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I have been cleaning out all the closets all day...(well sort of...in between phone calls- ) getting ready for a big yard sale this weekend, and my son has all the Free Willy movies in his closet...I loved the soundtrack to the first one.
But, I really loved the story in part 2, I thought it was made really well for kids. I haven't seen it in awhile, but I remember I really liked it.
Did anyone else??
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The first one was just awesome--Anything after that is just good for cute whales and nothing else. I don't know, I'd probably have more respect for them nowadays, but all I remember about the sequels was that I didn't like them. I loved the soundtrack, too. Good movie. Posts: 1830 | From: Land Under the Bed | Registered: May 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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I have to admit that I haven't been able to watch any of these. The only reason why is because I have a massive aversion to seeing animals get hurt on film. I must have seen something in a preview at one time that alluded to the fact that the whale was in danger. That is enough to make me stay away. I mean it, I literally cannot watch anything where an animal gets hurt even when I know it is fake. It is totally different with people on TV, maybe because I am immune to all of the gunfighting and fist fighting or something?
Whatever happened to the whale anyway? I remember reading something about it, like maybe they were going to release it in the wild because it wasn't healthy for it to live in captivity any longer? Also did it eventually die? I think it did if I remember correctly, I think it was like 23 years old or something?
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I don't know much about the back story for Keiko (that was the whale's name--It might be spelled Kieko or something, I don't know how exactly it's spelled.), but I do know that the whale has since passed away. They talked about it on the news for a long while.
The whale doesn't get hurt in the movie--Well, I mean, he isn't speared or anything. He's kept in captivity for a long while and miserable (so it's more of an emotional trauma for the whale, I guess), and he seems in pretty bad shape when the people have him on the back of a truck and are driving him toward the ocean (they have to keep him wet and they spray him with a hose and the like), so there might have been some pain there. I think the most "danger" the whale was in, though, was when he got captured and put into captivity.
Anyone see the Free Willy cartoon? I remember watching it. All I remember was that Jesse (I think it was supposed to be Jesse, anyway) would hang out with Willy and a bunch of other sea creatures (Jesse would scuba dive or something to see them under the water) and have adventures. The only plot I remember was that someone was spilling oil (I think) and these dolphins warned Jesse and Willy about it and they saved the day somehow.
Posts: 1830 | From: Land Under the Bed | Registered: May 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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I don't think Keiko was physically harmed in any film. There's a tag at the end stating that the American Humane Society made sure no whales were "Harrassed or mistreated." When they were moving him out of Mexico City's Reino Aventura park for the U.S. and rehabilitation, he almost died when the winch to load him on the plane broke, leaving him stranded in the open just hours before sunrise. They managed to get him in at the literal last moment.
Sadly, he is deceased now, as of December 2003. We tried hard to get him loose, though, and hopefully this will blaze a trail for future whale releases. The most accurate indications was that he was born in 1977 (he was captured off Iceland in 1979 around age 2, so he ended up 26 years old). What I can find amazing is that none of his human co-stars did much worth note afterwards; I can only think of two other films outside the franchise that Jason James Richter appeared in.
The first one was probably the first film I've REALLY anticipated, from the moment I saw the poster with that iconic image of Keiko leaping over JJR and the trailer that was attached to Dennis the Menace. I was really in a nature craze at the time, so it was the perfect film for me. Even more interesting, the whole week leading up to when I actually saw it, the local radio station played "Will You be There?" almost every night (that plus the remixed version of Human Nature that also appeared in the film makes it IMO Michael Jackson's high water mark; needless to say, it's been all downhill since then). It didn't disappoint me one bit, and 12 years later it still holds up beautifully, infinitely better to what they pass off as family entertainment today. There's a strong heart in it that whispers that friendship can transcend anything.
The followups are, regretably, another story. Part 2 was the first time I truly felt let down by a sequel. With a new director, the original writer dead, and half the cast gone, the magic just wasn't there anymore. They did try, but in the end it just wasn't enough. I was too hung over to bother with Part 3 after that. Still, they don't detract from the grandeur of their predecessor.
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) getting ready for a big yard sale this weekend, and my son has all the Free Willy movies in his closet...I loved the soundtrack to the first one.
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