Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with this Tonka figure of General Kael!
While Kael is considered a secondary villain in Willow, the army commander has a memorable and evil design, and is brought to life by Pat Roach (in most scenes). While Roach was a pro wrestler and experienced actor, even appearing in the first three Indiana Jones films (German Mechanic, Thuggee Chief Guard, etc.), he was not able to do his own stunts or horse riding in the film, so horse master Greg Powell tagged in for those scenes.
Kael is the first of two Willow characters George Lucas named after film critics. New Yorker writer Pauline Kael was quoting as saying “watching Star Wars was like taking a pack of kids to the circus”… and this was George’s way of striking back at the comment.
This “General Kael (Evil Commander)” figure has an interesting combination of paint and sculpting on the head which makes looks less like a menacing Skeletor-esque skull mask, and more like Caesar from the newer Planet of the Apes films.
The Willow film turns 37 years old next week. I figure there’ll be a new Willow item from my collection to share here for the rest of the month. Happy 37 years to the Magic of Willow!
Dale's Toys 