Free Willy is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures under their Family Entertainment imprint. The film stars Jason James Richter in his film debut, Lori Petty, Jayne Atkinson, August Schellenberg, and Michael Madsen with the eponymous character, Willy, played by Keiko.
The story is about a 12 year old orphaned boy named Jesse who befriends a captive orca, Willy, at an ailing amusement park. When he discovers that the park owner has been planning to dispose of Willy, he hatches a scheme to break Willy out of captivity.
Released on July 16, 1993, the film received positive attention from critics and was a commercial success, grossing $153.7 million from a $20 million budget. It grew into a small franchise, including an animated television series, two sequels, and a direct-to-video reboot in addition to inspiring the rehabilitation and release of Keiko. The film marked Keith A. Walker's only film as screenwriter, and last project before his death in late December 1996.
^"Free Willy". The Numbers. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
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eponymous character, Willy, played by Keiko. The story is about a 12 year old orphaned boy named Jesse who befriends a captive orca, Willy, at an ailing amusement...
musician. He is best known for his role in the FreeWilly film series as Jesse, the boy who befriends Willy the orca. Richter was born on January 29, 1980...
later starred in films Point Break (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), FreeWilly (1993), The Glass Shield (1994) and played the title role in Tank Girl...
role from the 2010 Broadway revival. His other notable roles include FreeWilly, Heat, Lucky Number Slevin, Three Kings, Black Dynamite, The Final Destination...
Three Fugitives (1989) Radio Flyer (1992) Dave (1993) FreeWilly (1993) The Favor (1994) FreeWilly 2: The Adventure Home (1995) You've Got Mail (1998)...
Canadian actor. He played Randolph in the first three installments of the FreeWilly film series (1993–1997) as well as characters in Black Robe (1991), The...
Ebersole, and Angela Lansbury. She has appeared in such films as FreeWilly, FreeWilly 2: The Adventure Home, 12 and Holding, Blank Check, The Village...
such as The Natural (1984), The Doors (1991), Thelma & Louise (1991), FreeWilly (1993), Species (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), Die Another Day (2002),...
example "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz, "Will You Be There" from FreeWilly, and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". Pinette was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
company, The Donners' Company, which is most successful for producing the FreeWilly and X-Men film franchises. Donner also produced Tales from the Crypt and...
States on November 30, 2005. In the episode, which parodies the film FreeWilly, Kyle, Stan, Cartman and Kenny go to an amusement park, where aquarium...
Tour while scenes from FreeWilly centering around the friendship of Jesse and Willy are shown. The original VHS copies of FreeWilly included the music video...
Lights and in the film Crank. Capra starred in Kazaam, A Simple Wish and FreeWilly 2: The Adventure Home. He portrayed Jesse Murphy on the television show...
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), The Last Boy Scout (1991), FreeWilly (1993) and Daylight (1996). She is also known for her voice work, which...
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