has been invented by Sondheim and Lapine) and so they decide to going Into the Woods. In this kind of spiritual trip they will meet along their way a lot of characters taken directly from the most beloved Brothers Grimm’s fairy-tales.
Cinderella Anna Kendrick , Little Red Riding Hood Lilla Crawford, the Lascivious Wolf Johnny Depp and many others.

The movie musical has been wanted so badly by Rob Marshall while watching on tv President Obama for the tenth anniversary of the terroristic attack at the Twin Towers.
The actual historic moment is much more complicated than the past one. New generations need to cope with enemies more undefined respect to the ones of the past where enemies were clearer. Terrorism, because this movie wants to be an answer to the post Terroristic attack at the Twin Towers, is a phantom. No one can see and it and can be everywhere, that’s why it is so scaring and unexpected.

Characters created by Sondheim and Lapine are stunningly adults and intense.
Cinderella is not anymore a poor girl bullied by her family, but a pretty sly girl.
Little Red Riding Hood not so innocent. So in general all the characters become like for magic profoundly adults.

Happiness is just apparent considering what happens in their lives.

Children will listen one of the most intense song of the entire musical.

Great performance of Johnny Depp in a role the one of the Lascivious Wolf loved by critics and public.

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

Into the Woods Blu-Ray available soon

1-Disc Blu-Ray + Digital HD

 

 

Are you a big fan of Into the Woods? Have you seen the Broadway show and you have been an addicted one of the movie version as well? Very good. For you there is a wonderful news: very soon this next march 24th the movie Into the Woods, announced Disney, will be launched in Blu-Ray . This stunning movie received three nominations at the Academy Awards and it is the adaptation of the Broadway musical created by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine in 1987. Rob Marshall the director said to the press he decided to realize this movie for talking better to the families and kids of today, considering the Twin Towers Attacks and well, being so visionary, also the actual situation in the entire world, I guess. Families and kids and people in general are living a different reality respect to the ones of the past generations, unfortunately. Complexities are growing. Into the Woods wants maybe not to give an answer to all these problems but to trying to add a new light at this different world. I would invite everyone to buying this DVD. Actors performed here: Meryl Streep in the role of the Witch; Johnny Depp in the one of the Lascivious Wolf, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine, James Corden. In the Blu-Ray pack will be possible to find: the original song written by Sondheim and not included in the movie: “She’ll be back” sang by Meryl Streep. This song reveals more about her relationship with Rapunzel. In the DVD  a special section regarding the creation of Into the Woods. Interview with Marshall and all the incredible creative people he was surrounded by. You will find other wagons of extras and informations and so: go for it. Take the hand of these creative people and accept the invite of all of them for going all together Into the Woods.

 

Anna Maria Polidori

Congratulations Into the Woods and… Lady Oscar!

Three nominations at the Academy Awards for Into the Woods

Break a leg, Into the Woods! for another mythical event.

Yesterday the official nominations at the Oscars revealed Into the Woods is running in three categories:

Best Supporting Actress with Meryl Streep .

This one is for her the 19th nomination for the golden little and precious statue symbol of great talent. Three Oscars won, congratulations! What a myth this talented actress of Hollywood, able to portraying always diversified and different women and personalities. Lady Oscar!

Best Production Design and Best Costume Design the other two categories.

February 22 the Academy Awards event.

Directed by Rob Marshall , musics by Stephen Sondheim, written by James Lapine, Into the Woods is the movie version of the Broadway Musical Into the Woods.

The story: the one of the Baker and His Wife, still childless because cursed by the terrible witch. The two will go Into the Woods, meeting along their road a lot of important characters of the Brothers Grimm’s Fairy-tales, like Little Red Riding Hood, the Lascivious Wolf     , a stunning role of our Johnny Depp   , and many other fairy-tales characters.

 

Rob Marshall dedicated this movie to children and families of today. The complexities of the world where families and children are living in now are more strong than not the ones of the past generations unfortunately and so it’s necessary to re-read our reality pretty constantly.

Dramatically true…Marshall has been visionary…

 

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

 

 

 

 

 

 

Into the Woods… Big success domestically and in the world

Results of the box office of the last week-end

 

Prognostics were right. Into the Woods  grossed domestically 105 million of dollars and, counting international box office 120 millions of dollars this past week-end.

Launched the Christmas Day, Into the Woods is the movie version of one of the most beloved Broadway Musical: Into the Woods, lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim, written by James Lapine.

Starting from an original fairy-tale invented by the couple of Sondheim-Lapine, the one of the Baker and His Wife, still childless because cursed by a Witch, the insertion in the story of a patchwork fairy-tales by Brothers Grimm when the couple decides to going Into the Woods…Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Lascivious Wolf (Johnny Depp) and so on.

It was a success Into the Woods once launched in Broadway and it is one of the three most beloved musicals of all the times.

The movie had to be perfect, and Rob Marshall truly passionate for musicals since he was little and also thanks to a past as a dancer and choreographer, before to choose the career of director, knew it perfectly.

He asked so to James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim of writing the movie as they did it for their Broadway’s musical.

The launch of the movie this past week-end involved the Uk, Australia, Croatia, Slovenian and New Zealand.

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

Fairy-tales for children and adult

Little analysis of the importance of story-telling

 

Into the Woods  the movie musical created by Rob Marshall for Disney is a real success and at the second place at the box office.  ,     

 

Stephen Sondheim   and James Lapine had written the Broadway musical Into the Woods and put it on stage in 1987. It was a big explosion of success of critics and enthusiastic viewers. Since there…Generations of people grew up, are growing up and will grow up performing on stage in their schools or local theaters, Into the Woods, thanks to the possibility of a great variety of characters and thanks mainly to a winning, stunning story.

Sondheim and Lapine wrote the movie version of Into the Woods as well.

Main inspiration for Sondheim and Lapine the Brothers Grimm’s fairy-tales. They inserted in fact in the most important fairy-tale they had invented, the one of The Baker and His Wife, a patchwork of most beloved Brothers Grimm’s fairy-tales.

 

Brothers Grimm’s fairy-tales  are the strongest most important and powerful fairy-tales existing in this world.

 

Fairy-tales born and collected by the Brothers partially in Germany where the two lived and in the entire Europe. Fairy-tales of course told and re-told and known orally from centuries in some cases.

Why a fairy-tale is important? Because it is able to tell to a youngster unconsciously what it could theoretically happen in this world, putting the plot in a distant invented world. That distant and invented world can become our world.

Fairy-tales are cathartic messengers of peace because they are able to give good and powerful instruments to the once adult kid for de-codifying and reading the reality in a healthy and constructive way.

I was thinking these days at the ideal peace Christmas and feasts bring with them, apart the chaos and of course stress and “Good Lord my routine is gone” because of….Christmas. Once the stress is over, once luncheons are ready, family reunited, Christmas is ‘s a reunion with family and friends, sharing gifts, and watching on tv and to the cinema very good movies. The world with its asperities is like suspended, as if the bad stories would be for a while banned from a Universe in stand-by.

Later the world will re-start its crazy run in the…unknown in a timeless dance without end.

Fantastic. This one is the moment of the year I adore the most.

We are back to the normality and at time it’s a normality of blood.

Blood and murders are frequent components of many fairy-tales.

Let’s take under the exam the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. The terrible old witch would have cooked, graciously cooked, poor Hansel and Gretel if not saved.

Little Red Riding Hood risked this world and the other into the Woods with the dangerous and lascivious         wolf.

And what about poor Sleeping Beauty, cursed by a witch upset because not invited at the feast for the arrival of the baby? What an exaggeration.

In a lot of cases animals are eaten with extreme appetite. The wolf will eat the six little goats, and just the arrival of the mom and the terrorized tale of the latest kid survived to all of that horror will permit to the mom of saving all of little kids ripping without hesitation, again what a word for this courageous mom, the belly of the sleeping wolf, setting her children free and replacing them in the belly of the wolf with heavy stones.

Same is for Little Red Riding Hood and the granny.

Ate by the wolf and saved later by a hunter in one of the versions of the fairy-tale.

With the time fairy-tales knew a season of peace, in which the good prince would have saved the princess, and they would have surely enjoyed the happily every after, because it was the idea it couldn’t be the opposite.

Sometimes it’s the opposite. The beautiful fairy-tale become a nightmare and it’s a mess, and the tale can become a little horror.

But for a long season where maybe the world was a best place where to think of living with tranquillity for a long part of the life and where the life had a scheme more than known,  happy end was highly appreciated.

Brothers Grimm de facto cleaned a lot the various fairy-tales they discovered all around Europe for giving to them a best romantic idea although they are still incredibly strong.

The original fairy-tales they found much more strong than the strongest horror book.

Fairy-tales so can be for adults?

Yes, of course.

After all a dark fairy-tale can’t be also a news of an incredible fact? We are surrounded by a world able to tell to us everyday  continuously new, sometimes dark, very dark fairy-tales from a common source: the life and its most profound mysteries and passions and drives.

Fairy-tales are for all that people interested to stay in contact with the most profound messages fairy-tales wants to teach us.

Brothers Grimm for example didn’t collect their fairy-tales for children . Their work was profound and that books dedicated mainly to adults  because sometimes fairy-tales can contain strong adult content. It’s normal, in a fairy-tale because the life is taken in consideration  under all aspects. Murder, sex, crime, hate, joy, happiness, devastation, desperation, happy end, sad end.

It was with Brothers Grimm and their collection of fairy-tales that always more parents loved to starting to buy their books for their beloved children.

In the past families loved to tell folkloristic histories orally and it was felt like a necessity for passing the time when tv and other technological objects weren’t still around. Telling fantastic stories to other friends who stopped by for spending the evening with the family, a good idea or to the children for keeping them safe and conscious that “outside” the world could be a dangerous world.

In the countryside, but in cities as well, it was common to sharing with little and adults scary stories of witches and weird facts.

So when we think at a fairy-tale we mustn’t never think that it’s a story just dedicated to children and for children. All the family should be involved in reading and mainly telling fairy-tales.

Sharing fairy-tales and telling fairy-tales and reading them to children indispensable and a priority because it’s a moment of dream in their existence. Life is still a great discovery and fairy-tales will remain into themselves for all their life and will help them to keep dreaming in their adult life. Life won’t be at all simple and there will be sometimes difficult moments. That  “dreaming whispers from the past”  a good company in crucial  and fundamental moments of the existence and for giving answers to the complexity of the daily life.

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

The Lascivious Wolf

…And his walks Into the Woods, his Realm….

 

It had to be a night like another that one. The Lascivious Wolf didn’t find what he was searching for, ’til the moment he met up with Little Red Riding Hood. Little Red Hood was going at her granny’s house because the granny wasn’t fine at all and she deserved something good and fresh to eat.

 

 

 

 

The Lascivious Wolf couldn’t believe at this great luck! He starts to confusing Little Red Hood. Look at Johnny’s smile!

 

 

 

 

The end can be this one….

 

 

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The key to make Into the Woods? Just a word: flexibility”

Rob Marshall and his new movie Into the Woods coming soon on theather (dec 25th)

 

Comingsoon.com days ago, exactly this december 10th posted an interview realized with Rob Marshall by Edward Douglas.

The new movie musical based on the Broadway musical comedy Into the Woods created by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine will be on theater this dec 25th. Johnny Depp in the role of the Lascivious Wolf       

In the while director Marshall talked with Douglas about this production.
Marshall loves musicals and he is back with another wonderful production after other ones of great success. Chicago has been an Oscar Winning film.

The story of Into the Woods is the one of a poor baker and his wife, unable to have any children because cursed by a horrible witch . For this reason the two one day will leave their house for…going Into the Woods and searching for her. They needed in fact to break this curse.
In the while they will meet as always happen when we travel, a lot of characters, each of them at the research of something new or some answer from a problematic life. All the characters involved in the main story, the principal one of the Baker and His Wife invented by Sondheim and Lapine are Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales’ characters. So we will meet Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf, Rapunzel, Cinderella and her prince and so on.

As also said by Rob Marshall this one is a very good movies for families and kids of today and for everyone experienced emotionally the post 9/11.

Rob Marshall during the interview said that once finished Chicago, one day talking with Stephen Sondheim reveleaed him his biggest desire would have been the one of bringing one of his musical in a movie. It was the distant 2003.
Sondheim suggested for a movie musical: Into the Woods. Sondheim said precisely to Marshall: “I think ‘Into the Woods’ would be great for you“. Great thematics, a plot interesting and diversified, with various fairy-tales characters born by the intuition of a fractured fairy-tale. There was a perfection of times, with what maybe Hollywood was searching for the spectators.
A lot of productions in fact lately were born with the idea of fractured fairy-tales re-visiting a story or an entire fairy-tale and giving to it a new actuality.

Time passed by and Rob Marshall was involved in other productions. Marshall tells that it was in 2011, the tenth anniversary of the horrible New York City’s terrorist attacks  at the Twin Towers. Yes, the world with this terrorist attack has known a before and after in the living and not anymore experienced the same relaxation and the same old world and freedom experienced before that attacks where more than 3.000 innocent people lost their lives just because they were in the right place (at work), in the wrong moment. Without to count all the destinies changed forever for most workers and people and not just  forthe ones of the Twin Towers but also for people working close to the Twin Towers. It was an emotive shock for all the New Yorkers and the entire world.

Rob Marshall was watching on tv President Obama. Obama was speaking to the families of victims: “You are not alone. No one is alone“, said Obama. To Marshall this one has been a great moment to him and a revelation because he thought: “Wow this one is a great message for children of today“. This message told Marshall is in the penultimate song of the movie. So he grabbed the phone, called James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim and said to them: “This might be the right time to do this.” They were all happy and motivated and they worked with great success ar the creation of this masterpiece.

What it was different of course was to put in a movie a Broadway’s musical. But of course the minds involved in this project are the biggest ones of the American Musical. Sondheim is a Legend in the real sense of the word and he has created a lot of musicals that are, simply the History of the American Musical. Same is Lapine.
So, two great minds for sure. No problems or fears for Sondheim and Lapine about a confrontation with a different situation and a different public. Different viewers, most of them children and kids with families. Sondheim, theater apart loves movie and in a recent interview said he grew up watching movies. Marshall remembers that moment in the interview: “They were so open to trying new things, throwing things out. I mean, I was the one, actually, who was most of the time saying: Well, don’t touch that. I was sort of the keeper of the material.That was the key to making this a film: their flexibility“.

Flexibility has been so great that at the end Stephen Sondheim wrote a new song for the movie musical although the new song sang by Meryl Streep won’t be added in the movie but it can be found on the DVD. Marshall talks of it saying that it was “A difficult decision to take it out”. For strategic reasons, too much material, they decided of not adding it in the movie.

Marshall called of course Sondheim and Lapine and Streep for communucating them the choice of cutting out the song. They all said after few seconds, tell Marshall: ““I understand.”Marshall: “They understand that we’re all serving something bigger than ourselves. We’re serving a film. That is what makes great professionals and that’s what they are“.

What intrigued the most director Marshall was exploring the Happily ever after factor. “It’s not the classic version of them” confirmed Marshall. “There’s a twist to it, and it actually says something very profound as well. So I thought, it’s nice to be embraced because people are interested in fairy tales, but I like that this has a new approach” continued the director of Into the Woods.

The journalist talks of the movie as grim and dark and a bit shocking. Marshall agrees, thinking that this musical will be great for kids because “Very savvy these days” and not just for this reason. “I think it’s also good for them to see that, and see something more real, see that Cinderella, maybe the prince isn’t exactly for her. See how kids get through something that’s difficult and hard in life. It brings it to a more real place, and I think it’s cautionary, which is what the Grimm Fairy Tales were originally. They really were cautionary tales. It wasn’t like everything’s perfect. It’s like: “If you do this, the consequences of your actions produce this.”

Into the Woods, will specify later Marshall during the interview is one of the three musicals most performed in schools. The other ones are Grease and High School Musical.
The reason according to the director for the success of these three musicals? Many roles, humor, and fun.

Johnny  Depp , his Lascivious Wolf’s role and Rob Marshall.

A relationship started with Pirates 4 and repeated now. Beautiful words the ones of Marshall for Johnny. “Working with him is just a joy. He is so creative. He’s so original, but he is at the same time so kind and such a gentleman, almost from another era literally like the ’40s“.
Johnny’s habits? “He comes on set and shake everybody’s hand saying: Good morning, good morning, good morning and good-bye, good-bye,. good-bye“. Marshall talks of Johnny’s geniality, his being gentle quiet and a kind of genius. For this reason Marshall: “I just adore working with him. I would do anything with him“.

Three years of hard work for the creation of Into the Woods. Marshall don’t hesitate of saying again how in love he is for musicals. “I grew up with film musicals too. They mean so much to me, so if there’s any small way I can keep the genre alive, I’m happy“.

 

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori

Johnny as the Lascivious Wolf in a new Facebook Picture

New picture of the Lascivious Wolf. This time spread by the Facebook official page of Into the Woods

 

 

BroadwayWorld in a World exclusive anticipated to the world an exclusive clip from Into the Woods this DECEMBER 3th. Into the Woods is the new Disney Studios’ production on theaters this Dec. 25th.

The new clip will involve about Anna Kendrick while singing “On the Steps of the Palace!”

At the same time the Facebook official page of Into the Woods posted a new picture with the Lascivious Wolf, Johnny Depp and Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood. The quotation says: “Nice is different than good“.

 

Great expectations for Into the Woods

 

 

The soundtrack will be available this DECEMBER 16th,    (but everyone can pre-order to Amazon) so everyone will start to enjoy the musical part of this movie with anticipation. From what I can see should be absolutely remarkable considering that the author of the musical and movie is legendary Stephen Sondheim  who had previously written the stunning Into the Woods Broadway comedy, and James Lapine , the screenwriter and great collaborator of Sondheim.

 

 

Rob Marshall after Pirates, is back to musicals. I want to remember his success with the sophisticated Chicago.

Produced by the same Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Callum McDougall.

Into the Woods has been written using the creative writing branch called: broken fairy-tales. It means that the writer will use more than a fairy-tale characters, maybe changing the character of that precise character for obtaining a very different story. It is possible to using only a fairy-tale looking of course at the entire story from a different perspective. An example? Hansel and Gretel described and narrated by the horrible witch, or Cinderella, from the perspective of the two step-sisters or the step-mom or the poor Cinderella’s dad.

It’s one of the most creative invention of the mind the creation of another story born from previous and prestigious ones and that’s why, being different from a normal perspective, these stories and fairy-tales are so important.

The story starts like a classic one. A baker and his wife can’t have any kid so they decide, because convinced and secure that a witch  had cursed them (the witch on screen will be Meryl Streep) of breaking this curse going Into the Woods at the research of the terrible witch. Slowly slowly as it happens when everyone start a solitary trip, they will meet a lot of other Grimm’s characters of various fairy-tales with their own new characteristics and it will be great to seeing them all together.

Do you want to live a wonderful experience?

Do you want to spend a different Christmas afternoon after the big luncheon at home? Go the cinema for seeing Into the Woods. You will live a full-immersion Into stunning Woods, populated by incredible characters and wonderful musics.

Oh: and don’t forget and always remember: ” ”

 

 

 

 

Anna Maria Polidori