Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas.

Synopsis

Lucas' story is Tolkienesque; a young farmer named Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), one of a halfling-like people called Nelwyns, is drawn away from his sheltered home to save a baby girl named Elora Danan with a destiny from the evil queen who would see her destroyed. Willow is aided by the disillusioned master swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), turned to a life of roguery after the fall of his kingdom to the evil queen. They are initially thwarted but later joined by the queen's daughter Sorsha (played by Joanne Whalley, later Kilmer's wife).

Cast

Music

The music in the film was composed by James Horner, in what is considered to be a very strong musical score. Distinct echoes of Robert Schumann's Rhenish Symphony may be heard in the triumphant theme.

Box Office Performance

Unfortunately for George Lucas, the film got spectacularly bad reviews and equally bad box office performance. This may have been due to the previews, which were badly designed and vague. Over the years, however, it has developed a cult following and is now considered one of the best made films of its genre.

Spinoffs

Video game

The film was the basis of the video game Willow, which was released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Capcom and also the PC. Capcom also created a Willow arcade game which played much differently than its console cousin, being a side-scrolling platformer rather than a Zelda clone.

Novels

The film was eventually followed by a trilogy of fantasy novels written by Chris Claremont (again from a story by George Lucas), with the grown-up destiny girl as the central character. The entries to the trilogy are:

• Shadow Moon (1995)
• Shadow Dawn
• Shadow Star.

TV series

In April 2005, during the Star Wars "Celebration III" fan convention, George Lucas hinted in an interview "Thank the Maker: George Lucas", starwars.com, April 19, 2005 that given his company (Lucasfilm) was moving into television production again, there could be a Willow television series.

DVD release

Willow was released on DVD on November 27, 2001. The film was presented in anamorphic widescreen in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with its sound remixed in 5.1 surround sound.

Features:

• Available Subtitles: English
• Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Commentary by: Warwick Davis (Unknown Format)
• "Willow: The Making of an Adventure" (original 1988 featurette)
• "From Morf to Morphing: The Dawn of Digital Filmmaking"
• TV spots and trailers
• Photo gallery

References

See also

• The Battle for Endor
• Labyrinth

External links

• Crossroads - In-depth site about the film and the novels
• Another fansite
• Another fansite
• Film Sculptor Special Effects Sculptor who worked on the film
• Keith Short - Film Sculptor Images of set pieces sculpted for this film
• The Shadow War Chronicles Willow entries on the Star Wars Databank

1988 films | Cult films | Fantasy films | Films directed by Ron Howard

Willow | Willow | Willow (film) | Виллоу (фильм) | Willow (film)