Poster

Free Willy ()

Reference View | Change View
When a boy learns that a beloved killer whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free the whale.
Director:
Writers:
Stars:
Awards:
Reviews:

Photos and Videos

87 photos | 2 videos

Cast verified as complete

Edit
...
Jesse
...
Rae Lindley
...
Annie Greenwood
...
Randolph Johnson
...
Glen
...
Dial
...
Wade
...
Dwight Mercer
...
Perry
...
Gwenie
...
Vector
Betsy Toll ...
Passerby #1
Rob Sample ...
Passerby #2
Merrilyn Jones ...
Passerby #3
Mickey Gaines ...
Waiter
Justin R. Hall ...
Fish Thrower
Robert M. Duque ...
Fish Thrower
Sam Samson ...
Fish Thrower
Willis Van Dusen ...
Willis Van Dusen
Tom Lasswell ...
Brody
Moultrie Patten ...
Homeless Man
Ed Murphy ...
Homeless Man
...
Announcer
...
Willy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simos Kalivas ...
Amusement Park Attendant (uncredited)
Kyle Pittman ...
Kid (uncredited)

Directed by

Edit
Simon Wincer ... (directed by)

Written by

Edit
Keith Walker ... (screenplay by) (as Keith A. Walker) and
Corey Blechman ... (screenplay by)
 
Keith Walker ... (story by) (as Keith A. Walker)

Produced by

Edit
Richard Donner ... executive producer
Penelope L. Foster ... co-producer
Jennie Lew Tugend ... producer (produced by)
Mark Marshall ... associate producer
Douglas C. Merrifield ... associate producer
Arnon Milchan ... executive producer
Lauren Shuler Donner ... producer (produced by) (as Lauren Shuler-Donner)
Richard Solomon ... co-producer
Jim Van Wyck ... co-producer

Music by

Edit
Basil Poledouris ... (music composed by)

Cinematography by

Edit
Robbie Greenberg ... director of photography

Editing by

Edit
O. Nicholas Brown ... (edited by)

Editorial Department

Edit
Brett Carroll ... assistant editor
Bryan H. Carroll ... assistant editor
Robert W. Hedland ... first assistant editor
David Orr ... color timer

Casting By

Edit
Lynda Gordon
Judy Taylor

Production Design by

Edit
Charles Rosen ... (production designed by)

Art Direction by

Edit
Diane Yates

Costume Design by

Edit
April Ferry

Makeup Department

Edit
Whitney James ... key makeup artist
Cheri Ruff ... hair stylist
Pamela S. Westmore ... makeup department head

Production Management

Edit
Héctor López ... unit production manager
Charles Skouras III ... unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

Edit
Mark Cotone ... second assistant director
Lisa C. Satriano ... second second assistant director
Alisa Statman ... second second assistant director
Jim Van Wyck ... first assistant director

Art Department

Edit
Christopher Amy ... first assistant property master
Chris Buchinsky ... storyboard artist
Charles A. Carlsen ... propmaker
Hugh Conlon ... construction general foreman
Bruce J. Gfeller ... construction coordinator
Mark Knapton ... foreman
Sherman Labby ... production illustrator
René Marquéz ... assistant property master
Erik L. Nelson ... property master
Michael Ruby ... painter / signwriter
David Russell ... storyboard artist
Sean Skelding ... set dressing
Daniel Turk ... foreman
Taylor Yingling ... carpenter
Ken Erck ... paint foreman (uncredited)
Benjamin Hayden ... set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department

Edit
Tim Chau ... sound designer / supervising sound editor
Jeff Clark ... sound editor
Albert Gasser ... sound effects editor
Jim Hilton ... sound mixer
William Jacobs ... sound editor
Nils C. Jensen ... sound editor
Billy King ... boom operator
Mary Jo Lang ... foley mixer
John Roesch ... foley artist
Greg P. Russell ... re-recording mixer
Charles Ewing Smith ... sound editor
John Soukup ... sound transfer recordist
Alicia Stevenson ... foley artist
Peter Tomaszewicz ... sound editor
Elliot Tyson ... re-recording mixer
Bernard Weiser ... sound effects editor
David Behle ... sound recordist (uncredited)
Jack Keller ... sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by

Edit
Mitchell Barham ... animatronic whales: Mechanical Design
Ty Boyce ... animatronic whales / electrical/hydraulic designer
Walt Conti ... effects supervisor: Whale
Pieter Folkens ... killer whale designer/sculptor
Gregory L. Richards ... special effects crew
Thomas R. Ward ... special effects (as Tom Ward)

Visual Effects by

Edit
Tim Donahue ... matte painter
Paul Lewis ... digital effects artist
Rick Rische ... matte painter
David Stump ... effects director of photography
John C. Wash ... visual effects supervisor

Stunts

Edit
Linda Arvidson ... stunts
Jamie Bunch Elliott ... stunts
Heather Burton ... stunts
Randy Hall ... stunts
Jake Lombard ... stunt performer (as Jack Lombard)
Dan Plum ... stunt performer
Jackie Resch ... stunts
Dennis Scott ... stunt coordinator
Eric Sugden ... stunt performer
Debi Derryberry ... stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department

Edit
Matthew E. Alper ... first assistant camera (as Matthew Alper)
Ron Batzdorff ... still photographer
R. Michael De Chellis ... rigging gaffer
Scott Fieldsteel ... best boy
Daniel C. Gold ... first assistant camera
Lisa Guerriero ... second assistant camera: "b" camera
Conrad W. Hall ... camera operator
Wes Houle ... set electrician
Sunny Johnson ... grip
Colleen Kingdon ... lighting technician
Robin Alan Knight ... key grip (as Robin Knight)
Kyle T. MacDowell ... electrician
John T. Martin ... grip
Larry McConkey ... steadicam operator
David L. Merrill ... dolly grip
Jim Plannette ... gaffer (as James Plannette)
Cynthia Pusheck ... assistant camera
Dennis Smith ... steadicam operator
Daryl Steinkopf ... grip
Bob Talbot ... cinematographer: wildlife
Neil Toussaint ... second assistant camera
Karl Linde ... Second assistant camera "A" camera (uncredited)

Casting Department

Edit
Jorge Guerrero ... extras casting director
Megann Ratzow ... casting: Portland (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department

Edit
Alexandria Forster-Wetzel ... costume supervisor (as Alexandria Forster)

Location Management

Edit
Mike Fantasia ... location manager

Music Department

Edit
Joan Beal ... singer
Tom Boyd ... musician: oboe and English horn
Tim Boyle ... score mixer
Norman Ludwin ... musician: bass
Greig McRitchie ... orchestrator
Thomas Milano ... music editor
Maria Newman ... musician
Basil Poledouris ... conductor
Mark Pont ... Additional music
Joel Sill ... Music Consultant
Sally Stevens ... singer
James Thatcher ... musician: French horn
Paul Wertheimer ... score recordist
Michael Boddicker ... musician: synthesizer (uncredited)
Orion Crawford ... song transcriber (uncredited)
The Hollywood Studio Symphony ... music performed by (uncredited)
Alan Kaplan ... musician: trombone (uncredited)
Malcolm McNab ... musician: trumpet (uncredited)
Greig McRitchie ... composer: additional music (uncredited)
Tommy Morgan ... musician: harmonica soloist (uncredited)
Basil Poledouris ... score producer (uncredited)
Emil Richards ... musician: percussion (uncredited)
Louise Di Tullio ... musician: flute (uncredited)
James Walker ... musician: flute (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

Edit
P.R. Tooke ... script supervisor
Tom Benedek ... script revisions (uncredited)

Transportation Department

Edit
Arturo Curiel ... transportation captain
Ricardo Díaz Avilés ... driver (as Ricardo Díaz)
Enrique Díaz ... driver
Jack Sander ... driver
Alfonso Paredes ... driver (uncredited)

Additional Crew

Edit
Nina Axelrod ... talent searcher
Matthew J. Birch ... assistant: Ms. Shuler-Donner
Mark Carter ... production assistant
Tawny Duel ... assistant production office coordinator
Laura Gary ... studio teacher
Gary Gillingham ... production accountant
Elsa Hermoso ... production accountant: mexico
Stacy Layne Kramer ... assistant accountant
Cathy Lawrence ... assistant: Simon Wincer
Joseph Lawson ... production assistant
Jonas C. Matz ... set medic
Kevin McDermott ... acting coach
Stacie O'Beirne ... production insurance services
Jason Roberts ... assistant: Richard Donner
Michael Singer ... unit publicist
Susan Lee Smith ... development: Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions
Christa Vausbinder ... production associate
Paolo Vivio ... italian voice dubbing
Netta Bank ... representative: American Humane Association (uncredited)
Bill Daly ... post-production accountant manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

Edit

Distributors

Edit

Special Effects

Edit

Other Companies

Edit

Storyline

Edit
Plot Summary

Fishermen separate a young orca whale (Willy) from his parents and he ends up in a fish bowl at a marina. Meanwhile, a street kid runs afoul of the law and gets caught vandalising the marina, but his social worker gets him off the hook (so to speak) provided he cleans up his mess at the marina. While there, he befriends the whale and teaches him tricks, something the trainer hasn't been able to do. But when Willy is a dud in front of the audience, the marina owner plans some bad things, and the boy and his friends must try to (*** MAJOR SPOILERS ***) free Willy. Written by Ed Sutton

Plot Keywords
Taglines A 12 year old street kid. A 3 ton orca whale. A friendship you could never imagine. An adventure you'll never forget. See more »
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

Edit
Also Known As
  • Liberen a Willy (Mexico)
  • Sauvez Willy (France)
  • Free Willy - Ruf der Freiheit (Germany)
  • ¡Liberad a Willy! (Spain)
  • Rädda Willy (Sweden)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 112 min
Official Sites
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Box Office

Budget $20,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend United States $7,868,829, 18 Jul 1993
Cumulative Worldwide Gross $153,698,625

Did You Know?

Edit
Trivia After the movie was released, it brought the living conditions of the star orca, Keiko (Willy) to the world's attention. His tank was too small, with too-warm chlorinated artificial salt water. Keiko suffered from a weakened immune system and a skin condition around his pectoral fins. There was a monumental effort to release Keiko. A custom tank was built in the Oregon Coast Aquarium and in 1996, the whale was flown from Mexico to Oregon. He recovered well, and was moved to a sea pen in 1998. In July 2002, Keiko was released into the wild after spending 22 years in captivity. Unfortunately he did not fully adapt to the wild and died in December 2003 in Norway. Keiko became the second oldest orca to live in captivity. See more »
Goofs When Willy is jumping over the stone wall at the end of the movie, the bottom of the actual whale does not match the pattern of the CGI whale that lands the jump. See more »
Movie Connections Edited into Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995). See more »
Soundtracks Will You Be There See more »
Crazy Credits A disclaimer at the end of the first half of the end credits following A Donner-Shuler Donner Production reads, "No whales were harassed or mistreated during the making of this film and all scenes involving a live animal were supervised by the American Humane Association." See more »
Quotes Rae: You like whales?
Jesse: I like him.
Rae: Well, he doesn't like anybody. So you be careful around him. You see, Willy's a case. A very special case.
Jesse: So? Who isn't?
See more »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page


Clear your history

Recently Viewed