Willow (1988 film)

The evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda of Nockmaar hears of a prophecy that a child with a special rune birthmark will bring about her downfall. She imprisons all pregnant women in her realm. The child is born, but her mother persuades the midwife Ethna to smuggle the baby out of the castle. Bavmorda sends her Nockmaar Hounds after the midwife. With the hounds closing in on her, Ethna sets the baby adrift on a tangle of dried grass in a river before succumbing to the hounds. Meanwhile, Bavmorda sends her daughter Sorsha and an army led by General Kael to hunt down the baby. Downriver, a village of Nelwyn (a race of dwarves) prepares for a festival. The baby is found by the children of farmer and aspiring sorcerer Willow Ufgood, and his family takes her in. At the festival, a Nockmaar hound arrives and attacks cradles. After Nelwyn warriors kill it, Willow presents the baby to the village leader High Aldwin as a possible reason for the hound's appearance. High Aldwin orders the baby must return to a Daikini (the Nelwyn's name for "tall people") family, so Willow and other volunteers set out with the baby to find one. At a crossroads, they find Madmartigan, a mercenary trapped in a crow's cage, who offers to take the baby in exchange for his freedom. Most of Willow's party think they should give him the baby, but Willow and his friend Meegosh refuse, causing the others to leave for home. After meeting Madmartigan's old comrade Airk leading an army to attack Nockmaar forces, Willow agrees to Madmartigan's terms. On the way home, Willow and Meegosh discover that some brownies have stolen the baby, and pursue them. They are captured by the brownies, but Fairy Queen Cherlindrea frees them and explains the baby is Elora Danan, the foretold Princess of Tir Asleen. She gives Willow a magic wand and sends him to find the enchantress Fin Raziel. Willow sends Meegosh home and continues the journey in the company of two brownies, Franjean and Rool. At a tavern, he re-encounters Madmartigan, who is disguising himself as a woman to hide from his lover's husband Llug. Sorsha and Kael's soldiers arrive, but Madmartigan is revealed as a man to Llug, who starts a brawl which helps Willow and Madmartigan escape with Elora. Madmartigan allows Willow to follow him to the lake where Raziel lives. They are captured soon thereafter, along with Raziel, who had been turned into a possum by Bavmorda. Willow tries to restore her, but turns her into a rook instead. Franjean accidentally doses Madmartigan with love dust, causing him to declare his undying love to a skeptical Sorsha. Fleeing, Willow's party finds Airk and the remnants of his army. When the Nockmaar army pursues, Madmartigan takes Sorsha hostage, and they flee once more, but Sorsha manages to escape. Willow's party arrives at Tir Asleen, only to find it cursed and overrun with trolls. Kael's army arrives, and Madmartigan and Willow attempt to fend them off. Willow accidentally turns a troll into an Eborsisk, a giant two-headed monster, with his wand, and in the ensuing chaos, Kael captures Elora. Sorsha, realizing she loves Madmartigan, defects to his side. Airk's army arrives, but Kael escapes with Elora and makes his way to Nockmaar Castle, where Bavmorda prepares a ritual to banish Elora into oblivion. Willow's party and Airk's army travel to Nockmaar Castle, but upon their arrival, Bavmorda casts a spell turning them all into pigs. Willow, having used the wand to protect himself, finally restores Raziel to her human form. She reverses Bavmorda's spell, and Willow's army manages to trick their way into the castle. Kael slays Airk, and Madmartigan avenges him, while Willow, Sorsha, and Raziel confront Bavmorda in the ritual chamber. Bavmorda incapacitates Raziel and Sorsha. Willow uses sleight-of-hand to trick Bavmorda into thinking he made Elora vanish. Bavmorda, unnerved, moves to attack him, but accidentally completes the ritual while standing next to the altar, banishing herself. During celebrations at the restored Tir Asleen, Willow is gifted a spellbook by Raziel. Leaving Elora in the care of Madmartigan and Sorsha, Willow returns home to his village and family in triumph. ==Cast==

Development George Lucas conceived the idea for the film (originally titled Munchkins) in 1972. Similarly to his intent in Star Wars, he created "a number of well-known mythological situations for a young audience". Meanwhile, actor-turned-director Ron Howard was looking to do a fantasy film. He was at Industrial Light & Magic during the post-production phase of Cocoon, when he was first approached by Lucas to direct Willow. He had previously starred in Lucas's American Graffiti, and Lucas felt that he and Howard shared a symbiotic relationship similar to the one he enjoyed with Steven Spielberg. Howard nominated Bob Dolman to write the screenplay based on Lucas's story. Dolman had worked with him on a 1983 television pilot called Little Shots that had not resulted in a series, and Lucas admired Dolman's work on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. Pre-production began in late 1986. Various major film studios turned down the chance to distribute and cofinance it with Lucasfilm because they believed the fantasy genre was unsuccessful. This was largely due to films such as Krull, Legend, Dragonslayer and Labyrinth. Lucas took it to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), which was headed by Alan Ladd Jr. Ladd and Lucas shared a relationship as far back as the mid-1970s, when Ladd, running 20th Century Fox, greenlit Lucas's idea for Star Wars. Lucas named the character of General Kael (Pat Roach) after film critic Pauline Kael, a fact that was not lost on Kael in her printed review of the film. She referred to General Kael as an "homage a moi". Similarly, the two-headed dragon was called an "Eborsisk" after film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Some of the waterfalls scenes for the movie were shot at Burney Falls in Northern California, although Powerscourt Waterfall in Ireland was also used for other scenes. Visual effects and design Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) created the visual effects and animation sequences. The script called for Willow to restore Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes) from a goat to her human form. Willow recites what he thinks is the appropriate spell, but turns the goat into an ostrich, a peacock, a tortoise and, finally, a tiger, before returning her to normal. ILM VFX supervisor Dennis Muren considered using CGI stop-motion animation for the scene. He also explained that another traditional and practical way in the late 1980s to execute this sequence would have been through the use of an optical dissolve with cutaways at various stages. The techniques developed for the sequence were later utilized by ILM for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The head of ILM's animation department, Wes Takahashi, supervised the film's animation sequences. ==Soundtrack==

The film score was composed and conducted by James Horner and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. According to Horner, "I am a musicologist, a doctor of music. Therefore I listened to, studied and analysed a lot of music. I also enjoy metaphors, the art of quoting and of cycles. The harmonic draft of the Willow score, and most particularly its spiritual side, came from such a cycle, from such mythology and music history that I was taught, and that I myself convey with my own emotions and compositions." Eclectic influences on the score include Leoš Janáček's Glagolitic Mass, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Requiem", "The Nine Splendid Stags" from Béla Bartók, Edvard Grieg's "Arabian Dance" for the theater play Peer Gynt, and compositions by Sergei Prokofiev. "Willow's Theme" purposefully (see Horner's quote above) contains a reworking/alteration of part of the theme of the first movement ("Lebhaft") of Robert Schumann's Symphony No. 3 referencing it, while "Elora Danan's Theme" shows a reference to the Bulgarian folk song "Mir Stanke Le" (Мир Станке ле), also known as the "Harvest Song from Thrace". ; Track listing • "Elora Danan" – 9:45 • "Escape from the Tavern" – 5:04 • "Willow's Journey Begins" – 5:26 • "Canyon of Mazes" – 7:52 • "Tir Asleen" – 10:47 • "Willow's Theme" – 3:54 • "Bavmorda's Spell is Cast" – 18:11 • "Willow the Sorcerer" – 11:55 In June 2022, Intrada released an expanded score across two CDs (Special Collection Volume ISC 476), with this track listing: CD 1 • "Elora Danan" – 9:45 • "The Nelwyns" – 2:41 • "The Nelwyns No. 2" – 2:35 • "Death Dogs" – 2:26 • "Willow's Journey Begins" – 5:26 • "Bavmorda's Castle" – 1:21 • "Airk's Army" – 3:26 • "The Enchanted Forest" – 5:31 • "Escape From The Tavern" – 5:04 • "The Island" – 5:10 • "Willow Captured" – 1:59 • "Arrival At Snow Camp" – 1:17 • "The Sled Ride" – 7:56 CD 2 • "Willow's Theme" – 3:54 • "Canyon Of Mazes" – 7:52 • "Tir Asleen" – 10:47 • "Bavmorda's Spell Is Cast" – 18:11 • "Willow The Sorcerer" – 11:55 ==Release==

Box office The film was shown and promoted at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. but the film faced early competition with Crocodile Dundee II, Big and Rambo III. Grossing $57.3 million at the box office in the United States and Canada, it was not the blockbuster hit insiders had anticipated. The film opened in Japan in July and grossed $16.7 million in its first seven weeks, MGM's highest-grossing film in Japan at the time and went on to gross $20.3 million there. It performed well in other international markets, grossing $80.3 million for a worldwide total of $137.6 million. Strong home video and television sales added to its profits. Critical reception Willow was released to mixed reviews from critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale. Janet Maslin from The New York Times praised Lucas's storytelling, but was critical of Ron Howard's direction. "Howard appears to have had his hands full in simply harnessing the special effects," Maslin said. Siskel & Ebert gave the film two thumbs down on their television show At the Movies. Ebert's print review in the Chicago Sun-Times was a mixed 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. He wrote that while the special effects were good, the core story was unengaging and the characters flat: "There can be no true suspense in a movie where even the characters seem to be inspired by other movies." Desson Thomson writing in The Washington Post, explained "Rob Reiner's similar fairytale adventure The Princess Bride (which the cinematographer Adrian Biddle also shot) managed to evoke volumes more without razzle-dazzle. It's a sad thing to be faulting Lucas, maker of the Star Wars trilogy and Raiders of the Lost Ark, for forgetting the tricks of entertainment." Mike Clark in USA Today wrote that "the rainstorm wrap-up, in which Good edges Evil is like Led Zeppelin Meets The Wild Bunch. The film is probably too much for young children and possibly too much of the same for cynics. But any 6–13-year-old who sees this may be bitten by the ’movie bug’ for life." It won Best Costume Design at the 16th Saturn Awards, where it was also nominated for Warwick Davis for Best Performance by a Younger Actor (lost to Fred Savage for Vice Versa) and Jean Marsh for Best Supporting Actress (lost to Sylvia Sidney for Beetlejuice). It also lost Best Fantasy Film and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was also nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Screenplay, which lost to Cocktail and Worst Supporting Actor for Billy Barty, who lost to Dan Aykroyd for Caddyshack II at the 9th Golden Raspberry Awards. Home media The film was first released on VHS, Betamax, Video 8 and LaserDisc on November 22, 1988 by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. The film also had multiple re-releases on VHS in the 1990s under Columbia TriStar Home Video as well as a widescreen LaserDisc in 1995. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment re-released the film on VHS and on DVD for the first time as a "special edition" on November 27, 2001, both of which were THX certified. The release included an audio commentary by Warwick Davis and two "making of" featurettes. In the commentary, Davis confirms that there were a number of "lost scenes" previously rumored to have been deleted from it including a battle in the valley, Willow battling a boy who transforms into a fish-like monster in a lake while retrieving Fin Raziel, and an extended sorceress duel at the climax. George Lucas and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray disc on March 12, 2013, with an all-new digital transfer overseen by Lucasfilm. Following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm (and 21st Century Fox's assets), the film was re-released with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer logo at the beginning by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital (for the first time) on January 29, 2019, and was later made available to stream on Disney+ when the service launched on November 12, 2019. The 4K UHD Blu-ray of the film was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on December 10, 2024. ==Other media==

Board game In 1988, Tor Books released The Willow Game, a two- to six-player adventure board game based on the film and designed by Greg Costikyan. Video games Three video games based on the film were released. Mindscape published an action game in 1988 for Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. Japanese game developer Capcom published two different games in 1989 based on the film; the first Willow is a platform game for arcades and the second Willow game is a role-playing game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Novels Wayland Drew adapted Lucas's story into a film novel, providing additional background information to several major characters, while Joan Vinge adapted the story into another novelization. Both included various additional scenes, including an encounter with a lake monster near Raziel's island which was filmed, but ultimately not used in the movie. A segment of that scene's filmed material can be found in the DVD's "Making of Willow" documentary. Lucas outlined the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy to follow the film and hired comic book writer/novelist Chris Claremont to adapt them into a series of books. They take place about fifteen years after the original film and feature the teenage Elora Danan as a central character. • Shadow Moon (1995) • Shadow Dawn (1996) • Shadow Star (2000) Television series Beginning in 2005, Lucas and Davis discussed the possibility of a television series serving as a sequel to Willow. Throughout the years, in various interviews, Davis expressed interest in reprising his role as the title character. In May 2018, Howard confirmed that there were ongoing discussions regarding a sequel, while confirming the project would not be called Willow 2. In 2019, Ron Howard announced that a sequel television series was currently in development, with intentions for the series to be exclusively released on the Disney+ streaming service. Jonathan Kasdan would be involved in the television series, while Warwick Davis would reprise his role from the original film. Creator George Lucas would not participate in this series. In October 2020, the series was officially green-lit by Disney+, with Ron Howard set to executive produce the series alongside Kasdan, Wendy Mericle and Jon M. Chu. Chu would direct the series first episode, with Kasdan and Mericle serving as showrunners, Warwick Davis reprising his role as Willow Ufgood, and Bob Dolman serving as a consulting producer. In December 2020, it was announced the show would be released in 2022. In January 2021, Chu left his directorial duties due to production moving towards the summer and it corresponding with birth of his next child. That same month, it was revealed that Jonathan Entwistle had officially been hired to replace Chu as director, with filming commencing in Spring 2021 in Wales. However, due to production delays as a result of a recasting, Entwistle also exited the series, with Stephen Woolfenden coming in to direct the first two episodes of the series. In November 2021, a promo video featuring the cast of the series was released for Disney+ Day. The new live-action series premiered on November 30, 2022, on Disney+. The series was cancelled in March 2023 and was removed from streaming on May 26, 2023. ==References==