Free Willy (1993)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writers (WGA):

Keith Walker (story)
Keith Walker (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 July 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

A 12 year old street kid. A 3 ton orca whale. A friendship you could never imagine. An adventure you'll never forget.

Plot:

When a boy learns that a beloved killer whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free the whale.

Plot Keywords:

Whale | Killer Whale | Social Worker | Ocean | Family Relationships

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Keiko	...	Willy
Jason James Richter	...	Jesse
Lori Petty	...	Rae Lindley
Jayne Atkinson	...	Annie Greenwood
August Schellenberg	...	Randolph Johnson
Michael Madsen	...	Glen Greenwood
Michael Ironside	...	Dial
Richard Riehle	...	Wade
Mykelti Williamson	...	Dwight Mercer
Michael Bacall	...	Perry
Danielle Harris	...	Gwenie
Isaiah Malone	...	Vector
Betsy Toll	...	Passerby #1
Rob Sample	...	Passerby #2
Merrilyn Jones	...	Passerby #3
Mickey Gaines	...	Waiter
Justin R. Hall	...	Fish Thrower
Robert M. Duque	...	Fish Thrower
Sam Samson	...	Fish Thrower
Willis Van Dusen	...	Willis Van Dusen
Tom Lasswell	...	Brody
Moultrie Patten	...	Homeless Man
Ed Murphy	...	Homeless Man
Jim Michaels	...	Announcer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erik L. Nelson	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Simon Wincer

Writing credits (WGA)
Keith Walker		(story) (as Keith A. Walker)
Keith Walker		(screenplay) (as Keith A. Walker) and
Corey Blechman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Richard Donner	....	executive producer
Penelope L. Foster	....	co-producer
Jennie Lew Tugend	....	producer
Mark Marshall	....	associate producer
Douglas C. Merrifield	....	associate producer
Arnon Milchan	....	executive producer
Lauren Shuler Donner	....	producer (as Lauren Shuler-Donner)
Richard Solomon	....	co-producer
Jim Van Wyck	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Basil Poledouris

Cinematography by
Robbie Greenberg		(director of photography)
Bob Talbot		(wildlife)

Film Editing by
O. Nicholas Brown

Production Design by
Charles Rosen

Art Direction by
Diane Yates

Costume Design by
April Ferry

Makeup Department
Whitney James	....	key makeup artist
Cheri Ruff	....	hair stylist
Pamela S. Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Héctor López	....	unit production manager
Charles Skouras III	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mark Cotone	....	second assistant director
Lisa C. Satriano	....	second second assistant director
Alisa Statman	....	second second assistant director
Jim Van Wyck	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Christopher Amy	....	first assistant property master
Charles A. Carlsen	....	propmaker
Hugh Conlon	....	construction general foreman
Bruce J. Gfeller	....	construction coordinator
Sherman Labby	....	production illustrator
René Marquéz	....	assistant property master
Erik L. Nelson	....	property master
Michael Ruby	....	painter
Michael Ruby	....	signwriter
David Russell	....	storyboard artist
Sean Skelding	....	set dressing
Daniel Turk	....	foreman
Ken Erck	....	paint foreman (uncredited)
Benjamin Hayden	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Tim Chau	....	sound designer
Tim Chau	....	supervising sound editor
Jim Hilton	....	sound mixer
William Jacobs	....	sound editor
Mary Jo Lang	....	foley mixer
John Roesch	....	foley artist
Greg P. Russell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Charles Ewing Smith	....	sound editor
Alicia Stevenson	....	foley artist
Elliot Tyson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bernard Weiser	....	sound effects editor
David Behle	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ty Boyce	....	animatronic whales
Ty Boyce	....	electrical/hydraulic designer
Walt Conti	....	effects supervisor: Whale
Pieter Folkens	....	killer whale designer/sculptor
Thomas R. Ward	....	special effects (as Tom Ward)

Visual Effects by
Tim Donahue	....	matte painter
Rick Rische	....	matte painter
David Stump	....	effects director of photography
John C. Wash	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Jake Lombard	....	stunt performer
Dennis Scott	....	stunt coordinator
Eric Sugden	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Matthew E. Alper	....	first assistant camera (as Matthew Alper)
Ron Batzdorff	....	still photographer
Scott Fieldsteel	....	best boy
Daniel C. Gold	....	first assistant camera
Lisa Guerriero	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Conrad W. Hall	....	camera operator
Wes Houle	....	set electrician
Sunny Johnson	....	grip
Robin P. Knight	....	key grip (as Robin Knight)
Kyle T. MacDowell	....	electrician
Larry McConkey	....	Steadicam operator
Cynthia Pusheck	....	assistant camera
Dennis Smith	....	Steadicam operator
Daryl Steinkopf	....	grip
Neil Toussaint	....	second assistant camera
Karl Linde	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Lynda Gordon	....	casting
Judy Taylor	....	casting
Megann Ratzow	....	casting: Portland (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Brett Carroll	....	assistant editor
Bryan H. Carroll	....	assistant editor
Robert W. Hedland	....	first assistant editor
David Orr	....	color timer

Music Department
Tim Boyle	....	score mixer
Greig McRitchie	....	orchestrator
Thomas Milano	....	music editor
Basil Poledouris	....	conductor
Paul Wertheimer	....	score recordist
Greig McRitchie	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Arturo Curiel	....	transportation captain
Enrique Díaz	....	driver
Ricardo Díaz	....	driver
Alfonso Paredes	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Nina Axelrod	....	talent searcher
Matthew J. Birch	....	assistant: Ms. Shuler-Donner
Tawny Duel	....	assistant production office coordinator
Mike Fantasia	....	location manager
Laura Gary	....	studio teacher
Gary Gillingham	....	production accountant
Stacy Layne Kramer	....	assistant accountant
Jonas C. Matz	....	set medic
Kevin McDermott	....	acting coach
Jason Roberts	....	assistant: Richard Donner
Michael Singer	....	unit publicist
P.R. Tooke	....	script supervisor
Christa Vausbinder	....	production associate
Netta Bank	....	representative: American Humane Association (uncredited)
Bill Daly	....	post-production accountant manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Canal+ (as Le Studio Canal+) (in association with)
• Regency Enterprises
• Alcor Films
• Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions (as A Donner/Shuler-Donner Production)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1993) (USA) (theatrical) (distributed by) (as Warner Bros. A Time Warner Entertainment Company)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Bros. (1994) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1994) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1995) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Bros. (1994) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1994) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1994) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (1998) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD) (10th anniversary edition)
• Warner Home Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• American Humane Association, The  all scenes involving a live animal were supervised by (as the American Humane Association)
• Epic Soundtrax  soundtrack
• Movie Movers  cast trailers

Also Known As:

Sauvez Willy (France) (dubbed version)
¡Liberad a Willy! (Spain) [es]
Eleftheroste ton Willy (Greece) [el]
Free Willy - Ruf der Freiheit (Germany) [de]
Free Willy - un amico da salvare (Italy) [it]
Liberen a Willy (Mexico) [es]
Libertem Willy (Portugal) [pt]
Mon ami Willy (Canada: French title) [fr]
Pelastakaa Willy (Finland) [fi]
Rädda Willy (Sweden) [sv]
Szabadítsátok ki Willy-t (Hungary) [hu]
Uwolnic orke (Poland) [pl]
Willy (Slovenia) [sl]

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Philippines:G | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:G | Canada:G | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Oregon, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

After the release of the film, millions of moviegoers called the number showed at the end of the movie where 20 million dollars was donated for the Save the Whales Foundation.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Willy and Jesse are pulled out of the tank, both are soaked. But as they put Willy onto the trailer, he is still wet, but Jesse is completely dry.

Quotes:

[at dinner]
Glenn: So what is it you're into, Jesse?
Jesse: I'm not into talking while I'm eating!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Aspe: Free Willy (#2.8)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Didn't Mean to Hurt You

Hats off to the Donners!

If a movies greatness is measured by its cinematography and its direction and its deep characters and its thought provoking script and its revolutionary special effects, then Free Willy is not the next Citizen Kane. But if you can appreciate films that have something important to say and something that it wants people to open their eyes to, then Free Willy is just as important and gripping as anything from Gandhi to Platoon, Mississippi Burning to Boyz and the Hood and JFK to Dancing With Wolves. And that is the truth. The problem with films like this is that it is viewed in the same light as movies like Gorillas In The Mist and Instinct. And that is they are bleeding hearted fluff. They ask you to "feel" for animals. It asks you to realize that we are bad people and that we should change the system from within. The only problem with that last statement is that it is said while people are rolling their eyes and using a sarcastic tone. But if we can look at films like Schindler's List and Cry Freedom, films that examine the atrocities perpetrated towards humans, see them for the genius that they are, why can we not take a film that has something to say about the abominable treatment of animals more seriously. After all, as Shylock once said, "Does a Jew not bleed?" Does an animal?

We are so desensitized towards cruelty to animals that we are practically oblivious to their plight. When we hear of a stray dog that shows up at the humane society with internal bleeding and a missing eye, we say that it's terrible and then we turn away and forget about it until the next ones shows up. When we go to water parks and see captive whales performing tricks we laugh and cheer and go back to our freedom and think nothing of the life that was destroyed when that beautiful beast was taken from its habitat. If anything, this movie shows us that we should not imprison these or any wild animals, and it does it so well that if you have any ounce of compassion in you, it will affect you. This film is not just for 10 year olds, it is a film that should be viewed by everyone that takes their freedom for granted. Because if all of a sudden one day we were put in prison for no reason, then and only then would we truly understand what animals go through.

Perhaps you think this review is not really about a movie and all I am doing is expressing my political beliefs, and that may be true, but if someone doesn't say something about this, then what good is our right of freedom of speech.

The film itself is about a parentless boy that ends up in foster care. There he ends up working at a Sea World type place where he meets a newly captured whale. He then takes it upon himself to free the whale knowing that the whale is going to be killed for insurance purposes.

As I said though, I believe this is an important story and if you disagree, think about the film " A Time To Kill ". Matthew McConnauhey ( wrong spelling, I know ) gives his speech at the end about the heinous crimes that were committed against the little black girl. He asks the all white jury to close their eyes as he tells the story. At the end of his graphic description he tells them to imagine she was white. It won him the case. Now do the same thing in regards to stories like Free Willy. Close your eyes and picture a whale held in a cell just big enough to move in. This whale is fed every once in a while and he is taught to do tricks so that people can laugh and cheer. He is separated from his family and his friends and his natural surroundings. He can hear them crying for him to come home at night. He has done nothing wrong, committed no crime and he just wants to go home. But he is kept against his will, for our entertainment.

Now picture what I am describing to you isn't a whale. Picture "it" as being human.

I applaud Richard and Laura Donner for making this film and I certainly hope people can see this and change their thinking about things. It is a powerful film. And it is one that should be taken more seriously.