Recommended music: James Horner – Willow Captured
Today from the archives, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with the Tonka Madmartigan!
Actor Val Kilmer received top billing for Willow for his role as Madmartigan. Two years earlier, he had played Navy pilot Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the box-office hit Top Gun. John Cusack also auditioned and even screen-tested for Madmartigan, but was eventually passed over for Kilmer.
In the film, Madmartigan is a disgraced knight who ultimately crosses paths with Willow, redeems himself in the eyes of the military, and wins the heart of Princess Sorsha, who abandons her mother, Bavmorda, to fight at his side.
In the ‘Chronicles of the Shadow War’ book trilogy outlined by George Lucas and written by Chris Claremont, a cataclysmic event erupted a year after the film’s Battle of Nockmaar. This event, known as the Cataclysm, led to the destruction of Tir Asleen. Everyone who occupied it vanished, including Madmartigan.
While the book series does continue the adventures of Willow Ufgood and Elora Danan 15 years after the film, it is now considered ‘non-canonical’, or an alternate history, so the TV series could tell its own new story.
These ‘Madmartigan (Heroic Swordsman)’ and ‘Madmartigan and Horse’ figures show that you can use a sword on its own, or while riding a horse. 😄
The Willow film turned 37 years old this 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 