Even if you haven’t watched the 1993 film Free Willy, about an orphaned youngster who befriends a whale, you’ve probably heard about the orca’s escape.
This classic moment may be found in films such as Avatar Way of the Water, when an alien whale arcs over a boat in a jump reminiscent of Free Willy.
Willy’s jump is so important in Free Willy that it’s even on the poster, so the filmmaker was under a lot of pressure to get it perfect.
Keiko, the killer whale which played Willy, was unlikely to execute this astounding feat in real life, so the crew had to be inventive.
A rocket launcher was manufactured to help the scenario and ensure that it had the emotional impact that director Simon Wincer desired.
‘I remember saying to my agent: “If I can deliver the finale – where the whale leaps to freedom – we’ve got a movie”,’ he 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.’
The film’s eponymous character was created using a combination of animatronic whales, CGI, and real-life killer whale Keiko, although only the animatronic one was launched from a rocket launcher.
Simon described the film’s success as “overwhelming,” and it spawned a series with a TV programme and four films, the most recent of which, Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Cove, was released in 2010.
Keiko, the original Free Willy, was a captive male orca who was sold to an amusement park before his role in the film and was held in tiny tanks designed for bottlenose dolphins.
‘There’s a credit at the end saying: “If you want to help conserve whales, phone this number,” the filmmaker continued. I believe $70 million was donated, and Warner Bros. paid to relocate Keiko.’
With the influx of funds, Warner Bros. and the International Marine Mammal Project relocated Keiko to larger facilities with the goal of reintroducing the orca to the wild.
‘Keiko was a beautiful creature, trapped in this undersized bowl in a theme park closed for renovation in Mexico City, but he loved the crew and the cameras, everybody being around’, shared Simon.
