Disney+'s Willow creator Jonathan Kasdan has revealed what the sequel series does that the original 1988 film couldn't.
34 years after defeating the evil queen Bavmorda, Warwick Davis reprises his role as Willow Ufgood and guides a band of misfits on a perilous rescue mission into the unknown.
While Kasdan recognises how the George Lucas-created, Ron Howard-directed Willow was an epic fantasy tale that captured the imaginations of young viewers everywhere, he explains how the series was able to take those fantastical landscapes and make them even bigger and better than what had been feasible to do back in 1988.
Related: Willow is better than Rings of Power and other fantasy shows in one particular way
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, he said: "What had struck me so much about the movie when I was a kid was the scale that George conveyed. And he had much more limited tools to do that in 1988 than we do now, with computers and with the sort of equipment that we're working with.
"So one of the things I really wanted the show to have was this sense of immensity and I think that at the heart of its power, is that here's this little guy in a very big world and I wanted to sort of push that further.
"We have cityscapes and worlds beyond anything that could have been achieved in 1988 that really represent an outgrowing of this planet that I was excited to build."
Going on to talk about what it was like getting to work on a lighter fantasy compared to other shows out there, Kasdan shared: "My writing has always had a note of comedy. I think even in the darkest moments, comedy is how we survive.
"So it was sort of ingrown in me and ingrown in Willow itself that there was this sense of danger and laughter intermingled."
He continued: "But I imagine that for filmmakers working on shows like House of the Dragon? It's incredibly tough, actually. Because life is funny and making movies is so fun. You have to sort of suppress those things to tell very serious stories.
"So getting to do this show, I think the spirit behind the making of the show is absolutely on the screen. And that's great fun."
Willow episodes one and two are available to watch now on Disney+ with new episodes dropping weekly on Wednesdays.
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Content Production Intern, Digital Spy
After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy, she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
