Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas. There were high hopes for the film, as the Industrial Light and Magic special effects company built for Lucas' Star Wars films turned its hand to the fantasy genre, but critics and viewers were generally disappointed by a confused and lackluster plot, despite entertaining performances from the actors.
The story is known as Lucas' attempt to imitate Tolkien: a young farmer named Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), one of a halfling-like people called Nelwyns, who is drawn away from his sheltered home to save a baby girl with a destiny from the evil queen who would see her destroyed. Willow is aided by the disillusioned master swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), turned to a life of roguery after the fall of his kingdom to the evil queen. They are initially thwarted but later joined by the queen's daughter Sorsha (played by Joanne Whalley, later Kilmer's wife).
The movie was eventually followed by a trilogy of thick fantasy novels written by Chris Claremont (again from a story by George Lucas), with the grown-up destiny girl as the central character. Shadow Moon , the first in the trilogy, was published in 1995.
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