Recommended music: James Horner – Canyon of Mazes
Today from the archives, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with The Story of Willow on vinyl!
James Horner’s magnificent score to the Willow film could be heard on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack which was released on cassette, vinyl, and CD in 1988, clocking in around 73 minutes. An expanded soundtrack was finally released in 2022 in a 2-CD set, bringing the available film music up to 107 minutes.
While I hadn’t bothered to pick up a physical copy of the film score in any format when I first posted this (though it was likely the last album I ever burned to a CD-R), this album made into my collection first. “The Story of Willow” features a 16-page photo book as well as about 53 minutes of dialogue, sound effects, and music from the film on 12″ vinyl.
Horner’s nearly 40-year career of memorable scores came to an end in 2015 with the single-fatality crash of his turboprop aircraft. Some of his other notable works as a composer include Star Trek II and III, Aliens, Field of Dreams, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, Braveheart, Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Avatar. His music can also be heard in numerous movie trailers, television shows, and theme parks in projects such as Captain EO and Pandora – The World of Avatar.
James Newton Howard was also brought in to score the new Willow television series and his music is a personal highlight of the show, vastly different from the jarring inclusion of pop music also present throughout each episode.
The Willow film turned 37 years old this month! 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 