Category: Misc

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!

Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with these Willow placemats!

Just when you thought the food tie-ins were done…

This set of four Willow place mats was available by mail during the summer of 1988 for FREE by sending in five proofs of purchase from any Kraft Cheese products, including Handi-Snacks 8-packs, Casino Natural Cheese, Cracker Barrel, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, or my childhood favorite from the options: Kraft Singles.

These 10.5” by 17” double-sided placemats weren’t just made to keep you from getting cheese all over the table, but feature “memorable characters and exciting scenes from Willow,” according to the advertisement. The large, glossy stock photos make great display backdrops if you ask me.

One final Kraft promotion was additionally featured on boxes of Velveeta Cheese (also a childhood favorite). Each box contained a set of two Willow Movie Stickers, with 10 different stickers making up the set. I’d show you a picture of the box, but my wife said there are better things that I could do with $40 than purchase an empty cheese box.😄

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!

Recommended music: James Horner – Willow’s Theme

Today from the archives, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Quaker Willow Cereal bowl set and magic trick!

Yes, this promotion by Quaker is how I came up with the name for this series. The Willow bowl and spoon set pictured above was available by mail for “free” by sending in $5 for processing as well as proofs of purchase from any two different participating Quaker cereals such as Cap’n Crunch, Life, Oh’s, and something called Quaker 100% Natural Raisin & Date. This cereal existed from 1972 until at least 1989.

There were also three different Willow magic tricks available inside boxes of Cap’n Crunch cereal. I’ve re-acquired Willow’s Magic Window (pictured here) but have not yet pulled the trigger on Willow’s Coin Trick, or Willow’s Card Trick. I may have actually had the full set of tricks as a child, as varieties of Cap’n Crunch always seemed to be present in our home.

Somehow, cereal competitor Kellogg’s also featured a Willow film promotion on boxes of Corn Flakes with a set of polystyrene cards featuring 13 characters and nine scenes from the film that snapped together like board game pawns, missing an actual board game. 

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!

Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with this Val Kilmer autographed artwork!

This art print of Willow and Madmartigan was available through the Nerd Block mystery box subscription program back in 2016. There were two versions of the print available. Both feature the same main artwork and the logo of Elora Danan’s birthmark. Each contains a unique signature from either Warwick Davis or Val Kilmer.

After receiving the mystery box, I thought I would have preferred the Davis signature version at the time, (after passing up the opportunity for his autograph when seeing him at Star Wars Celebration on multiple occasions), but after seeing the documentary “Val” which serves as a self-portrait and autobiography of Val Kilmer and the struggles throughout his professional career including living with throat cancer for seven years, I am so thankful to have this exact piece in my Willow collection.

If you haven’t had a chance to see the film and have two hours to spare, Val is currently available on Prime Video: https://amzn.to/3hL8qgy

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!

Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with The Willow Game!

Besides publishing the 90-page roleplaying game The Willow Sourcebook, TOR Books also put out this Willow roleplaying game in 1988. Known for its award-winning science fiction, fantasy, and horror publishing program as well as movie, television, and computer game tie-in novels, the company is still around today.

The box features excellent cover art credited to artist Ron Miller, with the card design credited to Janet J. Kramer. With 144 cards in the game, all sorts of bit characters from the film (and several not seen on-screen) are included with some interesting design choices.

An additional Willow board game featuring great artwork was also put out by Parker Brothers later the same year “Based on the Hit Movie.” However, that one is a bit less RPG. It’s more like Candyland or Game of Life.

Despite being sold by the bigger board game manufacturer, that game is rare enough that I have not been able to track down a reasonably priced copy for myself.

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!

Recommended music: James Horner – Arrival at Snow Camp

Today from the archives, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with the Tonka Willow Ufgood (Heroic Protector)!

Since I’m not likely to be collecting the Tonka Eborsisk, Sears exclusive vehicles, or any of the unmade prototypes that showed up online from the home of a former Tonka/Kenner executive, this post represents my last piece of the Tonka Willow toy line to share.

This Willow green repaint did NOT come carded, showing up in a small poly bag only. I just wanted to show the cool blister card artwork that regular figures came on. You can still see the shape of the bubble that I cut away. It did have the extra space for the Elora Danan carrier. This exclusive version of the figure was available by mail for free by sending in proofs of purchase from any three different participating Quaker products, such as Aunt Jemima, varieties of Cap’n Crunch, Crunchy Bran, Life, or Oh’s cereals, Rice-A-Roni, etc. There was also a very plain blue cap with the Willow logo available for five UPCs. However, knowing a toy was an option, five or six-year-old me would not have enjoyed that as much.

I’m not sure which combination of barcodes we used to acquire it, but this was the lone figure in my childhood Willow collection, as I was glad to have the wizard crossing over and teaming up with characters from all sorts of different toy properties. 

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!