Tag: The Magic of Willow

Recommended music: James Horner – Escape from the Tavern

We’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow from the archives today with the Tonka Sorsha!

English actress Joanne Whalley portrays Sorsha in both the 1988 Willow film, as well as the short-lived Willow series on Disney+. The significance of her character is known as a “tritagonist”, being the 3rd most important character to the story. In the actual film’s credits, she gets second billing after Val Kilmer, but is ahead of Warwick Davis in the title role.

The daughter of main villain Queen Bavmorda, Sorsha spends most of the film as second-in-command under General Kael leading the Nockmaar army. She ultimately falls in love with Madmartigan while he defends Tir Asleen, and changes to fighting against Nockmaar, with the characters eventually marrying. Life truly imitated art as Kilmer and Whalley met on the set of the film and were married by February 1988, (separating in 1996).

These Sorsha figures show two different looks for the character, but anyone who saw these toys for sale in stores before seeing the film might have noticed a story spoiler, as her character’s base is tan (not black), the base color for the film’s heroes.

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!

Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with Lucasfilm Fan Club Official Magazine #4!

This issue was released in the summer of 1988, shortly after the film’s theatrical release, but late enough in summer to feature fan mail from readers who had already seen (and enjoyed) the movie in theaters.

The publication contained some first-look photos of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as well as some details of the upcoming film Tucker: The Man and His Dream starring Jeff Bridges.

Besides an article about Industrial Light & Magic “Inside ILM: Creating the Magic of Willow”, the highlight of the issue was a set of interviews by fan club president & publisher, Dan Madsen. These were “Ron Howard: Imagining The Wonders of Willow” and “Warwick Davis: An Unlikely Hero” which had enough good content to carry on with a part two in the next issue.

The Willow film turned 37 years old yesterday! 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 – The Enchanted Forest

We’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow from the archives today with the Tonka Airk Thaughbaer (Heroic Commander)!

In the Willow film, both the Daikini (tall folk) and Nelwyn (short folk) use horses (and horse-drawn carts) for transportation. Main actor Warwick Davis had a fear of horses following a childhood incident; however, the role required him to ride a horse. With a few weeks of riding lessons, he became confident enough in his riding ability and looked quite natural in the final film.

This ‘Airk Thaughbaer – Horse and Riders’ figure also looks quite natural along with some ‘Airk Thaughbaer (Heroic commander)’ and some ‘Rebel Trooper (Heroic Soldier)’ figures to make up my 3-inch Galladoorn army.

In real life, Airk was played by Gavan O’Herlihy, who had over 30 screen credits, including roles in Happy Days, The Six Million Dollar Man, Never Say Never Again, and Superman III before relocating to the UK in the 90s, where he focused on roles in the theatre and British television.

The Willow film turned 37 years old yesterday! 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 Willow lunch box!

While metal lunch boxes as we know them first became common in the 1920s for men and women in the workforce, licensed lunch boxes date back to 1935 when a company called ‘Geuder, Paeschke, & Frey’ from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was authorized to use the likeness of Mickey Mouse for the top of its “Lunch Kit.” This was a metal container sealed at the top with a rigid wire loop that doubled as a handle.

From then on, movie and TV characters of all sorts on the side of a lunchbox, became common for kids taking their lunch to school as the design and licenses changed through the 20th century. Metal lunch boxes were pretty much discontinued in 1985 when a group of Florida parents petitioned against their use in schools, claiming they could be used as weapons, with the final metal lunch box ever made printed with Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo. Just a bit violent, right?

Following the ban on metal, vinyl lunch boxes were produced for a short time in the late 80s, but ultimately were not durable enough and soon gave way to hard plastic lunch boxes. Plastic remained the standard through the 90s until soft, insulated Neoprene lunch bags began to dominate the market. Anyways, here’s my 1988 Willow lunch box and matching thermos.

The Willow film turns 37 years old today! 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 – Airk’s Army

From the archives today, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with the Willow Official Comic Adaptation!

I don’t know too much more that can be said about the comic adaptation of the Willow film that I haven’t already shared about the graphic novel version. While the cover dates are August, September, and October of 1988, it appears the actual release dates were 4/26, 5/31, and 6/28/88.

This means that by the time the film hit the big screen (opening at #1 on 5/20/88), the first third of the story had already been spoiled in comic book form. Even though the film added a few theaters for Memorial Day weekend, it slid to #2 at the box office behind the debut of Crocodile Dundee II. The following week, the 2nd volume of the comic was released in comic shops. The comic and additional advertising/merchandising were not enough to keep audiences interested amongst stiff competition the following weekend either as Crocodile Dundee held the top spot, followed by the debut of Tom Hanks in Big (which, rated PG, likely took some of the family audience), Rambo III, Funny Farm, and then Willow rounding out the top five.

In Willow’s 6th weekend in theaters, the film actually added 172 more screens, which it kept through the following week (a long 4th of July weekend), with the remainder of the story coming out in comic form in between these two weekends. By this point in the summer, Who Framed Roger Rabbit had debuted, removing any chance of Willow rebounding to be the top-grossing family film of the summer, as Roger Rabbit was the highest-grossing film overall in 1988 with over $156 million in US ticket sales compared to Willow’s $55 million domestic gross.

The Willow film turns 37 years old TODAY! 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 Tonka figure of a Troll!

There are several fantasy creatures seen on screen and in books within the Willow universe. One of the most iconic creatures is the Eborsisk, which George Lucas named, again after film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. The Eborsisk is just a gnarly looking two-headed dragon designed by Industrial Light & Magic head Phil Tippett himself, as the script was not too specific, and he pretty much had free reign on the final look. In the story, the Eborsisk is accidentally created by Willow when he casts the wrong spell on a troll.

Unfortunately, the trolls in Willow, while ugly, are certainly a very tame design. Rather than large and monstrous, they really come off more like a young sasquatch or a relative of Chaka from Land of the Lost.

This “Troll (Evil Creature)” figure could really have benefited from some other color mixed in, but unlike Chewbacca in Star Wars, nearly always appearing with his bandolier to break up the solid brown look, these things are just solid brown. 😛

The Willow film turns 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!

Recommended music: James Horner – Bavmorda’s Castle

From the archives today, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Willow: The Storybook Based on the Movie!

Each printed version of Willow I review seems to be half the size of the previous edition, with the junior novelization being half the length of the novel. This hardcover book, written by Cathy East, is 64 pages long, around half the length of the junior novel. Fortunately, it is loaded with photos, mostly screenshots, and many promotional images.

Contrasting the larger volumes, this book sticks to the theatrical version, no deleted scenes. Unlike storybooks for the original Star Wars that included photos from the deleted scenes featuring Biggs, no child in 1988 would have known about these deleted scenes. They would not have known that scenes featuring a fish monster or a king frozen in crystal were actually filmed. This information was revealed in documentaries more than a decade later.

There is also Willow: The Picture Storybook by Cathy West. It continues the shrinking book pattern and clocks in at 32 pages. I couldn’t find any other books credited to that author for another decade, so it’s likely either a clever pseudonym in conjunction with this book for some reason, or purely a coincidence.

The Willow film turns 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!

Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with this Tonka figure of a Death Dog!

I wonder if the idea for Death Dogs occurred in the mind of George Lucas after he was unable to find a way to physically show Womp Rats in the Star Wars Original Trilogy. Or maybe he was trying to outdo the Rodents Of Unusual Size, first appearing in the 1973 Princess Bride novel, realized on screen in the 1987 film.

Regardless of origin, the Death Dogs appearing in the Willow film were frightening for children, but slightly less ferocious to adult viewers I’m sure, as they are played by Rottweilers wearing rubber masks and fur suits. Though well-trained, the dogs were still dangerous enough in real-life, that actors on set were kept at a distance.

This “Death Dog (Evil Beast)” figure is lucky to be attached to a base, as I’m sure it would topple over without one in this running pose. So, what do you think, are Death Dogs scary? Here is a clip that you should watch for at least four seconds to see infant Elora Danan’s reaction to Death Dogs, and longer to see them in action set to James Horner’s score: 

The Willow film turns 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!

Recommended music: James Horner – Willow’s Journey Begins

From the archives today, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Willow Graphic Novel!

In 1982, Marvel Comics began publishing a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks. These were labeled “Marvel Graphic Novel” and printed in a larger format, 8.5″ x 11″. This style was similar to European albums, which had been popular for decades.

The Willow comic book adaptation was published from August to October 1988. Soon after that, all three single issues were collected into this graphic novel. While this adaptation, written by Jo Duffy, features a number of scenes that were deleted from the film (some of these were also in the novelization), the artwork really stands out to me here.

Co-creator of Marvel Comics’ West Coast Avengers, Bob Hall, was the penciller for the story panels while Romeo Tanghal was the inker. Joe Jusko is credited with the amazing cover art, only found in the graphic novel version. Yesterday’s General Kael art is the back cover. I also like the slick paper and print quality of this version compared to the single floppy issues. 

The Willow film turns 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!

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!

Recommended music: James Horner – Death Dogs

From the archives today, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Willow VHS!

Willow was released to home media when many different physical formats were on the market. On November 22, 1988, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video made Willow available on Betamax, LaserDisc, VHS, and Video 8 (little 8mm tapes that topped out at 120 minutes). Columbia TriStar Home Video later put out a “deluxe widescreen presentation” of the film on LaserDisc in 1995, spanning three sides for the 126-minute film (Yay, flipping and replacing the disc to watch the full movie). 😄

This Columbia Tristar Family Collection Willow VHS was released simultaneously with the same cover art in a gold clamshell case. This new clamshell packaging was meant to compete with Disney and other studios releasing children’s videos in something more durable than the standard cardboard sleeve.

I always thought it was an odd choice to have Joanne Whalley’s Sorsha appear on the cover in her nightgown. It is an outfit that sees just a few minutes of screen time. It makes the unfamiliar consumer think twice about whether the film is more fantasy or romance. 

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!

Also, today from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with this Tonka figure of High Aldwin (Heroic Wise Man)!

This figure represents just the second figure of a film character played by Hollywood legend Billy Barty, following his Masters of the Universe character Gwildor, who received a figure the year before.

Barty had a film and television career spanning over seven decades including such films as Soup to Nuts, Bride of Frankenstein, multiple television shows produced by Sid and Marty Krofft, 1978’s animated Lord of the Rings (as the rotoscope reference for Bilbo), Legend, the voice of Figment at EPCOT, and Masters of the Universe (my personal favorite) … quite an extensive list by the time Willow was being cast.

Following Willow, Barty later starred in UHF, Radioland Murders, and The Rescuers Down Under, among other films. 

Bigger than just acting, Barty also founded the Little People of America organization to help people with dwarfism. The group is still going strong 65+ years later. By 1981, Barty had already received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.

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!

Recommended music: James Horner – The Nelwyns No. 2

From the archives today, we’re still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Willow (Junior Novel)!

My copy of the Willow novelization has been well-loved. Adapting the 275-page novel down to just 125 pages aimed at readers aged 10-14, this version could be skimmed through quickly by young readers following the film’s launch.

My favorite thing about this book is the cover art. Most of the recognizable Willow movie poster art was done by John Alvin. He had previously done artwork for several Ron Howard and George Lucas films of the 1980s. His Willow art covered practically every version of the posters seen at theaters. It was also featured on the eventual VHS and the regular novelization, etc. While it is wonderful art, the junior novelization seen here was painted by Michael Pangrazio.

Pangrazio already had quite the Lucas connection. He provided matte paintings used for Empire Strikes Back (Hoth) and Return of the Jedi, and even had an appearance as an extra in Empire as a Rebel pilot. He later won a Visual Effects Emmy for The Ewok Adventure. 

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!

Also, tonight from the archives, let’s celebrate the Magic of Willow with this Queen Bavmorda (Evil Sorceress)!

So, the biggest problem with the Willow toy line wasn’t the character selection, paint applications, or availability at brick-and-mortar retailers. These are all frequent issues plaguing modern toy collectors. However, the main issue was the (lack of) articulation.

The line can’t really be called “action figures.” They more resemble tokens from a role-playing or board game. Just a solid plastic mold on a metal base. A generation earlier, may have been fully content with solid green plastic army men. In the years since, toy lines tying into the latest summer blockbuster have featured at least five points of articulation. This trend has persisted for more than a decade, at least since 1978’s first wave of Star Wars figures from Kenner.

This figure of “Queen Bavmorda (Evil Sorceress)” captures the likeness of the film’s chief villain well enough. However, I feel it could have benefited from some sort of magic lightning effect. It shouldn’t look like she was wielding a silver banana. 

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!

Recommended music: James Horner – The Nelwyns

We’re changing it up today and still celebrating the Magic of Willow with this Lucasfilm Fan Club issue #3!

This magazine was released in the spring of 1988, just prior to the film’s theatrical release. The 14-page newsletter featured a couple-page-long interview with Madmartigan actor Val Kilmer, and offered a good printed preview of the film.

The issue also contained an order form to get your own Willow Advanced movie poster and other Willow merchandise before it hit store shelves.

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!