Episode 109 - Willow (Ron Howard, 1988)

Willow (Ron Howard, 1988).

The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!

Alex fulfils something of a lifelong dream in Episode 109 in that he finally gets a chance to talk about the mythology and magic of Willow (Ron Howard, 1988) for the Fantasy/Animation podcast, albeit with Chris alongside him as relative novice to its world of prophecies, sorcery, and high fantasy storytelling. Listen as they discuss the film’s broader liminal status within traditions of both fantasy and animation that anchor it very much to Hollywood cinema of the 1980s and 1990s, including its place on the cusp of industry turns towards digital VFX imagery and the evolution of a particular kind of fantasy away from ‘wonder’ films towards spectacular ‘frontier’ blockbusters. Topics include Willow’s use of practical effects and the role of George Lucas (as Executive Producer) in relation to emergent digital VFX technologies; the Computer Graphics Lab, Lucasfilm, and the spectacle of cinema’s first ‘digital morph’; the film’s perceived failure and the blacklisting of high fantasy in U.S. cinema; narrative and thematic links to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), including the use of location shooting in New Zealand; disabled representation, and how Willow navigates the complex issues of ableism and exceptionalism; and what Ron Howard’s film has to say about the enchanting powers of magic and trickery both on and offscreen.

**Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**

Suggested Readings

  • King, Geoff. 2000. Spectacular Narratives Hollywood in the Age of the Blockbuster. London: I.B. Tauris.

  • Mendlesohn, Farah. 2008. Rhetorics of Fantasy. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

  • Pallant, Chris and Christopher Holliday. “Lucas Meets Luxo: Lucasfilm’s Computer Graphics Lab (CGL) and the Development of Pixar Animation Studios.” In Lucas: His Hollywood Legacy, edited by Richard Ravalli. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, forthcoming.

  • Thomas, Ebony Elizabeth. 2019. The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games. New York: NYU Press.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantHOLLYWOOD, SPECIAL EFFECTS, VISUAL EFFECTS, COMPUTER ANIMATION, SORCERY, JOURNEY, REPRESENTATIONComment