Willow (film)
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| Willow | |
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| Directed by | Ron Howard |
| Produced by | Joe Johnston George Lucas Nigel Wooll |
| Written by | George Lucas (story) Bob Dolman (screenplay) |
| Starring | Val Kilmer Warwick Davis Joanne Whalley Jean Marsh Patricia Hayes Billy Barty Pat Roach |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Adrian Biddle |
| Editing by | Daniel P. Hanley Mike Hill |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Lucasfilm (U.S.) |
| Release date(s) | May 20, 1988 |
| Running time | 126 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $57,269,863 |
| IMDb profile | |
Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas. The original music score was composed by James Horner.
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[edit] Production
George Lucas originally planned to film an adaptation of The Hobbit.[citation needed] Unable to secure the rights, he wrote Willow, which shares a few similarities with J.R.R. Tolkien's celebrated novel and its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.
The film was notable for employing more dwarfs than any production in many years, and was widely praised by the "little person" community for employing Warwick Davis as the lead, cast in that role when he was 17 years old[citation needed]. Willow was among the first feature films to use detailed computer graphics to portray characters, in particular in the morphing special effect, transforming an old sorceress into various animals.
The two-headed monster in the film, the Eborsisk, was named as a reference to popular movie critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel; the villainous General Kael was also named for a critic, noted journalist Pauline Kael.
Prior to Val Kilmer's selection, John Cusack and Matt Frewer were both considered for the role of Madmartigan. Once filming began, Val Kilmer improvised and ad-libbed much of his dialogue. Filming action scenes in the snow of a New Zealand winter prompted Val Kilmer to remark that he wished his wardrobe shirt had buttons, as the open shirt bared his chest to the cold.
Much of the concept art, such as creature designs and storyboard art, was drawn by Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) and Chris Achilleos. Ultimately, the designs which appeared in the final film were considerably different from those initial designs; several sequences were also completely cut from the film due to time constraints. One such scene was a battle at sea in which the heroes narrowly escape a giant sea monster, which was depicted as a huge anthropomorphic shark in storyboard artwork. This took place when Willow returned from the island where he found Fin Raziel, and the shark initially appeared as a young boy.
[edit] Synopsis
A young farmer named Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), one of a hobbit-like people called Nelwyns, is drawn away from his sheltered home to save Elora Danan (a baby girl with a destiny) from the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) who would see her destroyed.
Willow is aided by the disillusioned master swordsman Mad Mardigan (Val Kilmer), who has turned to a life of roguery, sorceress Fin Razelle (Patricia Hayes), who has been turned into a possum by Bavmorda, as well as two diminutive brownies Franjean and Rool. They are initially thwarted, but later joined, by the queen's daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley). As their journey continues, they face troubles and hardships beyond what any of them had imagined. Through it all, they find love, friendship, and wisdom. In the end we learn that the people we would never suspect are sometimes the bravest of all.
[edit] Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Warwick Davis | Willow Ufgood |
| Val Kilmer | Madmartigan |
| Joanne Whalley | Sorsha |
| Jean Marsh | Queen Bavmorda |
| Patricia Hayes | Fin Raziel |
| Billy Barty | High Aldwin |
| Pat Roach | General Kael |
| Gavan O'Herlihy | Airk Thaughbaer |
| Julie Peters | Kaiya Ufgood |
| David J. Steinberg | Meegosh |
| Phil Fondacaro | Vohnkar |
| Alex Keyte | Vohnkar warrior |
| Robert Gillibrand | Vohnkar warrior |
| Mark Northover | Burglekutt |
| Kevin Pollak | Rool |
| Rick Overton | Franjean |
[edit] Release
The theatrical release was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The videotape was distributed by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (coincidentally, Sony would buy Columbia outright in 1989 and a stake in MGM in 2005).
Willow was released on DVD on November 27, 2001, distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (which coincidentally now owns distribution rights for MGM video releases).
The DVD presents the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio anamorphic widescreen, with sound remixed in 5.1 surround sound and THX-Certified. Special 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
[edit] Soundtrack
The music in the film was composed by James Horner and is considered a very strong musical score. Distinct echoes of Robert Schumann's Rhenish Symphony may be heard in the triumphant theme. The main theme also bears a resemblance to the "Redemption" motif from Richard Wagner's operatic tetralogy Der Ring der Nibelungen.
[edit] Reception
Critics blasted Willow on its initial release (the movie carries a 43% "rotten" rating among critics at Rotten Tomatoes, [1]). Furthermore, the movie was only moderately successful at the box office, grossing only $57 million domestically. [2] The performances (particularly Davis') and special effects were generally praised, but the film's story was widely dismissed as too derivative of familiar literary sources like The Bible and Gulliver's Travels, as well as the work of J. R. R. Tolkien and other authors.
In the years since its release, it has built up a strong cult following and currently holds an 80% "fresh" rating among users at Rotten Tomatoes [3] as well as a "B" at Box Office Mojo. [4]
[edit] Spinoffs
[edit] Video games
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 by Mindscape. Capcom also created a Willow arcade game for its CPS-1 system, which played much differently than its console cousin, being a side-scrolling platformer rather than an adventure/RPG game similar to Zelda, and also followed the plot of the film more closely.
[edit] Novels
The novelization, written by Wayland Drew and available around the time of the movie's release, contains all the scenes that were eventually cut from the film, along with additional history and character backgrounds added by the author.
George Lucas outlined a 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 now teenage Elora Danan as the central character. The books are:
[edit] Comic book
Marvel Comics published a three-issue adaptation of the film. It featured many of the scenes which were cut from the film.
[edit] TV series
In April 2005, during the Star Wars "Celebration III" fan convention, George Lucas hinted in an interview[1] that given his company (Lucasfilm) was moving into television production again, there could be a Willow television series.
[edit] In popular culture
Willow is mentioned in the song Elvenpath by the Finnish metal band Nightwish along with Bilbo, Sparrowhawk and the Snowman. The word 'daikinis' is the inspiration for the name of Scottish indie band The Dykeenies.
Spanish rapper Tote King makes a reference to Willow in the song "Uno contra 20 MCs" from his album Música para enfermos: ¿qué tiene El Señor de los Anillos que no tenga Willow?, which translates as "what does The Lord of the Rings have which Willow doesn't have?"
The film has been the subject of a running gag in the MST3K episode Village of the Giants, which starred a young Ron Howard. During the movie, Mike Nelson and Tom Servo would repeatedly mock Willow, sometimes going as far as saying that the episode's movie is better, while Crow would always reply that he liked Willow.
Brad Neely's Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone commentary Wizard People, Dear Readers contains a comment referring to the goblins working at Gringott's as "ufgoody."
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Willow at the Internet Movie Database
- Crossroads - In-depth site about the film and the novels
- Another fansite
- Another fansite
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