Meanwhile, of Lucas's personal projects, next in line was the fantasy adventure
Willow. Lucas had originally wanted to make The Lord of the Rings,
but the rights belonged to Saul Zaentz, the producer of the 1978 Ralph Bakshi-directed
cartoon version, and he wasn't about to relinquish them, his longterm intention being
to make a live action version of the story at some stage. Consequently, Lucas used
The Lord of the Rings as the jumping off point for Willow, just as
Flash Gordon had been his inspiration for Star Wars.
Like Star Wars, Willow is deeply rooted in Lucas's love of mythology,
its story, by Lucas himself, centring round the discovery of a baby girl called
Elora who had been hidden in a village of Nelwyns (for which read little people).
The child's nurse has hidden the baby because she believes her to be the successor
to the evil Queen Bavmorda, who has ordered that all baby girls be slain. The
Nelwyn who finds Elora, Willow Ufgood, determines on protecting her and returning
her so that she can achieve her destiny. Thus an incredible journey, fraught with
danger at every turn, begins.
Naturally, Willow doesn't make this journey alone. Along the way he is joined by
Madmartigan, a maverick swordsman, and a feisty maiden called Sorsha who turns out
to be Queen Bavmorda's daughter, both of whom help conquer Bavmorda. There is also
assistance in the form of a sorceress called Raziel and the wise High Aldwin, and
further hindrance in the shape of General Kael (named after critic Pauline Kael).
There is also a giant two-headed monster which the effects team at ILM christened
the Eborsisk (after critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel).
To flesh out his story, Lucas hired Bob Dolman, who was then working on the
sit-com WKRP in Cincinnati. To direct he only ever really had his former
American Graffiti star Ron Howard in mind, whose directorial career had by
now taken in Grand Theft Auto, Night Shift, Splash, Cocoon and Gung Ho,
of which both Splash and Cocoon had been huge box office hits. Other
behind-the-scenes personnel onboard included producer Nigel Wooll, cinematographer
Adrian Biddle (Aliens, The Princess Bride), production designer Allan Cameron
(Aliens), sound designer Ben Burtt and ILM technicians Dennis Muren, Michael
J. McAlister and Phil Tippett. As usual, Lucas executive produced. In front of the
cameras, Warwick Davis finally got his big moment as Willow, supported by Val Kilmer
as Madmartigan, Joanne Whalley as Sorsha, Jean Marsh as Bavmorda, Patricia Hayes
as Raziel, Billy Barty as the High Aldwin and Pat Roach as General Kael. Twins Ruth
and Kate Greenfield provided the close-ups of Elora, whilst Kenny Baker and his
cabaret partner Jack Purvis also popped up in one of the Nelwyn scenes. Another
hundred or so little people were also cast as Nelwyns, no doubt grateful to be
acting in something other than a Snow White pantomime.
Story-wise, Willow wasn't that far removed from Star Wars. Madmartigan
was a thinly disguised Han Solo, Willow was a diminutive Luke Skywalker, Sorsha
was Leia, General Kael Darth Vader, and both the High Aldwin and Raziel had echoes
of Yoda. There were also elements of Lucas's beloved Samurai movies thrown in for good
measure, most notably in the costumes by Barbara Lane.
Budgeted at $40m, Willow began filming on 27 April 1987, and during its
lengthy six month shoot the production visited Snowdonia in Wales and the Queenstown
mountain district in New Zealand, the spectacular scenery of which added immeasurably
to the film's visual appeal. As always, all the interiors were shot at Elstree.
Whilst all this was goin on, back in Marin County the ILM technicians were excelling
themselves, providing many magical effects sequences, including Raziel's seamless
transformation from a goat to human form via several different animals. They also
had to contend with two minor characters, Rool and Franjean (Kevin Pollak and Rick
Overton) who are just nine inches tall, yet play a vital part in several action
sequences.
Having been edited by Daniel Hanley and Michael Hill, and scored by James Horner,
Willow was ready for screening at Cannes in May 1988, where it was the festival's
official closing film. It was released in America soon after on 20 May, and though it
did reasonable box office business, it didn't exactly set the world alight, being
overshadowed by Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which proved to be the year's big
hit. Consequently, any plans for a sequel to Willow were quietly shelved by Lucas.
Though well made and enjoyable in itself, the movie's problem seemed to be the
familiarity of its characters and themes, which several critics picked up on, most
notably Variety, which commented, 'Willow... is a sort of 10th century
Star Wars tossed together with a plethora of elements taken from numerous
classic fables. Ron Howard directed, but only Lucasness shows up on the screen,
particularly near the end when the special effects start to come on at full bore.
It's not surprising that the overall flavour of the production looks familiar.'
Despite its lukewarm reception, Willow did nevertheless earn a couple of
Academy Award nominations for best special effects (Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett,
Michael J. McAlister) and best sound effects editing (Ben Burtt), both of which it
lost to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
