Before the SeaWorld Kills movement, we had Free Willy, the 1993 film whose emotional ending taught us that maybe, just maybe, orcas shouldn’t live in tiny pools. Of course, 30 years ago CGI wasn’t what it is now, and in a new interview, director Simon Wincer revealed how, exactly, they made Free Willy possible: a rocket launcher.
“I remember saying to my agent: ‘If I can deliver the finale — where the whale leaps to freedom — we’ve got a movie,’” Wincer told The Guardian. “We had so many meetings about how the hell we were going to do it. It was the early days of CGI so we shot at high tide in a small harbour — and literally built a rocket launcher with an animatronic whale on it. It would fly out of the water and come to a stop then CGI would take over. Like any pivotal movie moment, it was sound, emotion and picture coming together to lift you to your feet.”
In the movie, Willy was played by an orca named Keiko, who lived in a closed down theme park in Mexico City. Both Wincer and Lori Petty, who played Willy’s trainer, Rae Lindley, looked back fondly on the whale, who Petty described as a “compassionate, intelligent animal.”
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“There’s a scene where he comes out of the water and slides across a stage, as I pose with my arms out, saying: ‘And that’s our show!’ When we were filming, Jason [Richter, who played Jesse] wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Keiko saw that and rolled himself back into the pool. He would’ve killed Jason otherwise, if he’d landed on him.”
That love for Keiko translated to Free Willy viewers, who started a campaign to release the real orca into the wild. According to Wincer, “After one early screening, Richard and I were standing outside. When people realised we were the film-makers, they literally offered us cash because they were so moved. There’s a credit at the end saying: ‘If you want to help save whales, call this number.’ I think $70 million was donated — and Warner Bros paid to move Keiko to a better location.”
Petty added, “In the early ’90s, awareness of whales in captivity was a new thing. Keiko had a flapped-over fin because he shouldn’t have been in such a tiny pool. He had eczema and big nasty bumps all over his body from stress. It’s like if you or I lived in a telephone booth on its side. In the ocean, whales dive down and up and out of the water and he couldn’t do that. He was basically floating around for his whole life.”
“Free Willy made people aware that whales don’t belong in tiny pools,” Petty continued. “They belong in the ocean — and the film incentivised children. They sent in their piggy bank money to free him. The highlight of the film is when he escapes. It was beautiful.”
Read The Guardian’s full interview with the Free Willy team here. The film celebrates its 30th anniversary on July 16th.
