According to Original Cast Precedent, the Narrator and the Mysterious Man are played by the same actor (though the script does not mandate such, there's a designated spot in the script after the Mysterious Man dies to reveal they are the same actor). Same goes for Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf, as well as Cinderella's Mother and the Giantess and Granny. Usually played in an And You Were There fashion, at least for the first two actors.
In the Broadway revival, Cinderella's Mother was played by a recording of Cinderella's own actress.
In the Central Park production, the Narrator was changed to a young boy so instead the Mysterious Man doubled as Cinderella's Father (played by Chip Zien, the original Baker, in a nice Remake Cameo). And they got Glenn Close to lend her (prerecorded) voice as the Giantess!
Casting Gag: In the Central Park production, the role of the Witch was played by Donna Murphy, who previously voiced Mother Gothel in Tangled.
Cut Song: "Giants in the Sky", "On the Steps of the Palace" and "Last Midnight" were all replacements for less appropriate songs written earlier. There was also a song called "The Plan" that was cut. However, the initial versions of those songs are included on the original soundtrack; the prototype "Giants in the Sky" is notable for being so fast-paced that it's nearly unsingable.
Dawson Casting: As Rapunzel's only slightly older brother, the Baker should just be in his 20s, with the same presumably true for his wife. All major professional productions so far, including the film, have cast the Baker and Baker's Wife with performers in their 30s, 40s, or occasionally even early 50s.
The entire original cast (barring Jean Kelly) reunited for three days in 1989 to perform a taped production as part of PBS's American Playhouse. The film utilized seven cameras to tape the show at multiple angles, and some pick-up shots were filmed without an audience. This recording was available on VHS and DVD.
A 1991 production aired on PBS's American Playhouse.
Word of Saint Paul: According to Philip Hoffman (the original Steward and understudy for the Baker) on the Giants in the Sky podcast, Joanna Gleason said the Baker and his Wife had a Childhood Friend Romance.
Both Pine and Corden have admitted that the entire reason they pursued parts in the film (as Cinderella's Prince and the Baker, respectively) is because they heard that Meryl Streep was playing The Witch from Next Door.
Streep herself had consistently refused to portray witches in film for a long time, but made an exception here because she wanted to be in a Stephen Sondheim musical.
"I Guess This Is Goodbye", "Maybe They're Magic", "Our Little World", "First Midnight", "Second Midnight", "Ever After", "So Happy", "Agony (Reprise)" and "No More". Interestingly enough, several cut songs appear in the scenes as background music where the songs were. Listen to the music as the Baker mourns his wife's passing and you'll hear "No More". "Ever After" is the march played as the first "act" ends at Cinderella's wedding, and it transitions into a snippet of "So Happy." Technically, "Cinderella at the Grave" is intact, but only the mother's part remains (although the "shiver and quiver little tree" melody is heard as Cinderella's dress and slippers appear on her. Its short reprise (where the ghost and birds warn the prince about the slipper) is also cut; the Steward simply notices the blood when assisting Florinda, and Lucinda exposes herself by being completely unable to walk. The melody of "this is the proper bride for you" does return when the prince puts the slipper on Cinderella's foot.
Also, the film originally had two new songs, "Rainbows" for the Baker and his wife (cut before filming) and "She'll Be Back" for the Witch. The latter was filmed but ultimately unused.
A few of the songs were also rewritten. "On the Steps of the Palace" is now primarily in the first person instead of the second, while "Your Fault" is noticeably slower, most likely because the actors couldn't keep up with the pace of the original.
A more likely explanation for the adjusted tempo of "Your Fault" (and other tongue-twister lyrics, like the "Witch's Rap") is that filmmakers thought the wider movie audience would have more difficulty following such fast-paced songs than a theater audience did.
With Cinderella. In a rare case, two fantasy films released by the same studio (Disney) within a span of four months will feature Cinderella as a central character.
Was released one week after the 2014 remake of Annie, which is based on a Broadway musical. Director Rob Marshall collaborated with Disney and the latter film's distributor Columbia Pictures on the successful and well-regarded TV version of Annie in 1999 for ABC.
Fatal Method Acting: A near-miss. Streep tripped on her dress while filming the Witch's rap, and fell headfirst towards the concrete floor. Corden recalls being frozen alongside Marshall, convinced that they were about to see the death of Streep. Blunt – who was five months pregnant at the time, mind you – swept in and caught her.
Hide Your Pregnancy: Blunt was around 4-6 months pregnant throughout filming, so there were many scenes of her lower section being hidden. Amazingly, Blunt's face doesn't look as full as most pregnant women's faces are, so it was hard to tell if she was at all.
Irony as She Is Cast: Blunt plays a character whose infertility is a plot point. She was pregnant throughout filming. Two years later, she would repeat the irony with her second pregnancy - in The Girl on the Train.
The Other Marty: YouTube star Sophie Grace Brownlee of Sophie Grace and Rosie was originally cast as Red Riding Hood, but was replaced with Lilla Crawford when it was decided Brownlee was too young.
Promoted Fanboy: Most of the cast and crew signed on because they enjoyed the musical the film was based on. Corden has stated that he always wanted to play the Baker in a West End version.
Emma Stone was Marshall's first choice for the role of Cinderella but she turned it down, feeling that she didn't have the vocal range. She joked that she'd be better suited to playing Jack instead.
An early draft of the script contains several elements that were altered (or never used) in the final film, such as...
The depiction of the Wolf as a sexy, hairy chested man. He also briefly transformed into a real wolf right before he howled during "Hello, Little Girl".
The fate of the Witch. Rather than being swallowed up by a sinkhole, she is pulled into the ground by the arms of her mother, much like the outdoor productions.
The fate of Jack's mother. In the early draft, she is bludgeoned by the Steward as in the stage show, but she manages to get back onto her feet and temporarily help the Baker and his wife find Jack. She eventually succumbs to her head injury, and the Baker comes across her dead body in the woods. This explains how he had found out about her death prior to telling Jack during "No One Is Alone".
The original finale. In the draft, the full company appeared at the end to sing "Children Will Listen", much like the original show. Afterwards, everyone would "disappear" (sans the Baker, Cinderella, Jack and Little Red), and the rest of the song (a reprise of the title song) would be sung in voiceover. In the final film, the entirety of "Children Will Listen" (after the Baker's Wife's solo) is sung by the Witch and the chorus off screen, and the "Into the Woods" reprise is played over the end credits.
The scene where the Baker cuts open the Wolf and saves Little Red and Granny. The scene was originally portrayed as a "shadow play"; all of the action would be seen as a silhouette over the bed drapes (the scene also contained the full conversation between Granny, Little Red, and the Baker from the show). The final film cuts away before the Baker brings down his knife on the Wolf, and the entire conversation is greatly shortened.
Ironically, it wasn't even originally intended to be a Disney movie. The film was once planned in 1994 with a table reading at Penny Marshall's house from the likes of Robin Williams, Goldie Hawn and Cher. Subsequently, it was in development at Columbia and had RobMinkoff attached as director and Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan and Susan Sarandon in talks to star.
, which lists a comical assortment of celebrities as members of the cast.