Concerns that Stephen Sondheim’s subversive fairy-tale redo “Into the Woods” might get a Disney makeover when the House of Mouse mounted the big-screen adaptation seem to be coming true, according to the lyricist and composer himself.
Speaking to a Sardi’s full of theater educators about censorship in artistic education, Sondheim revealed that Disney shared some of the teachers’ concerns with the overt and not-so-overt adult themes in the show — for example, the sexualized nature of the relationship between the Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. Sondheim says this sexualization has been removed from the film, along with some other more mature moments.