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Willow (1988)

Starring Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Jean Marsh, and Joanne Whalley.  Cinematography by Adrian Biddle.  Edited by Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill.  Produced by Nigel Wooll.  Written by George Lucas and Bob Dolman.  Directed by Ron Howard.

There was once an evil queen named Bavmorda (played by Jean Marsh). She used her mastery of black magic to destroy and dominate the lands surrounding her castle.  A prophecy was revealed to her that she would one day be overthrown by a yet to be born child. This child could be identified by a strange birthmark.

In a panic the queen rounded up all of the expecting mothers in her land and had them put in prison where their babies would be checked for any distinguishing marks.  The child was indeed born in her custody, but the heroic acts of a midwife saved the baby from certain doom. The child was placed on a raft and set downstream where a dwarf-like creature named Willow Ufgood (played by Warwick Davis) found her.

His small village designated him to be the one to return the child to the world of the Daikini, or large people. Willow set out on his adventure and quickly handed the child over to the first Daikini he found, a rogue soldier named Madmartigan (played by Val Kilmer). But Madmartigan lost the baby to a band of Brownies and it’s up to Willow to get her back.

Willow was a story that George Lucas began to develop in the early seventies.  He knew that if he were to pursue the audacious project at that time that he would be quickly shot down.  The realization of his vision would require special effects techniques that did not exist and a lot of money; two luxuries impossible to command without major clout in the movie business.

So he turned his focus to American Graffiti, a simpler project at least on a production level, and then later moved on to Star Wars.  But the story of Willow never faded away and in the mid-eighties he contacted his old friend Ron Howard, one of the four lead actors in American Graffiti who had since earned himself a reputation as a respectable filmmaker, and offered him the project.  Lucas knew that with Howard’s directing talents, the special effects technology being developed by his Industrial Light & Magic, and his own financial backing, it would receive the treatment it deserved.

Willow would in fact become a landmark in special effects technology with the scene where Willow uses his magic wand to change Fin Raziel from a goat to a woman.  She is shown to take on the form of a series of animals before her final transformation by means of a new technique called “Morf”, which is blend of photochemical and computer animated visual effects.  The technique was used later in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the use of computer technology in film blew up from there.

Lucas had intended to continue the story with two more films, but Willow’s profits were light. So instead, along with comic book author Chris Claremont, Lucas expanded the story of Willow’s adventures into The Chronicles of the Shadow War; a series of novels published from 1995 to 1999.  The Shadow War books are Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn, and Shadow Star and are a must for diehard fans of the film.

Budget: $35,000,000

Total US Gross: $57,269,863

Genre: Fantasy

Runtime: 130 Minutes

US Release Date: 5/20/88

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Awards:
Academy Awards: 
Nominated for best sound effects and best visual effects.

Tagline: Forget All You Know, Or Think You Know.

Quote: “Don't play with that wand!  It holds vast powers. Only a real sorcerer can use it, not a stupid peck like you.”

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