How I Think 'Into the Woods' Movie Got it Wrong

Like many people with a Disney+ account, I have been loving their growing selection of movie musicals. It really brings me back to the days when Netflix Instants had a dedicated “Musicals” category, filled with such titles as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the 25th-anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera, and the rare gem that is the original Broadway cast of Into the Woods.

While filmed stage productions have become more common in the past decade and exponentially more so in the past year, the 1991 American Playhouse filming of Into the Woods absolutely captivated me.

I watched it endlessly, learning every lyric and analyzing the numerous allegories, nuances, and double meanings. I found particular resonance in the coming-of-age stories of Jack and Red Riding Hood. It is Stephen Sondheim’s finest work.

On Christmas day in 2014, I convinced my mother to take me to see the movie adaptation of Into the Woods. I’ve held off from any serious trailer watching because I know the story so well and would rather just let the whole experience wash over me.

I was aware that the film has decided to eschew the traditional double-casting of The Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince as well as Granny/Cinderella’s Mother. However, even though I was mildly concerned that these character’s impacts will be watered down without the parallels drawn between them by having them played by the same actors, I figured that the producers decided this would go over the heads of a larger film-going audience and went with bigger-name actors like Johnny Depp and Chris Pine. So I let it go.

(I also was not super thrilled about the Baker, a.k.a. James Corden, taking on the role of the Narrator as well, but that isn’t the hill I’m here to die on).

Here we come to the soapbox I’ve come to climb onto; the film cast Red Riding Hood and Jack way too young, because it impacts the effects of their storylines and the overall message of the story.

 I’m aware that this adaptation came out in 2014 and I’m about 6 ½ years too late, but I didn’t have a platform like this then, so I have to say it now.

Let’s take a brief look at the journeys of these two young characters. Red Riding Hood’s Act 1 sees her head into the woods to Granny’s house and encounters the Wolf on her way who seduces her into “straying from the path”, tempting her with forbidden fantasies of roads not taken and pretty flowers.

The entire interaction plays out like an older man seducing a young woman away from “the path,” if you know what I mean. She later sings “I Know Things Now”, reflecting on her experiences with the Wolf which were both frightening and exciting, and how her view of the world has been forever changed as a result. “And though scary is exciting, nice is different than good.”

The number itself is an allegory for young women growing up and leaving behind childhood innocence and realizing that they have reached an age where men may find them, well, desirable. It’s a complex time in any young woman’s life, and the song encapsulates it wonderfully.

“Isn’t it nice to know a lot? And a little bit… not.”

If you’ve never seen the Wolf’s original costume, he’s quite well, *ahem*, endowed.

Jack, meanwhile, begins the story as a young man with only a cow for a friend still living at home with his overbearing mother, only to go on a fantastic and terrifying journey into the world of the giants which gives him a new appreciation of his sheltered childhood. Unfortunately, this appreciation is short-lived after the Giant’s Wife kills his mother, abruptly putting an end to his childhood and beginning his adult life.

His story is that of the young man learning to leave the nest, exploring the adventures and dangers the world has to offer, and eventually learning how to take care of himself, how to take responsibility for his actions, and how to land on his own two feet.

With that established, let me climb back onto this box here.

The movie cast Red Riding Hood and Jack waaaayyyy too young! Way too young! The stories I’ve summarized above and the allegories they present are rendered null and void by the age of the actors cast.

For comparison, Lilla Crawford was 12 in the movie, compared to OBC actor Danielle Ferland who was 16 at the time of the show’s opening. Likewise, Daniel Huttlestone was 13 in the movie, compared to OBC actor Ben Wright who was about to turn 17 at the time of the show’s opening. They’re only a few years apart, but when you’re telling coming-of-age stories the age part tends to matter.

When Red Riding Hood is 12, instead of 16 or 17, the whole Wolf sequence just gets… creepy. It was always creepy, mind you, but now we’re into, dare I say, pedophilic levels of creepy.

We’ve gone from a “16 going on 17” with a random stranger in the woods vibe to a weird man talking to a little girl in the forest vibe. When a Red Riding Hood on the cusp of womanhood has this obviously weird and predatory experience, she’s able to reflect upon it, realizing that sort of attention can be exciting at first but ultimately dangerous and unhealthy.

Can a 12-year-old reflect in the same way? Is she emotionally mature enough to make this distinction, or are we just watching a child who is nowhere near ready to process the situation be sexualized by an adult? It’s an iffy line either way, but the younger Red is the less compelling it is as a moment of character development, and the closer it is to just downright disturbing.

When Jack is 13, instead of 17 or 18, his entire journey into manhood just doesn’t apply. A 13-year-old is not ready to step out into the world on his own; he should still be living at home with his mother.

An older Jack is a young man akin to a modern high school senior, itching to get out of his childhood home and make his mark on the world, only to gain a fresh appreciation for the comforts a parent can provide after getting a taste of the dangers of the real world.

When his mother is killed in Act 2 by the Giant’s Wife and he realizes that he has no one to take care of him, the Baker tells him, “You’ll have to take care of yourself now, Jack.”. It’s heartbreaking, sure, but Jack is more than old enough to take care of himself at this point. The death of his mother is the final step towards independent adulthood.

But when Jack is only 13(!!), the death of his mother is devastating. Of course, a 13-year-old boy can’t take care of himself! The Baker takes him in as a surrogate father figure because we all know that this child is in no way ready to be independent. He’s gone on some wild adventures, sure, but they’re more of the Stand By Me type than the journey-into-manhood type.

The story Sondheim wrote of this young man’s abrupt transition into adulthood, and most of the deeper meaning that drives “Giants in the Sky”, are again watered down by this age difference.

In no way do I intend to detract from the performances given by Lilla Crawford and Daniel Huttlestone in the film. I think they did an excellent job, and the movie as a whole is something I really enjoy watching.

To me, however, the age difference in casting was an unnecessary move that diluted the full impact of a beautiful and complex story, going so far as to undermine the contexts of some of my favorite songs.

What do you think of the age difference in casting? How much does age or perceived age matter in the stories we tell? Let me know in the comments!