Passes the Bechdel test
Willow
1988. Directed by Ron Howard, written by Bob Dolman and George Lucas.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 139. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
A baby girl is discovered in a river by Ranon and Mims, the children of Willow Ufgood, a farmer and magician and the baby girl is taken into the care of Willow's family. But when a terrifying dog-like creature attacks Willow's village, whilst tracking down the baby. Willow consults the village council and the wizard The High Aldwin. The High Aldwin gives Willow a task and Willow leaves the village and embarks on the task to give the baby girl to a responsible person. But Willow soon learns the baby is Elora Danan, the baby girl destined to bring about the downfall of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda. Joined by his allies: swordsman Madmartigan, sorceress Fin Raziel and the Brownies Franjean and Rool, Willow takes it upon himself to protect Elora from Queen Bavmorda, who intends to kill Elora and prevent Elora from fulfilling her destiny. And Willow and his allies are pursued by Queen Bavmorda's daughter Sorsha and the evil commander of Queen Bavmorda's army General Kael, whom are searching for Elora and bring her back to Queen Bavmorda's castle, where Queen Bavmorda bids to kill Elora in a ritual and prevent the prophecy of her downfall.
- Released
- 20 May 1988
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 47 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 1 win & 13 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Willow 229 lines, man
- Madmartigan 160 lines, man
- Raziel 76 lines, woman
- Sorsha 50 lines, woman
- Bavmorda 36 lines, woman
- Teemo 25 lines, man
- Airk 24 lines, man
- Cherlindrea 17 lines, woman
- Kael 17 lines, man
- High Aldwin 16 lines, man
Full cast, 63 people
- Warwick Davis as Willow
- Val Kilmer as Madmartigan
- Joanne Whalley as Sorsha
- Patricia Hayes as Raziel
- Gavan O'Herlihy as Airk
- Phil Fondacaro as Vohnkar
- Pat Roach as General Kael
- Rick Overton as Franjean
- Kevin Pollak as Rool
- Billy Barty as High Aldwin
- Jean Marsh as Queen Bavmorda
- David Steinberg as Meegosh
- Tony Cox as Vohnkar Warrior
- Robert Gillibrand as Vohnkar Warrior
- Mark Northover as Burglekutt
- Maria Holvoe as Cherlindrea
- Julie Peters as Kiaya
- Mark Vande Brake as Ranon
- Dawn Downing as Mims
- Michael Cotterill as Druid
- Zulema Dene as Ethna
- Joanna Dickens as Barmaid
- Jennifer Guy as The Wench
- Ron Tarr as Llug
- Sallyanne Law as Mother
- Ruth Greenfield as Elora Danan
- Kate Greenfield as Elora Danan
- Fred Wood as Druid (uncredited)
- David Sibley as Galladoorn Warrior (uncredited)
- Arnold Lee as Man in Tavern (uncredited)
- Bob Ramsey as Man in Tavern (uncredited)
- Kenny Baker as Nelwyn Band Member (uncredited)
- Jack Purvis as Nelwyn Band Member (uncredited)
- Malcolm Dixon as Nelwyn Band Member (uncredited)
- Craig Salisbury as Nelwyn Jester (uncredited)
- Alan Bennett as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Andrew Herd as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Winter Williams as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Cheryl Howard as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Gerald Staddon as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Hayley Burroughs as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- John Cumming as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- John Ghavan as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Kim Davis as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Margarita Farrell as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Michael Henbury Ballan as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Nathan Phillips as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Nosher Powell as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Peter Burroughs as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Raymond Griffiths as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Rusty Goffe as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Sadie Corre as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Samantha Davis as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Stéphanie Lhorset as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Valerie Gale as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Willie Coppen as Nelwyn Villager (uncredited)
- Kenneth Coombs as Nobleman (uncredited)
- Gerry Crampton as Nockmaar Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Greg Powell as Nockmaar Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Edwin Alofs as Villager (uncredited)
- Paul Markham as Villager (uncredited)
- Didier Jean as Villager (uncredited)
- Owain Griffiths as Villager (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 139
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 14 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 5 | 15 |
| 16 to 18 | 4 | 23 |
| 19 to 21 | 2 | 30 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 19 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 52 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 22 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 20 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 4 |
| 43 to 45 | 17 | 29 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 15 |
| 49 to 51 | 10 | 24 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 43 |
| 55 to 57 | 8 | 23 |
| 58 to 60 | 21 | 28 |
| 61 to 63 | 15 | 29 |
| 64 to 66 | 18 | 14 |
| 67 to 69 | 13 | 19 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 6 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 12 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 4 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 3 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 5 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 5 |
| 109 to 111 | 6 | 5 |
| 112 to 114 | 11 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 5 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 0 |
| 121 to 123 | 7 | 15 |
| 124 to 126 | 3 | 4 |
| 127 to 129 | 2 | 1 |
| 130 to 132 | 5 | 0 |
| 133 to 135 | 9 | 6 |
| 136 to 138 | 8 | 7 |
| 139 to 139 | 1 | 1 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
RAZIEL: Flee! Flee! SORSHA: Raziel. Did you think my mother would allow you to escape? SORSHA: This is what we're looking for. It bears the markings.
SORSHA: Elora Danan will die! RAZIEL: By dawn, upon thirteen tolls of the runic drum!
SORSHA: I have no family. RAZIEL: If we do not fight, and the baby dies, all hope for the future is lost. I shall face the danger alone if I have to.
BAVMORDA: Sorsha!! SORSHA: I won't let you kill her! BAVMORDA: You are a weakling. Like you fa- ther! Can you not see that I am about to become all-powerful! SORSHA: No!!
RAZIEL: The baby will be queen. It has been foretold, Bavmorda. BAVMORDA: My ritual will kill the prophecy! Now the child dies with it, its en- ergy exiled into oblivion! You see? I hold the power of the universe! RAZIEL: Not until your ritual is complete! BAVMORDA: And who will stop me? The elements are slaves to my command!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
204 lines from women, 536 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 41 men in the cast. 10 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 767.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 135 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (1,525), men 73% (4,196). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
9
Two men
69
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ron Howard (man)
- Written by
- Bob Dolman (man)
- Story by
- George Lucas (man)
- Produced by
- Joe Johnston (man), Nigel Wooll (man)
- Shot by
- Adrian Biddle (man)
- Edited by
- Richard Hiscott (man), Mike Hill (man), Daniel P. Hanley (man)
- Music by
- James Horner (man)
- Production design by
- Allan Cameron (man)
- Costumes by
- Barbara Lane (woman)
- Cast by
- Janet Hirshenson (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 14 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 8 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 5 men
-
Production
4 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 52 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Joanne Whalley 26, Patricia Hayes 78
Men
Warwick Davis 18, Val Kilmer 28, Phil Fondacaro 29, Kevin Pollak 30, Rick Overton 33, Gavan O'Herlihy 36, Pat Roach 51, Billy Barty 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $57.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 139 scenes and 767 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
