Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

Willow

Willow
Released 1988 by Lucasfilm Ltd./Columbia Pictures
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis, Jean Marsh

Willow is a struggling young farmer who dreams of becoming a great sorceror. His children find a baby in the river next to his farm, and the village wise man declares that she is a special child who must be taken to a place of safety. Willow leaves his home and family and undertakes this dangerous quest. He meets strange companions, encounters various monsters, has magical misadventures, takes part in great battles, and ultimately overthrows the evil sorceress queen who seeks to destroy the baby. He returns home triumphantly as a great hero and an acknowledged sorceror-in-training.

Warwick Davis plays the title character in this fabulous movie, and it is his biggest role to date. He has more screen time than anybody in this big-budget George Lucas film. This was the first movie in which Warwick portrayed a human character and acted without a mask and heavy costume, and he does an outstanding job. This story of a young father risking his life to save someone else's baby has a much warmer feel to it than the classic Star Wars trilogy, and the special effects have the incredibly high quality that we've come to expect in a Lucasfilm production.

The 1990s have seen the publication of a trilogy of books based on the movie (Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn and Shadow Star), and George Lucas is reportedly considering doing a movie sequel after he completes a few other projects.

The Willow Special Edition DVD released in 2001 features a wonderful audio commentary by Warwick Davis and numerous other goodies.

On April 23, 2005 George Lucas gave a talk at Star Wars Celebration 3 in Indianapolis. There is a slightly misdated report on this event here on the official Star Wars website. The section that concerns Willow fans says:

Beyond Indy, Lucas also answered a question about another popular Lucasfilm character, Willow Ufgood. His response to a fan who asked about the possibilities of Willow II: "I was actually just talking to Warwick Davis backstage, and we were communing on the possibility, wouldn't it be wonderful to someday do a Willow TV series. I can't say that we'll do that, but, [Lucasfilm] is moving into television, and a lot of ideas are popping up."

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this!

The Pictures section has an extensive collection of Willow pictures, including many that can't be seen anywhere else on the web.

The Sound Clips section has a selection of sound clips (naturally).

The Articles section includes a number of Willow-related articles.