One of the reasons I like Willow is this--he DOES have a comfortable home, with a wife and family he's loathe to leave; he IS leaving them in a lurch, since even before he left, it was doubtful he could plant his fields in time for the rains. He wants the respect of his townfellows (I think--the fair at the beginning would suggest this), and to practice magic, and leaving home makes it less likely for him to get either of them. We don't have a pat scenario where of course he's leaving, and it's just about time he found some adventure.

It makes the weight of his decision to go find a home for the baby (I can never remember her name), and to not return at all opportunities, more noteworthy--and the fact that he really does love the child despite his initial cantankerousness come through.

(It's not that I don't have my troubles with the movie, but I always found that part of it--the warmth and appeal of house and home, and the relationship between [baby's name] and Willow--rather nice. The stuff with the Brownies, on the other hand . . . and the fact that I really can't see Madmardigan settling down with Sorsha . . . and some stuff like that. But given that the stuff I like is the core of the movie, while the stuff I don't is window-dressing, the movie still gets my overall favor.)