The film Willow came out in 1988. George Lucas (Star Wars) was the creator of the new epic fantasy film. The current Disney+ series is a sequel to that original film. Years have passed. Madmartigan and Sorsha (now queen) got married and had two kids of their own, a boy and a girl, twins – Airk and Kit. Willow eventually has a vision that Elora Danan is in danger, so Queen Sorsha sent Elora off into hiding. Madmartigan also left on his own quest, never to return.

This is where the film begins, with Airk and Kit as young people. Queen Sorsha has arranged for Kit to marry the prince (Graydon) of a neighboring good kingdom. Kit doesn’t want to marry Graydon since she is in love with her girl friend, Jade, in training to be a knight. Airk has fallen in love with a kitchen maid, Dove. One night, four evil characters enter the castle, and after a battle, they kidnap Airk. A team of people are put together to go rescue Airk: Kit, Graydon, Jade, and a criminal/thief/warrior Boorman, who is promised freedom if he helps rescue the prince. They first need Willow’s help, so they go in search of the old sorcerer. On the way, they realize Dove has followed to save her love. Upon reaching Willow, he informs them that Dove is really Elora Danan and Airk is imprisoned in the Immemorial City across the Shattered Sea. Willow must join the quest to teach Elora magic.

While Warwick Davis returns as Willow and Joanne Whalley is back as Sorsha, the storyline and characters are new and unfamiliar to the fans of the original. The world is also different with new rules and kingdoms. The setup is somewhat basic, but it is fun to see the character of Willow return to the screen.

There are two instances of cursing and no nudity or drugs. The kissing and violence will be a major concern for parents of younger kids or teens. The magic system includes more spells, much like the original movie did, and much of the story will be about Willow teaching Elora to perform magic. The Gales are also frightening and disturbing-looking characters. The primary concern for many parents will be the clear and physical homosexual relationship in the first episode.

Any positive concepts are somewhat vague and also basic. Kit wants the ability to choose her own life instead of an arranged marriage. While Dove/Elora gets frustrated trying to do magic, Grayson says that he thinks it’s amazing, “You’re the only one that doesn’t know how amazing you are,” which is an encouraging moment.

Based on Grayson’s encouragement, maybe others in our family don’t realize how amazing they are either. Perhaps take a moment to think of one or two ways everyone in the family is amazing and share that with each other, either in word or written down so that people can refer back to that encouragement.

Dove Take – Willow is an epic fantasy series on Disney+ that has a couple nostalgic moments, but the sexual content, frightening images, and magic system will cause concern for many parents.