Initial release date: July 16, 1993
Studios: Warner Bros./ Regency Enterprises
Taglines: A 12 year old street kid. A 3 ton orca whale. A friendship you could never imagine.
An adventure you’ll never forget. How far would you go for a friend?
Plot: When maladjusted orphan Jesse vandalizes a theme park, he is placed with foster parents and must work at the park to make amends. There he meets WIlly, a young Orca whale who has been separated from his family. Sensing kinship, they form a bond and, with the help of a kindly whale trainer Rae Lindley, develop a routine of tricks. However, greedy park owner Dial soon catches wind of the duo and makes plans to profit from them.
Cast
Jason James Richter (The Little Things) - Jesse
Lori Petty (Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black) - Rae Lindley
Jayne Atkinson (CBSs Clarice) - Annie Greenwood
August Schellenberg (Eight Below) - Randolph Johnson
Michael Madsen (Arctic Dogs) - Glen Greenwood
Michael Ironside (Nobody) - Dial
Richard Richle (3 From Hell) - Wade
Mykelti Williamson - Dwight Mercer
Writer(s): Keith Walker
Corey Blechman (Free Willy 2)
Director: Simon Wincer (Crocodile Dundee in LA)
Rated PG for some mild language (112 min)
The original ‘Free Willy’ is a great family feature that a lot of people grew up watching over the years. It features a lot of heart-warming moments and quite a few touching sequences that feature the whale and the young boy bonding.
‘Free Willy’ is also a great feel-good movie that the whole family will have a great time watching. There are also a few humorous moments and kids will also really enjoy all of the scenes that show the scene-stealing killer whale.
The final moments of the movie are also very incredible when you see the killer whale go to this freedom and rejoin his family!
The 1993 family flick can be streamed via HBO Max until the end of the month and is also available on either Vudu, YouTube, Google Play or Amazon Prime for $3.99.
*** Quick fun fact! ‘Free Willy’ is 28 years old! Feel old yet?! ***
Here are some interesting tidbits about ‘Free Willy’:
After the movie was released, it brought the living conditions of the star orca, Keiko, to the world’s attention. His tank was too small, with too warm chlorinated artificial salt water. Keiko suffered from a weakened immune system and a skin condition around his pectoral fins. There was a monumental effort to release Keiko. A custom tank was built in the Oregon Coast Aquarium and in 1996, the whale was flown from Mexico to Oregon. He recovered well, and was moved to a sea pen in 1998. In July 20002, Keiko was released into the wild after spending 22 years in captivity. Unfortunately, he didn’t fully adapt to the wild and died in December 2003 in Norway.
Filmmaker and producer Richard Donner came up with the idea of including the Earth Island Institute hotline in the end credits despite the studio’s concern at first. After the release of the film, millions of moviegoers called the number where $20 million was donated for the Save the Whales Foundation.
This is the only ‘Free Willy’ movie in which Willy is played by Keiko. An animatronic killer whale played Willy in the sequels.
The most extensive use of CGI in the film is the climax scene filmed in Warrenton, Oregon where Willy jumps over Jesse.
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