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The Smaller the Better |
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Almost all humans love heroes, but science-fiction fans seem to love them most of all. Well, get ready for the biggest hero of the year in the new George Lucas movie Willow. Any fiction writer will tell you that if you want to turn a Main Character into a Hero--put that character up against the most difficult obstacle you can imagine. Usually, that obstacle takes the form of a person--a person who is determined not to let the main character succeed and who seems to have the power to prevent success. In other words, to build a hero, you must create a villain. Flash Gordon is up against Ming the Merciless. Ripley is up against the Queen Mother of the Aliens. Luke Skywalker is up against Darth Vader (until the end). Every great hero is made great by virtue of overcoming monstrous villainy. Now, if the main character starts off big and bold, the audience realizes right away that he is ready for the task before him--no matter how hard it seems. But if the main character starts off shy, inexperienced and small--then the audience has good cause to be concerned. And that is what every writer wants most from his audience: concern. In other words, when a writer creates a villain of awesome power and a main character of frightening weakness, that writer is building a hero of enormous stature. For Willow, George Lucas has created a main character who is a little person (or perhaps that should be Little Person--I'm not sure). I don't mean that the main character (who is named Willow) is a child; I mean he is a young man who will never grow close to average human height. In the case of the 17-year-old actor who plays Willow, Warwick Davis is 3'4" tall. Now, what is this little man up against? A parade of horrors--from Death Dogs to the frightening General Kael to the supreme dark sorceress, Bavmorda, and more--all of them hurling the powers of evil down upon poor little Willow. And what must Willow do? He must confront and conquer every obstacle. And what is at stake? The survival of his entire race, nothing less. Willow is about the adventure of a little person growing to impressive heights. I asked George Lucas (who wrote the story of Willow and is the movie's executive producer) why he created a race of little people as the main characters of his fantasy realm. "In fairy tales and mythology," George replied, "little people have always been a major factor--and I've always felt that it was interesting that no film had ever been made about them." So, he set about to fashion the movie which many think might finally do for fantasy what Star Wars did for science fiction--fling wide the doors of that magical genre and let in millions of new fans from the mainstream world. The talent involved is impressive. Ron (Splash) Howard is the director, and Industrial Light & Magic has done the special effects. As was the case with Star Wars, none of the marquee names is a superstar. Val (Top Gun) Kilmer is the only actor most people have ever heard of, and the title role is played by a young man whose only previous screen roles were in the disguise of an Ewok in Return of the Jedi and the Ewok TV movies. So, with no big stars and a subject which traditionally is no big box office, George is making a movie which features a cast of more than 200 little people. "I've worked with a lot of little people," says George, "and I've known a lot of little people, and the time has come to make a film about little people as heroes." When George says it, it sounds logical and obvious--if you want an exciting fairy tale, put a charming little man up against the big and the bad and the ugly. But make no mistake, this is a courageous decision by George--and by Alan Ladd Jr., whose MGM/UA is financing and distributing Willow. Almost no one else in Hollywood would gamble more than $30 million on a hero of this size. But George is not only in the rare position to take gambles of this sort, he also has the strength of his vision. To him, the smaller his hero, the better. He is certain that millions who feel like little people--up against the big, bad problems of the world--will relate to Willow. All good fairy tales have a lesson in the story, and Willow's lesson is the same one we've been taught by every heroic drama we've ever read or seen. It is the reason we humans need heroes and enjoy watching them triumph. There are philosophical ways to state the lesson, but you know it as a feeling deep inside yourself. Each of us chooses words which have personal meaning, but it all comes down to the simple thought: "If Willow can do that, I can do this!" |