The fantastical ideas presented in fairy tales have fascinated countless children and adults throughout the years. Books, movies and TV shows have been inspired by the original stories of the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen.

From Snow White to the Snow Queen, Disney’s long list of fairy tale adaptations have progressed. As Disney grew, they started adding humor, character development, and diversity into their films.

One element that has remained consistent throughout Disney films is the happy endings. Even as the hero or heroine faces death itself, audiences can remain safe in the knowledge that a happy ending is just around the corner.

Into the Woods broke this trend.

Most moviegoers expected Into the Woods to be a musical crossover of several fairy tales. “I kind of expected fairy tales all mashed together,” said freshman Carol Cunningham.

The first half of Into the Woods fulfilled the viewers’ expectations. The basic plot of each individual story is easily apparent throughout the movie, while the characters meet and interact in new ways.

The movie manages to be quirky and funny, while maintaining enough solemnity for the audience to actually care about the well-being of the characters. Even as the characters sing a comical song about their struggles, the actors show enough sincerity in their actions for the song to have meaning.

“There was a huge plot twist [in the second half of the movie] but it was still fairy tales mashed together,” said Cunningham.

The second half of the movie, which in the original play was the second act, made the happy ending collapse. After Jack killed the giant, the giant’s wife comes down seeking revenge.

The woods and the village are destroyed by the giant’s steps. As characters die and happy relationships fall apart, the sudden change in dynamics of the movie shocks many a viewer.

“I thought the plot twist with the baker’s wife dying and Cinderella’s prince being a womanizer was a little weird and a little confusing,” said freshman Emma Davis.

Stephen Sondheim, the original composer of Into the Woods purposefully set up a romanticised, traditional and somewhat cliché happy ending for the explicit purpose of destroying this ideal when the story continues on after the expected closure.

Due to the sudden change in emotions that the movie evokes, this plot twist initially seems irritating and odd. I had seen another adaptation of Into the Woods which allowed me to realize that the composer was trying to make a point about infatuation and how what we wish isn’t always what we want.

Sondheim made each of the insignificant characters significant, and gave the significant characters greater depth. The evil witch, for example, who was the primary antagonist of the story had motives for her actions, and was often the wisest character. Meanwhile, Cinderella’s Prince Charming turned out to be a bit too charming.

The actors chosen for their parts were all well chosen. “One of [Cinderella’s stepsisters] also played a stepsister in Ella Enchanted. I thought that was pretty clever,” said Davis.

The music was beautiful in some parts and in others demonstrated the emotions of the songs in a manner that was not altogether appealing to the ear but fit the personality traits of the  characters that were singing. I enjoyed the different ways that the actors altered their voices to fit their unique characters.

Little Red Riding Hood sang with a whiny voice that suited her character perfectly. The two charming princes sang their duet with great aplomb.

“It was a classic show so the music was different,” said freshman Morgan McHale.

Into the Woods has something for everyone. It clearly targets the audience of music and theatre lovers; the classic show and fantastic acting and singing should be a huge draw.

Lovers of fairy tales and princesses will love this interesting spin on their favorite stories. On the opposite side, those who are sick of overly light-hearted movies may enjoy the plot twist at the end.

The amazing actors, music, and plot all result in a phenomenal movie. “I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I thought the music was amazing,” said Davis.