Willow (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Willow | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ron Howard |
| Produced by | Joe Johnston George Lucas Nigel Wooll |
| Written by | George Lucas (story) Bob Dolman (screenplay) |
| Starring | Val Kilmer Joanne Whalley Warwick Davis Jean Marsh Patricia Hayes Billy Barty Pat Roach |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Adrian Biddle |
| Distributed by | MGM (U.S.) |
| Release date(s) | May 20, 1988 (USA) |
| Running time | 126 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas.
Contents |
[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 many 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. The film also used morphing special effects to transform an old sorceress into various animals, a revolutionary effect for the time.
As an interesting sidenote, 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 female journalist, Pauline Kael.
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 (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.
[edit] Synopsis
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 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 Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), who has turned to a life of roguery, and the sorceress Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes), who has been turned into a possum by Bavmorda. They are initially thwarted, but later joined, by the queen's daughter Sorsha (played by Joanne Whalley, later Kilmer's wife).
[edit] Release
When Willow was released, it was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lucasfilm, Ltd. At The Time, the videotape was From RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. The DVD was THX-Certified.
[edit] Reception
Critics attacked Willow on its initial release (the movie carries a 43% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, [1]). Furthermore, the movie was only modestly 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 Tolkien and other fantasy authors.
In the years since its release, it has built up a strong cult following and currently holds an 83% "fresh" rating among users at Rotten Tomatoes [3], a 7.0 rating at the Internet Movie Database [4], as well as a "B" at Box Office Mojo. [5]
[edit] Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Val Kilmer | Madmartigan |
| Joanne Whalley | Sorsha |
| Warwick Davis | Willow Ufgood |
| Jean Marsh | Queen Bavmorda |
| Patricia Hayes | Fin Raziel |
| Billy Barty | High Aldwin |
| Pat Roach | General Kael |
| Gavan O'Herlihy | Airk Thaughbaer |
| David J. Steinberg | Meegosh |
| Phil Fondacaro | Vohnkar |
| Tony Cox | Vohnkar warrior |
| Robert Gillibrand | Vohnkar warrior |
| Mark Northover | Burglekutt |
| Kevin Pollak | Rool |
| Rick Overton | Franjean |
- directed by: Ron Howard
- screenplay by: Bob Dolman
- story by: George Lucas
- produced by: Nigel Wooll
- executive producer: George Lucas
- cinematography: Adrian Biddle
- production designer: Allan Cameron
- editors: Daniel Hanley & Michael Hill
- costume design: Barbara Lane
- music: James Horner
[edit] 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
Many fans and critics complained about the lack of extensive deleted scenes, a more in-depth documentary, and a commentary from the filmmakers.[citation needed]
[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 Des Nibelungen.
[edit] Spinoffs
[edit] 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 which was done by Mindscape. Capcom also created a Willow arcade game which played much differently than its console cousin, being a side-scrolling platformer rather than an adventure/RPG game similar to Zelda.
[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] Trivia
- This film featured the very first detailed computer graphics morphing scene.
- Warwick Davis was only 17 when he was cast as Willow.
- John Cusack and Matt Frewer were both considered for the role of Madmartigan.
- Val Kilmer improvised and ad-libbed much of his dialogue.
- Willow was a character in the Star Wars website databank. (Observed in Episode I in a Senate scene)
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Willow at the Internet Movie Database
- Crossroads - In-depth site about the film and the novels
- Another fansite
- Another fansite
Grand Theft Auto • Night Shift • Splash • Cocoon • Gung Ho • Willow • Parenthood • Backdraft • Far and Away • The Paper • Apollo 13 • Ransom • EDtv • How the Grinch Stole Christmas! • A Beautiful Mind • The Missing • Cinderella Man • The Da Vinci Code • Angels & Demons
