Free Willy (franchise)

Free Willy
Directed by	Simon Wincer (Free Willy); Dwight H. Little (The Adventure Home); Sam Pillsbury (The Rescue); Will Geiger (Escape from Pirate's Cove);
Produced by	Lauren Shuler Donner (1 – 2); Jennie Lew Tugend (1 – 3)
Written by	Keith A. Walker (1); Corey Blechman (1-2); Karen Janszen (2); John Mattson (2-3); Will Geiger (4)
Music by	Basil Poledouris; Cliff Eidelman; Enis Rotthoff
Production; company	Regency Enterprises
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (1993-1997) ; Warner Premiere (2010)
Release date	1993 (Free Willy); 1995 (Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home); 1997 (Free Willy 3: The Rescue); 2010 (Free Willy: Escape From Pirate's Cove);
Running time	over 6.5 hours total (as of 2010)
Country	United States; South Africa
Language	English
Box office	$153,698,625 (1); [1]

Free Willy is a film franchise from Warner Bros. The first installment, Free Willy, was released on July 16, 1993; the second, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, was released on July 19, 1995; and the third film, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, was released on August 8, 1997. These first three films were produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and distributed by Warner Bros. The fourth installment, Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove (released March 2010), was directed by Will Geiger and distributed by Warner Premiere. Alongside the films, an animated series also entitled Free Willy debuted in 1994.

The series primarily follows an orphan boy named Jesse who befriends a killer whale named Willy, and eventually develops a strong connection. While trying to juggle his newly found life, he and Willy are challenged with overcoming or defeating various hazards to the ocean or Willy himself including corporate greed, hunters, poachers and oil disasters. The character of Jesse does not appear in Free Willy: Escape From Pirate's Cove and is replaced with a similar character known as Kirra.

Films

Free Willy (1993)

Free Willy is a 1993 American family drama film released by Warner Bros under its Family Entertainment label. The film stars Jason James Richter as a delinquent boy who becomes attached to a captive killer whale, the film's eponymous "Willy." Directed by Simon Wincer, it was shot mainly in Mexico City and Portland, Oregon.

Michael Jackson produced and performed "Will You Be There", the theme for the film, which can be heard during the film's credits. The song won the MTV Movie Award for "Best Song in a Movie" in 1994 and was also included in the album All Time Greatest Movie Songs, released by Sony in 1999.

Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995)

Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home is a 1995 family film, directed Dwight H. Little, and released by Warner Bros under its Family Entertainment banner. It is a sequel to the 1993 film, also starring Jason James Richter and August Schellenberg.

The film has protagonist Jesse (Jason James Richter) reunite with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom, as the teenager tries to rescue killer whales from an oil spill.

Free Willy 3: The Rescue was subsequently released in 1997, making a trilogy. Keiko does not actually appear in this film, unlike the original movie. Willy is played by a robotic double, while the Free Willy Keiko Foundation devised a plan to bring him to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, where he would be rehabilitated for poor health. Michael Jackson returned to perform the film's songs contributing the theme song "Childhood", which can be heard during the film's credits.

Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)

Free Willy 3: The Rescue is a 1997 family film directed by Sam Pillsbury, and starring Jason James Richter and August Schellenberg. Released by Warner Bros under its Family Entertainment banner, the film is the second sequel to the 1993 Free Willy. The film is also the last with Keiko before he died of pneumonia in 2003.

The film features a teenaged Jesse (Richter) and old friend Randolph trying to foil an illegal whaler threatening Willy and his pregnant mate.

Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove (2010)

Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove, the fourth and final film in the series and a reboot, was directed by Will Geiger. The first feature from the Free Willy film franchise for 13 years, this film stars Bindi Irwin as Kirra, who discovers a baby killer whale stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather's rundown seaside amusement park. She embarks on a quest to lead Willy back to his pod.

Television

Free Willy (1994)

Cast and crew

Cast

Characters	Original series			Animated series	Reboot
	Free Willy	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Free Willy 3: The Rescue	Free Willy	Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove
	1993	1995	1997	1994	2010
Jesse Greenwood	Jason James Richter			Zachary Bennett
Willy	Keiko	Animatronic Orca		Paul Haddad	CGI orca
Willy	Keiko	Keiko (uncredited)		Paul Haddad	CGI orca
Randolph Johnson	August Schellenberg			Michael Fletcher
Glen Greenwood	Michael Madsen			Ron Len
Annie Greenwood	Jayne Atkinson			Sheila McCarthy
Dwight Mercer	Mykelti Williamson
Rae Lindey	Lori Petty
Dial	Michael Ironside
Wade	Richard Riehle
Elvis Greenwood		Francis Capra
John Milner		Jon Tenney
Nadine		Mary Kate Schellhardt
Dr. Kate Haley		Elizabeth Peña
Drew Halbert			Annie Corley
Max Wesley			Vincent Berry
John Wesley			Patrick Kilpatrick
Mary Wesley			Tasha Simms
Rockland Stone / The Machine				Gary Krawford
Kirra Cooper					Bindi Irwin
Gus Grisby					Beau Bridges
Rolf Woods					Stephen Jennings
Dr. Sam Cooper					Kevin Otto
Sifiso					Siyabuela Ramba

Crew

Occupation	Original series			Reboot
	Free Willy	Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	Free Willy 3: The Rescue	Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove
	1993	1995	1997	2010
Director(s)	Simon Wincer	Dwight H. Little Allen Babiarz	Sam Pillsbury	Will Geiger
Producer(s)	Lauren Shuler Donner Jennie Lew Tugend		Jennie Lew Tugend	David Wicht John Stainton Laura Lodin
Writer(s)	Keith A. Walker Corey Blechman	John Mattson Corey Blechman Karen Janszen	John Mattson	Will Geiger Cindy McCreery
Composer(s)	Basil Poledouris		Cliff Eidelman	Enis Rotthoff
Editor(s)	O. Nicholas Brown	Robert Brown Dallas Puett	Margaret Goodspeed
Cinematographer(s)	Robbie Greenberg	László Kovács	Tobias A. Schliessler	Robert Malpage

Reception

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Free Willy	58% (24 reviews)[2]	79 (14 reviews)[3]	A[4]
Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home	31% (16 reviews)[5]	N/A	A-[4]
Free Willy 3: The Rescue	44% (16 reviews)[6]	N/A	B+[4]
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove	N/A	N/A	N/A

References

"Free Willy". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
"Free Willy". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
"Free Willy". Metacritic. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
"Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
"Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
"Free Willy 3: The Rescue". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.

External links

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[bom-1] "Free Willy". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 4, 2010.

[2] "Free Willy". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.

[3] "Free Willy". Metacritic. Retrieved October 28, 2019.

[CinemaScore-4] "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.

[5] "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.

[6] "Free Willy 3: The Rescue". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2019.