Production on Into the Woods began in September, 2013 at Shepperton Studios and on locations throughout England.
Stephen Sondheim has received eight Tony Awards, more than any other composer in history. He has won seven times: Best Music and Best Lyrics for Company (1971); and Best Score for Follies (1972), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd (1979), Into the Woods (1988) and Passion (1994). His eighth honor was a 2008 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
The foundation of the Woods set, built on Stage H at Shepperton Studios, was made up of 2,000 tons of soil, over 600 ferns, acres and acres of ivy and countless pallets of moss and turf.
95 percent of the trees used on the Woods set were real trees, which included 30-foot pine trees and hundreds of 25-foot oak tree branches, the leaves of which had to be removed and replaced with artificial ones (so they would last longer). The remaining five percent were full-sized whimsical trees constructed from plaster.
There were four cows cast to play Milky-White. Their names were Tug, Diamond, Two Fold and Pearl.
Rapunzel’s hair in the film is 20 feet long. The braid is made from real hair and weighs almost six pounds.
The music for the film was pre-recorded over a two-week period at Angel Studios in London with a 56-piece orchestra, composed of some of the best musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic.