Willow (film)
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Willow |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Ron Howard (director), Bob Dolman (screenwriter), George Lucas (story) |
| Date(s): | May 20, 1988 |
| Medium: | Film |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | Willow (film) at Wikipedia |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard with a story by George Lucas. It stars Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood, an aspiring sorcerer who finds a baby prophesized to be the downfall of an evil queen. The mercenary Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) helps him protect the child from the queen, who sends an army along with her daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) after them.
A TV sequel of the same name was released on Disney+ in 2022.
Fandom
Around the film's release, it received a fair amount of attention in science fiction and fantasy fandom spaces, bolstered by its connection to George Lucas. For example, there was a promo for the film at Dreamworks Convention in April 1988, and the Star Wars zines Southern Enclave (Issue 19, June 1988) and Hyperspace (1990) published newspaper clippings about the film and a very positive film review, respectively.
In June 1989, one fan used Willow as an example of a fandom that "blaze[d] into prominence, then [fell] by the wayside", noting: "'Willow' art sold very well last year [at MediaWest*Con]—but I bet there won't be any this year".[1] Willow items were auctioned at Star Wars Collector's Day in 1995 but appear not to have been very popular.[2]
There was some but not much Willow fanfiction in fanzines[3]—including Dreaming Fantazine (date unknown), Merlin's Mixed Media Madness #2 (1990), and Shadowstar #33 (1992).
Today, the film is still popular among fans of nostalgic eighties fantasy (alongside the likes of The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and Return to Oz) and has been a recurring Yuletide fandom. However, the fandom for the 2022 sequel series has eclipsed that of the original film.
The most popular pairing is the canonical Madmartigan/Sorsha. There is also some Madmartigan/Airk slash.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- "Shadow Hunting" by Roberta Stuemke, published in Shadowstar #33 (1992). Described in the zine's editorial as "another wonderfully-crafted Willow tale, a virtual epic."
- i am teaching myself how to be free by seren_ccd (2018). Madmartigan/Sorsha, written for Yuletide. The most-kudosed film-only story on Archive of Our Own as of 2023.
Fanart
- The Doll Knight's Willow comics (2016–2018). Incorporates secondary canon sources including "the Willow Sourcebook, the Wayland Drew novelization, the Nintendo game, the Marvel comic adaptation, and the Joan Vinge novelization" as well as "a dozen other" texts.[4]
Meta
- Similarities Between "Star Wars" And "Willow" by TAVI-Iñigo Aymat in Echo Station "via article exchange program with Echo Station's Spanish partner SithNet" (12 July 1999)
External Links
References
- ^ Southern Enclave, Issue 22 (June 1989).
- ^ Con report by Jason Grant, printed in Bounty Hunter #6 (1996):
- "This gave way to the auction, which saw a number of 'Star Wars' and 'Willow' items sold to the highest bidder. [...] Jason Joiner's partner Amaud Grunberg did some bidding of his own to generate activity, but ended up the reluctant owner of a 'Willow' shield, as no one else wanted it."
- ^ Roberta Stuemke, who has written two Willow fics, noted in her 2012 Media Fandom Oral History Project Interview: "I’ve hardly ever seen anybody else having written much from the movie Willow."
- ^ Willow, Archived version by thedollknight at DeviantArt, posted 26 July 2016.