Breakdown - Free Willy (1993): How a Movie Inspired a Movement

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and today we're taking a look at Free Willy. Released by Warner Bros. in 1993, Free Willy was directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Schuler-Donner, and stars Jason James Richter, Lori Petty, Michael Madsen, Jayne Atkinson, August Schellenberg, Mykelti Williamson, Richard Riehle, and Michael Ironside. 

       The movie focuses on Jesse, a pre-teen living on the streets of Portland, Oregon, where he gets caught one night after he and a friend spray graffiti in the observation area of the Pacific Northwest Adventure Park. The next day, Jesse is informed by his case worker, Dwight Mercer, that his probation is to clean up the graffiti, and that a married couple named Glen and Annie Greenwood are willing to overlook this recent incident and give him a place in their home. 

      As Jesse cleans up the observation area, he becomes fascinated with the park's resident Orca, Willy, who was taken from his pod by whalers on the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. The movie then shows a bond form between Jesse and Willy, and we see Jesse learn the ropes of being a whale trainer from Rae Lindley, Willy's vet, and Randolph, Willy's caretaker, who also teaches Jesse about his tribe, the Haida. Unfortunately, some friction does pop up between Jesse and Glen and Annie, as Jesse still believes his mother is coming back for him, despite all evidence to the contrary. 

        At the park, Jesse impresses Dial, the greedy owner of Pacific Northwest Adventure Park, who discusses plans with the park's general manager Wade about a possible way to turn a profit using the boy and the whale in a new show held at the park. Unfortunately, the first show doesn't go well, as several children in the observation area bang on the glass of Willy's tank, causing him distress and making him unable to perform. The distressed Willy knocks on the glass and causes a leak, which Wade notices. That night, after Jesse decides to run south to California, he spots Wade and some men making the leak in Willy's tank worse. 

        Jesse rushes to Randolph's House to tell him what's happened, and the two decide to return Willy to the ocean, as Jesse spotted Willy's pod nearby waiting for him to be brought back to them. Rae joins Jesse and Randolph in their plan to free Willy, as the leak in the tank will certainly kill him. Once they have Willy out of the tank, Jesse and Randolph nab Glen's truck to tow Willy to the marina by way of the Old Forest Road. Unfortunately, the route is blocked, and the Earth is too unstable to reverse the truck safely. So, Jesse calls Glen and Annie for help, and they arrive and are caught up on everything. Glen, initially hesitant, tells Jesse where some chain and a winch control are located in the truck. 

       Now, with Glen and Annie on board, Jesse, Randolph, and Rae get Willy first to a car wash to rinse him down and get him some water, and finally to the marina, where Dial and Wade are waiting with a few thugs attempting to reclaim Willy. And, in easily my favorite moment of the movie, Glen saves Jesse from Wade's grip by shouting "Let go of my boy!" and punching Wade really hard. Jesse guides Willy into the water, but two boats with nets show up to close off the marina. Jesse, in a miracle moment, leads Willy to the breakwater to jump over it to freedom. Atop the breakwater, Jesse recites a Haida prayer Randolph taught him earlier in the movie by means of the legend of Natselane, and Willy makes the miraculous jump that the movie Free Willy is famous for. Willy returns to his pod, and Jesse goes on to finally accept Glen and Annie as his family. 

         So, Free Willy was a fun movie for its time. The performances by Jason James Richter as Jesse, August Schellenberg as Randolph, Lori Petty as Rae, and both Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson as Glen and Annie were all fantastic. Even minor performances by Mykelti Williamson as Dwight, Richard Riehle as Wade, and Michael Ironside as the film's antagonist Dial were really good. But, the movie is most famous for the bond between Jesse and Willy, and seeing Jason James Richter share the screen with Keiko, the Orca who portrayed Willy, was simply amazing. You could really tell there was a bond between boy and whale, and it was amazing. The music score by Basil Poledouris was terrific, as was the film's theme song "Will You Be There?" by Michael Jackson. Overall a fascinating movie, and a childhood favorite of mine, I'm giving Free Willy a rating of 5/5. 

        Free Willy had a profound impact on the generation of children that watched it. It's success as a movie led Warner Bros. to produce two sequels, which we'll cover another time, and launched a very unique grassroots movement that no one expected. You see, the movie ended with a telephone number to call to see how viewers could help other Orcas from ending up in captivity or worse. However, children who were fans of Free Willy called with another question in mind: why not do what the characters in the movie did for Willy, but for Keiko in real life? Why not truly set the whale free? 

       So, to get into that story, here's a bit of background. Keiko was, indeed born in the wild somewhere near Iceland. However, at a young age, Keiko was captured by whalers and taken into captivity, being shipped around from park to park, ending up the star of his own show at the Reino Aventura amusement park in Mexico City. Said park, currently known as Six Flags Mexico, would be Keiko's home for about ten years since his arrival at the park in 1985, and would serve as a major filming location for the scenes in Free Willy that involved the whale being at the Pacific Northwest Adventure Park, whereas other scenes like the climactic breakwater jump were shot using a full-scale animatronic double. Unfortunately, Keiko's living conditions were not the most optimal, and he sadly suffered from skin lesions as a result of a papilloma virus infection. 

        After thousands of calls from children about possibly returning Keiko to the wild came pouring in, the International Marine Mammal Project, in conjunction with Warner Bros., launched a nonprofit called the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation in February of 1995, with the first goal being to moving Keiko to a larger facility for rehabilitation. Said facility would be located at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon, where the massive new tank would hold 2,000,000 gallons of seawater, and be made to acclimate Keiko back to the waters of the ocean. A combination of financing from influential backers, as well as donations from children, made the construction of the massive tank a reality. After a farewell performance in Mexico, Keiko was flown aboard a massive cargo plane on loan from UPS to Newport, Oregon, where he would be moved into his new home at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. 

       Keiko's time in Oregon was excellent, as his health improved and he grew in size far more than he would have in Mexico. As his rehabilitation progressed, Keiko's communication also improved, and experts were able to match his vocalizations with those of Orca pods native to Iceland. So, after his time in Oregon, Keiko was moved once more, this time to a sea pen on the Icelandic coast. Keiko would continue to be looked after by his handlers until it was time for him to properly join a pod of Orcas, with his handlers using tracking devices to monitor him. However, Keiko did not socialize well with wild Orcas, and would eventually seek the company of humans, winding up at a fjord in Norway. His caretakers would follow him there, and occasionally keep an eye on him, but they would continue to encourage him to join other Orcas. Sadly, though, on December 12, 2003, Keiko passed away due to complications from pneumonia. 

       Many wildlife experts to this day debate whether the mass project to return Keiko, an Orca who'd spent many years in captivity under the care of humans, to the wild was successful or not. Some believe that Keiko's inability to fully integrate with other Orcas made the project a failure, but others believe that simply getting him to a place where he could be returned to his natural habitat was a win in and of itself, as many Orcas held in captivity don't even get that kind of opportunity. But, that's not the purpose of me telling the story of Keiko and the efforts of many to do what some deemed impossible and far too costly. 

        What must be remembered is that it was the children who had become enamored with the film, Free Willy, and saw what the characters in the film did for the film's titular whale that inspired the massive movement to rehabilitate Keiko and eventually sets him free in the wild. That's what I was referring to with the title of this post: "How a Movie Inspired a Movement." Children saw a movie, fell in love with it, and with the purest of intentions in their hearts, reached out en masse to do what many wildlife experts would have deemed impossible. 

        Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off. And, I highly recommend a couple of documentaries about Keiko, Free Willy, and the movement to eventually set Keiko free, and both can be found easily on YouTube. Anyway, I'll see you guys in the next review.