Things are not always as they seem. For example, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not a ditzy sitcom, American McGee's Alice is not a nice little computer game for kids, Showgirls is not really about dancing and Into the Woods is not aimed at the Wizard of Oz crowd.
I suppose if we had put our minds to it, we could have predicted that when Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine sent us along a path that could only end happily, that they would first shake us up so much that a happy ending is barely a consolation.
At the end of the first act the narrator tells us that "all that seemed wrong was now right, and those who deserved to were certain to live a long and happy life." At the time we believed him, after all, we had just seen it, but the second act lives closer to the real world, and in it we learn that "witches can be right, giants can be good," good people die and that while it is worth trying, there are no guarantees.
Into the Woods is rather preachy for a musical. The characters frequently come right out and say what they have learnt and what they believe. We find however that the characters can't necessarily be trusted, and we are encouraged to make up our own minds about who is right, who is good and who's to blame.
I urge you to learn your way through the woods, because "everything you learn there will help when you return there." Whatever that means in your life.