0 Illustrated Movie Tie-in Book For "Into The Woods" Late Release/ Blu-ray Now Available For Pre-Order

                         

Here's the announcement and an excerpt from the press release earlier in the month for a special edition, movie tie-in book for Disney's Into The Woods (I believe this was supposed to be out before the movie but it seems there was a printing delay. Not exactly sure why this was announced in near-mid January).

Interesting to note is that the book is via TCG rather than directly from Disney's publishing house and is illustrated as well as having photos (I haven't seen it myself but everyone is wowed with how lovely it looks):

The Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has published a movie tie-in edition of the book and lyrics for the musical, Into the Woods. 

Famed composer Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and stage directorJames Lapine created the book. This new edition will feature eight pages of full-color photographs from the film adaptation which stars Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, and Johnny Depp. 

(From the press release:) 

“Into the Woods brings to musical life Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel and other well-known fairy-tale characters. Interwoven with these classic tales is the story of the baker and his wife, whose longing for a child is thwarted by the mischievous witch who lives next door. Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine have fashioned a modern musical classic which has been performed countless times all over the world since its Tony Award-winning debut in 1987.”

Sounds like it might be worth picking up if you ever want to discuss the movie down the road. I'm sure such an edition will be hard to find not too far in the future!

And we have a Blu-ray with special features (I hope there are LOTS!) coming on March 24th. 

It's now available for pre-order. Here's a poor quality pic of the new cover (the one showing on Amazon is supposed to be replaced - just be sure if you pre-order and want the extras that you're ordering the correct version).

From Broadway World:

(Both) the Blu-ray and DVD editions are now available for pre-order, as well as a HD digital download, set to be released in March, with a preview of the cover art now available to view.

Of note, the INTO THE WOODS Blu-ray is rumored to contain a director's commentary, extensive documentary featurettes and the excised new Sondheim-penned song sequence, "She'll Be Back", performed by Meryl Streep.

Detail: Illustrated Movie Tie-in Book For "Into The Woods" Late Release/ Blu-ray Now Available For Pre-Order

0 "Maleficent" - Light & Dark Featurette (lovely), A Sneak Preview Scene of Aurora Pricking Her Finger... (interesting) & Amazing Tribute Posters (!)

Simon Delart

While this is a professionally done poster, it's not officially Disney. It's a tribute by Paris based illustrator, Simon Delart, of Poster Posse designs. This is his homage to the movie and iconic-looking Maleficent posters Disney has released. What makes these even more amazing is that they're constructed entirely of triangles (full count - 2857!):

Click to see larger
& 'count' the triangles..

“I have to admit that I have never seen “Sleeping Beauty”, but when I saw Angelina Jolie and her suit in Maleficent I was really surprised. I found it very graphic and fascinating. The lively red contrast of her lips and her black suit reminded me of René Gruau’s illustration, very minimalist.I looked for what could symbolize Maleficent, and the branches of bramble surrounding its castle are in her effigy, disturbing and dangerous.  Brambles compose her suit giving a minimalist aspect to the poster, but when we look at it closer, it reveals all its complexity.

Triangles - that makes for an interesting representation of the movie approach as well... Apart from the gray, there are three different colored backgrounds you can find HERE as well ("...variants on the four elements: earth, air, fire and water as they intertwine with the “thorniness” of evil..."). 

And now that you've been delightfully awed and distracted by these (amazing!!) posters, here's what you actually came to see: the clips.

First is a new featurette (#4), titled Light & Dark. Its quite lovely! (And of course, there are glimpses of additional scenes in there too.)

And I can't let you leave without teasing a scene from the movie: when Aurora pricks her finger on the spindle. The approach has a lot of similarities to the Disney classic but departs from it in key ways as well. 

WARNING: Clip contains what may be considered spoilers (even if you are very familiar with various Sleeping Beauty's and the Disney classic.

If I was uncertain about it being a family movie before, I know it is now, and that's a good thing. We need some good live action family fairy tale films. I'm more excited than ever to be taking my son now.

To quote Angelina Jolie from the conference (this was included in the clip I posted a few days ago HERE):

"I think all kids are curious. They're drawn to things that are dark. It's not just simply a desire to be wicked. I think there are things that frighten us in life, and especially children, they want to understand so they can take it on, or they want to understand so it frightens them less."

The G.K. Chesterton paraphrase of my favorite fairy tale quote* equals awesome.

*  Click for larger image & to read the quote. 

Sources: HERE, HERE & HERE

Detail: "Maleficent" - Light & Dark Featurette (lovely), A Sneak Preview Scene of Aurora Pricking Her Finger... (interesting) & Amazing Tribute Posters (!)