Willow is Underrated

Willow doesn't get enough attention. Sure the cg is old, but there are some really fascinating things about the storytelling. 

First of all, you never see parents going out on big fantasy quests. How could they? They have a family and a job. They can't go galavanting off across the country. And that's exactly the problem Willow faces. He has to leave his wife and kids behind, and risk losing his farm. But if he doesn't go, his entire village is at risk. As well as baby Elora. 

And a follow-up to that is that you never see a grand quest where there's a baby along for the ride. Because babies take a lot of caring for! Having to go on an adventure with a baby is hard. And it's hard for Willow! Elora needs food, and she gets sick, and she cries. Heck, she even cries when they're trying to hide from the bad guys. It's only Raziel's quick thinking that disguises the sound. 

And speaking of Raziel, her story is so tragic! It's mentioned so quietly that some people don't even notice it. The evil queen turned her onto a possum. Raziel thinks that she'll be a beautiful young woman when Willow transforms her. But when she's finally a human again, she's an old woman. "Has it been so long?" She whispers, as she sees the wrinkles on her hands. She never knew that she spent most of her life trapped on an island, as a possum. 

Then there's the love potion. No, not the one from Strange Magic. George Lucas clearly likes love potions. The love potion in Willow came first. And it always struck me as rather silly. The evil queen's daughter gets swept off her feet when Madmartigan is under the potion's influence, and starts "spouting poetry" to her. But this last time I watched the movie, I saw that scene in a different way. Sorsha has never experienced love before! She sure never got any from her mother. Madmartigan's love may not be intentional, but it was love. Sorsha can't stop watching him after that. You can just see her thinking, "wow, this guy's a great fighter. And he doesn't fight to destroy. He fights to protect." So I suddenly felt much better about that love potion part. And it worked out pretty well. Better than the love potion in Strange Magic, anyway (although that did kind of help the Bog King open up some). 

(I have not yet seen the sequel series to Willow. I will eventually, but I'm always a little afraid of sequels...)