The Legend of Zelda (1996 film)

The Legend of Zelda is a 1996 fantasy action-adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the video game series of the same name created by Shigeru Miyamoto. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and screenplay by Paul Haggins, it is the first installment in The Legend of Zelda film series. It stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Russi Taylor, Mona Marshall, April Winchell, Julie Andrews, Pat Mortia, Tim Curry and Christopher Plummer. The film tells the story of a boy named Link, a commoner, is suddenly thrust into a mysterious, magical quest in the kingdom of Hyrule to save the princess, Zelda, from Ganon, the prince of darkness.

The Legend of Zelda was premiered at New York City on December 3, 1996, and upon its release on December 18, the film received critical acclaim and was a commercial success, grossing over $410 million worldwide to become the fourth highest-grossing film of 1996.

Plot
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Cast

 * Tom Cruise as Link
 * Nicole Kidman as Princess Zelda
 * Russi Taylor as Spryte
 * Mona Marshall as Impa
 * April Winchell as Triforce of Power
 * Julie Andrews as Triforce of Wisdom
 * Pat Mortia as The Old Man
 * Tim Curry as Ganon
 * Christopher Plummer as King Harkinikan

Pre-production
After wrapping on Back to the Future Part III, director and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin initially had the project at Sony Pictures when he picked up the script from director Robert Zemeckis. Nicole Kidman came across the script and even though she liked it, she initially passed on it. However, the thought of it kept coming back to her and she ultimately decided to take on the project. Steven Spielberg was offered to direct the film but he declined. Zemeckis was initially interested in directing only and considered Tim Curry in the role of King Harkinikan, but he reluctantly agreed to let him in the role of Ganon, and Kidman to play Zelda as well.

Zemeckis began working with Sorkin to storyboard the series on September 23, 1991, as well as getting Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop to begin creating his interpretation of Middle-earth. Zemeckis told them to make Middle-earth as plausible and believable as possible, and to think of it in a historical manner.

In November, Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka became the film series' primary conceptual designers, having had previous experience as illustrators for the video game series and various other tie-ins. Tezuka worked for the Art Department creating places such as Hyrule Castle, the Lost Woods, Kakariko Village, Death Mountain and Lake Hylia, giving Art Nouveau and geometry influences to the Elves and Dwarves respectively. Though Miyamoto contributed with Bag End and the Argonath, he focused on the design of the characters' armour, having studied it his entire life. Weta and the Art Department continued to design, with Grant Major turning the Art Department's designs into architecture, and Rick Carter scouting locations. On November 28, 1992, Mark Bridges joined the crew as costume designer. He and 40 seamstresses would create 19,000 costumes, 40 per version for the actor and their doubles, wearing them out for an impression of age.

When Carter joined the project as production designer in late 1992, Death Mountain was the first structure he was tasked to design. At 1:35 scale, it was one of the first miniatures built for the film, and was part of the 45-minute video that sold the project to Universal Pictures. It was primarily drawn from an illustration Tezuka had once done for the video game, though the curved wall featured in the film was proposed by fellow video game designer Miyamoto. Used in the film for wide shots, Zemeckis also used this miniature to plan the battle, using 40,000 toy soldiers.

Death Mountain, a pivotal part of the film's narrative, was built at Dry Creek Quarry with its gate, a ramp, and a wall, which included a removable section as well as the tower on a second level. A 1:4-scale miniature of Helm's Deep that ran 50 feet (15 m) wide was used for forced perspective shots, as well as the major explosion sequence.

The film explores the armies of Middle-earth. Bridges was the basic designer of the evil forces of Middle Earth, with the enemies being the first army approved by Zemeckis. Bridges also designed a special crossbow for the enemies, which was significant because it did not require external tools to rearm. This design was the realization of a 16th-century manuscript. Also created were 100 Elven suits of armour, for which emphasis was placed on Autumnal colours due to the theme of Elves leaving Middle-earth. Two hundred and fifty suits were also made for the Rohirrim. The designs for Hyrule were based on Germanic and Anglo-Saxon patterns, with most of the weapons designed by Mark Bridges and forged by Peter Lyon. Each sword took 3 to 6 days to make.

The exterior of the Kingdom of Hyrule, including its thatched roofs, took six months to build on Mount Sunday. The interior of the buildings doubled as offices and lunch halls. The interior of the Hall of Edoras was filmed at Stone Street Studios with tapestries designed by Miyamoto, and Théoden's wooden throne was partly created by his daughter. Hill endured heavy make-up for the possession scene where his skin was pulled back and released for increased wrinkles. Dourif shaved off his eyebrows and put potato flakes as dandruff in his hair for unnerving effect.

Casting
Scott Weinger was invited by Universal Pictures to audition for the role of Link in 1992, as his height and build closely resemble that of the film's protagonist, as described in the original comic books. However, he declined due to scheduling conflicts with The Shaggy Dog (1994). With Zemeckis taking over as director, Tom Cruise was the first choice to play Link, but he turned it down, instead recommending another actor Matthew McConaughey, for the part. McConaughey was an unknown actor at the time, while a number of more established actors offered their services for the role. Zemeckis brought Miyamoto to view storyboards, but Tezuka was vocal about the character's imposing appearance. Miyamoto was also apprehensive of signing on for multiple films. Michael J. Fox was cast as Link in a multi-film deal but was forced to back out due to scheduling conflicts with The American President (1995) in late March 1994. Cruise was then cast three weeks into filming, based on a successful audition.

Filming
Principal photography started on April 17, 1994 at Stage 35 in the Universal Studios backlot in Los Angeles, California. The majority of the SS Venture scenes were shot aboard a full-scale deck constructed in the parking lot at Universal Studios and then were backed with a green screen, with the ocean digitally added in post. Filming also took place at Stage 20 in the Warner Bros. Studios backlot in Burbank. The filming of the Battle of Death Mountain took approximately three months, with most of the nighttime shots handled by John Mahaffie. Some injuries were sustained during the filming of the sequence. The sequence also features 500 extras, who insulted each other in Māori, and improvised scenes such as the Armos stamping their spears before the beginning of the battle. However, there was alleged annoyance among the film's crew for the strength of the gates, which were claimed to be too reinforced during the Battering Ram scene. Cruise greatly respected the stunt team, and head butted them often as a sign of that respect. Over the course of filming the budget went from $175 million to $300 million over additional visual effects work needed. The Italian Caserta Palace was used as the interior of the Hyrule Castle; it was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors. Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden.

A binder with the film's storyboards served as a reference for live-action filming, shots that would be filmed in front of a chroma key blue screen, and shots that would be composed using CGI. The sets were often built with the parts that would be required on screen; often they were built only up to the heights of the actors. Chroma key was extensively used for digital set extensions, backgrounds, or scenes that required cinematographer David Tattersall to seek powerful lamps to light the sets and visual effects supervisor John Knoll to develop software that would remove the blue reflection from shiny floors. Knoll, who remained on set through most of the production, worked closely with Tattersall to ensure that the shots were suitable to add effects later. The cameras were fitted with data capture models to provide technical data for the CGI artists. Zemeckis covered the $32 million surplus himself and finished filming on December 6, 1994.

The film's budget climbed from an initial US$456 million to a then-record-breaking $502 million and received a subsidy of $34 million from New Zealand, making it at one point the most expensive film yet made. Universal only agreed to such an outlay after seeing a screening of the unfinished film, to which executives responded enthusiastically. Marketing and promotion costs were an estimated $60 million. The film's length also grew; originally set to be 104 minutes, it soon grew to 116, prompting Universal executives to fly to New Zealand to view a rough cut, but they liked it so their concerns were addressed.

Visual effects
Cruise would later disfavorably reflect on his experience making the film as the majority of the time he was working indoors while the rest of the cast interacted with a CGI recreation of the dragon, somewhat limiting his screen time. Computer animation supervisor Dennis Muren was on the set every day. One of the many visual images in the film that presented an acting challenge for Cruise was Zemeckis' split-screen technique to mimic comic book page panels cinematically. This technique required many more takes of individual scenes than usual. Muren and other ILM animators used previous technology from Jurassic Park (for the dinosaur characters) and Twister (for the tornado) to create the dragon with computer-generated imagery. Additional software used included PowerAnimator, Softimage Creative Environment, Softimage XSI, and Pixar's RenderMan. ILM started computer animation work in early 1995 and completed it in September 1996, just three months before the film's release. Zemeckis provided some motion capture work in post-production. Gary Rydstrom handled sound design at Skywalker Sound.

Music

 * Main article: The Legend of Zelda (soundtrack)

Theatrical
The film had its official premiere held at Ziegfeld Theatre in Broadway on December 3, 1996. The Los Angeles Times called the premiere "low-key". The film opened on December 18, 1996 receiving the widest release for a film to date opening in 3,281 theaters with previews commencing at 10 p.m. the night before. The film expanded to 3,565 theaters in its fourth weekend.

Home media
The Legend of Zelda was released on VHS on November 25, 1997. A DVD release came out on June 22, 1999, which included audio commentary, theatrical trailers, deleted scenes, and a bundled soundtrack CD. The film sold 22 million copies in North America, becoming the best selling live-action video.

Box office
The film opened in 1,413 theaters, taking $6.4 million in its opening weekend, opening in second against Jerry Maguire, and almost $87 million in its initial release. It was re-released to theatres on April 11, 1997, and accrued a further $16.2 million, for a total domestic gross of $103 million, and a worldwide lifetime gross of $173 million. The Legend of Zelda remains the most successful of the The Legend of Zelda film series, receiving a largely positive critical reception.

Despite competition from other box office fare such as Tom Cruise's Jerry Maguire and Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!, its release during the Christmas season, and Variety labeling it "Two thumbs up!" before it was even released, The Legend of Zelda became the sixteenth highest-grossing film of 1996, well placed amongst big-budget blockbusters released that year such as Independence Day and Mission: Impossible.

Critical response
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Accolades
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Sequels
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Transcripts
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