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4 New Clips of the Into the Woods Movie Help Explain the Plot

Why are all of these people going into the woods, anyway?

Pretend you've never heard of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical Into the Woods, and you're just planning to see Rob Marshall's new film version at midnight on Christmas day because you're the world's biggest fan of Meryl Streep. What do you need to know?

SPOILERS FOLLOW (OBVIOUSLY)

Well, Into the Woods intertwines a series of fairy tale stories, including "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Jack and the Beanstalk," with a new plot involving a Baker and his wife who yearn to have a child, and how they must reverse an evil witch's curse in order to do so.

The Witch (Streep) instructs the Baker (James Corden) and the Baker's Wife (Emily Blunt) that in order to stop the curse, they must deliver four different items to her:

One of those items belongs to Little Red Riding Hood:

Meanwhile, across the village, Jack (Daniel Huddelstone) finds out that he needs to sell his favorite cow in order to get money so he and his mother (Tracey Ullman) can eat:

How will the Baker and his wife obtain the cow? With the help of something very special:

SPOILERS END

Now, you know the basic plot of Into the Woods, so when you see the movie, you won't feel like you're one of the uninitiated.