Andrew LaSane and Mental_Floss present 11 Magical Facts About Willow. Here are three of my favorites…
3. IT WAS CRITICIZED FOR BEING A COPY OF STAR WARS.
Having thought of the two worlds simultaneously, George Lucas may have cribbed some of his own work and other well-known stories a little too much for Willow, and some critics noticed.“Without anything like [Star Wars’] eager, enthusiastic tone, and indeed with an understandable weariness, Willow recapitulates images from Snow White, The Wizard of Oz,Gulliver’s Travels, Mad Max, Peter Pan, Star Wars itself, the Hobbit saga, Japanese monster films of the 1950s, the Bible and a million fairy tales,” wrote Janet Maslin of The New York Times. “One tiny figure combines the best attributes of Tinkerbell, the Good Witch Glinda and the White Rock Girl.”
Later in her review, Maslin continued to point of the similarities between the two films: “When the sorcerer tells Willow to follow his heart, he becomes the Obi-Wan Kenobi of a film that also has its Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3P0 and Princess Leia stand-ins. Much energy has gone into the creation of their names, some of which (General Kael) have recognizable sources and others (Burglekutt, Cherlindrea, Airk) have only tongue-twisting in mind. Not even the names have anything like Star Wars-level staying power.”
6. THE DEATH DOGS WERE REAL DOGS IN COSTUME.
The big bad in the film, Bavmorda, has demon dogs that terrorize Willow’s village. The dogs are more boar-like than canine, but they were portrayed by Rottweilers. The prop team outfitted the dogs with rubber masks and used animatronic heads for close-up scenes.
10. JOHN CUSACK AUDITIONED FOR THE PART OF MADMARTIGAN.
Val Kilmer famously played the role of the reluctant hero two years after played Iceman in Top Gun (1986), but he was not the only big name to audition for the role. Davis revealed in a commentary track that he once read with John Cusack, who in 1987 had already starred inSixteen Candles (1984), Stand by Me (1986), and Hot Pursuit (1987).
