Free Willy (1993)
- Jan 15
- 1 min read
Updated: Feb 20
Jesse, a young boy, works at a park and befriends a whale that refuses to cooperate with its trainer. When Jesse the whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free him.
Release date: 26 December 1993
Director: Simon Wincer
Music by: Basil Poledouris
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Running time: 1h 52m
Trivia
After the movie was released, it brought the living conditions of the star orca, Keiko (Willy) 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 2002, Keiko was released into the wild after spending 22 years in captivity. Unfortunately he did not fully adapt to the wild and died in December 2003 in Norway. Keiko became the second oldest orca to live in captivity.
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.
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