Disney+’s 'Willow' Interview: Producer Jonathan Kasdan

Moviefone speaks with Jonathan Kasdan about 'Willow.' "It occupies this place in history of having been this very special thing," the producer said.

Premiering on Disney+ November 30th is the new Lucasfilm series ‘Willow,’ which is a sequel to the 1988 movie of the same name created by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard.

The new series picks up over 30-years later and stars Ruby Cruz and Dempsey Bryk as Kit and Airk, respectively, the children of Queen Sorcha (Joanne Whalley), and Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), who is currently missing.

When a member of the royal family is abducted by evil forces, the Queen dispatches an unlikely group of heroes to save them and defeat the evil including Kit, her best friend and knight-in-training Jade (Erin Kellyman), young scholar Graydon (Tony Revolori), a thief named Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel), a kitchen maid named Dove (Ellie Bamber), and Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), the sorcerer that helped Sorsha and her husband many years ago.

The series will also include returning actors Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton as Rool and Franjean, respectively, while Christian Slater joins the franchise as Allagash.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer and producer Jonathan Kasdan about his work on ‘Willow,’ his love for the original, why now was the right time to bring it back, working with Warwick Davis, the new characters, adding to the mythology, and the show’s unusual use of rock music.

Producer and writer Jonathan Kasdan talks Disney+'s 'WIllow.'

You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Kasdan, Ruby Cruz, Dempsey Bryk, Tony Revolori, Ellie Bamber, Joanne Whalley, Christian Slater, and Warwick Davis about ‘Willow.’

Moviefone: To begin with, it seems like ‘Willow’ has been the forgotten child of Lucasfilm for some time. Can you talk about your passion for this franchise and why now was the right time to bring it back with this series?

Jonathan Kasdan: Well, you said the magic word. I mean, it is the forgotten child. It was an idea that actually really appealed to me, which is like, I'm a great lover of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ I love that final scene when the crates are being rolled in. You think, "Well, there's potential for story in every one of these."

‘Willow’ occupies this funny place in history of having been this very special thing to a lot of people. Then having been crated away and put in the warehouse. We literally wanted to embrace that idea and have the show open with an old dusty volume being pulled down off of a shelf. We get to read the part of the book that we didn't get before. That was what really attracted me to doing it.

The reason that it's now is because, simply, Disney+ exists. It's the way that we were able to make this story, continue it, and actually take it in a direction that was exciting and surprising to all of us. Which was really to build into character and expand.

MF: What was Warwick Davis’ reaction to the revival series and what was it like for you to work with him on set?

JK: Warwick's reaction was, "Bring it on. I've been waiting for 31 years," I believe it was at that point he said, "And I've been ready all that time."

He kept his wand close at hand. He was as enthusiastic and passionate about returning to this role that so many people loved from him, as anyone could hope their leading man could be. It was incredible.

Warwick Davis in Lucasfilm's 'Willow,' exclusively on Disney+.

MF: Can you talk about expanding the ‘Willow’ universe and the new characters on the series?

JK: I mean, that's a big part of it for me, I'm a fan of sequels more than I am of prequels. I love stories that move it further. I want to know what happens next. One of the things that requires is a bigger, darker force somewhere out in the world. We thought there was a way, and it would be fun to integrate the legacy of the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) into a mythology that's much larger and much scarier.

That was always a big part of the appeal to me, was like there's a next stage to how things might go and where they could progress to that it would require Elora Danan (Kate and Ruth Greenfield and Rebecca Bearman) to come into her own as a sorceress.

MF: For fans of the movie, the series is filled with Easter eggs. Which one was your favorite to include?

JK: I mean, there's so many, and they're so specific. I think my favorite one is that in the role playing game of ‘Willow,’ there's a casual reference to a book of evil magic called The Malatrium. On the show ‘Willow,’ we were able to make that book a reality. It is a hard copy thing that exists, and that they work with in the show to conjure some dark magic and to try to save their friend.

So, I'm the biggest nerd for that kind of thing in the world, and I was looking for any opportunity and anyone that I could bring back and repopulate the universe with.

Ruby Cruz, Erin Kellyman, Amar Chadha-Patel and Tony Revolori in Lucasfilm's 'Willow.'

MF: Finally, can you talk about the creative choice to end each episode with a contemporary rock song?

JK: Well, it's a funny one, because it's something that we sort of all held hands together on very early. It feels like there's a world of people and of diehard fans to which that's sacrilegious.

Then there's a world of people whom are looking for these things to move forward and to have fun with themselves and be adventurous. For us, ‘Willow’ was the perfect experiment in that, because the show has so much youthful energy to it. It's rebellious, it's rock and roll, as I think the first ‘Star Wars’ was.

So, it felt like a really natural fit to give it a little of that punk quality in the most literal, possible way. We love doing it, and it gave us all a lot of joy when each episode came to an end and promised more and more feelings.