Free Willy

On the Pacific Northwest coastline, a pod of killer whales are peacefully swimming. The pod is tracked down by a group of whalers. One of the orcas is separated from his family. The whalers sell him to Northwest Adventure Park.

Months later in Portland, Oregon, Jesse, a 12-year-old orphan who was abandoned by his mother six years ago, fled from Cooperton and spends three days roaming the streets with his fellow orphans, begging for money and stealing. To evade police in pursuit later that night, he and Perry break into a building that turns out to be the adventure park's observation area. While doing graffiti on the building walls and its water tank, Jesse comes face to face with the large orca before ultimately getting caught by the police. Dwight informs Jesse that his foster parents Annie and Glen Greenwood would be happy to take him in. Jesse, who hopes to be reunited with his mother, begrudgingly goes to live with them.

In lieu of being sent to juvenile hall, Jesse is allowed to make up for his vandalism by cleaning and painting the observation area. He forms a bond with the orca, named Willy, when he takes a liking to Jesse’s harmonica playing. He also befriends Randolph and Rae, a caretaker and trainer at the park, respectively. With probation ending, Jesse sneaks out of the house to visit Willy and accidentally falls in the tank. He nearly drowns but Willy saves the boy and brings him to the surface. Randolph and Rae notice that Jesse is the only human the normally ill-tempered Willy responds to, and eventually Jesse is offered a summer job at the park. He also starts to warm up to the Greenwoods.

Jesse agrees to help Rae train Willy for a performance when he learns that park owner Dial has agreed to get a bigger tank for the whale if it can draw audiences. Jesse successfully teaches Willy tricks and gets him to jump high. On the day of the big performance, large crowds come to watch. However, Willy, agitated and stressed by children loudly pounding on the tank walls, refuses to perform. Jesse leaves the stage after audience members start heckling him. That night, a disillusioned Jesse sneaks out to search for his mother, but stops by the tank to say goodbye to Willy. Before he can leave, Willy makes crying noises and Jesse realizes he is communicating with the pod of orcas he was separated from. He also happens to witness park manager Wade deliberately putting a leak in the tank.

Randolph explains to a frantic Jesse it’s part of Dial's plan to kill off Willy and collect the million dollar life insurance. Jesse hatches a plan to return the whale to the ocean, with Randolph and Rae joining in. They use a forklift to transport Willy onto a truck stolen from Glen. Dial launches a search when he is informed by Wade about the missing whale. Jesse, Randolph, and Rae try to stay on the back roads to avoid being spotted, but when the truck gets stuck in the mud, Jesse uses the truck’s CB radio to call Glen and Annie for help. The Greenwoods arrive and Glen is at first reluctant to assist with the plan, but relents when Jesse pleads with him. Glen drives the truck to Dawson’s Marina, where Dial, Wade and their men have assembled at the gates to stop them. Glen smashes through the gate, turns the truck around and backs Willy into the water.

After a struggle with Dial's men and Wade, Willy manages to swim away. However, two of Dial's whaling ships seal off the marina. Jesse runs toward the breakwater and encourages Willy to follow him and jump over. On the breakwater, Jesse recites a Haida prayer Randolph had taught him through the story of Natselane, before giving Willy the signal to jump. Willy makes the jump over and lands in the ocean on the other side, free to return to his family, while a dismayed Dial and Wade can only watch. Jesse thanks and hugs Glen and Annie as Willy calls out to Jesse in the distance.

• Jason James Richter as Jesse, a 12-year old orphan
• Lori Petty as Rae Lindley, Northwest Adventure Park trainer, Willy's veterinarian and aspiring marine biologist
• Jayne Atkinson as Annie Greenwood, a teacher, Jesse's foster mom, and Glen's wife
• August Schellenberg as Randolph Johnson, Willy's Haida caretaker
• Michael Madsen as Glen Greenwood, Greenwood Auto Repairs founder and owner, Jesse's foster dad, and Annie's husband
• Michael Ironside as Dial, the greedy owner of Northwest Adventure Park
• Richard Riehle as Wade, Northwest Adventure Park general manager
• Mykelti Williamson as Dwight Mercer, Jesse's social worker
• Michael Bacall as Perry, a runaway orphan who hangs with other street kids and works alongside a criminal
• Danielle Harris as Gwenie, a runaway orphan
• Isaiah Malone as Vector, a runaway orphan
• Tom Lasswell as Brody, a truck stop employee who was asked by the Greenwoods about Glen's stolen pickup truck
• Moultrie Patten as one of the homeless men who makes a compliment to Randolph when Willy gets taken to the car wash
• Ed Murphy as one of the homeless men
• Keiko as Willy, a captive 12-year old orca whom Jesse befriends

Then-Astoria mayor Willis Van Dusen made a cameo appearance as a fish vendor. Jim Michaels was the announcer for the Northwest Adventure Park's aquatic theater.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[17]

The Free Willy movie soundtrack was released on July 13, 1993, on CD and audio cassette by MJJ Music in association with the Epic Records sub-label Epic Soundtrax.[18] It contained all the songs that were featured in the film. Michael Jackson wrote, produced and performed "Will You Be There", originally taken from his 1991 album Dangerous, which can be heard during the end credits. The single version, under the title "Will You Be There (Reprise)", is also included. The song went on to become a top 10 hit in the Billboard Hot 100 charts and was certified platinum as well as winning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Song from a Movie. A remix of SWV's 1992 song "Right Here", which contained a sample of Jackson's "Human Nature", became the group's highest charted single to date and the second biggest hit off the soundtrack when it also landed in the Hot 100 chart at No. 2. New Kids on the Block recorded their first song since they briefly changed their name to NKOTB.[19]

The aquatic star of the film was an orca named Keiko. The huge national and international success of this film inspired a letter writing campaign to get Keiko released from his captivity as an attraction in the amusement park Reino Aventura in Mexico City; this movement was called "Free Keiko". Warner Bros. was so grateful for the whale, and so moved by the fan's ambition, they contributed to rehabilitate and (if possible) free Keiko. He was moved to The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Oregon by flying in a UPS C-130 cargo plane. In Oregon, he was returned to health with the hopes of being able to return to the wild.[20] In 1998, Keiko was moved to Iceland via a US Air Force C-17 to learn to live in the wild. After working with handlers, he was released from a sea pen in the summer of 2002 and swam to Norway following a pod of wild orcas.[21]

His subsequent return to humans for food and for company, and his inability to integrate with a pod of orcas confirms that the project had failed according to a scientific study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science (July 2009).[22][21] Keiko eventually died of pneumonia in a Norwegian bay on December 12, 2003.

A decade later in 2013, a New York Times video reviewed Keiko's release into the wild.[23] Reasons cited for Keiko's failure to adapt include his early age at capture, the long history of captivity, prolonged lack of contact with other orcas, and strong bonds with humans.[24]

• Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
• Free Willy 3: The Rescue
• Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove

Wikiquote has quotations related to Free Willy.

• Official Warner Bros. Site
• Free Willy at IMDb
• Free Willy at Rotten Tomatoes
• Free Willy at Metacritic
• Free Willy at Box Office Mojo
• Free Willy at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Free Willy at the TCM Movie Database