Summer of 1993: Free Willy
30 years ago was the original mad orca summer
After several weeks of discussing big films with giant stars released in summer 1993, we’re going to hit a bit of a weird patch. The next few films aren’t big, thrilling releases. They don’t get the adrenaline pumping. And the quality ranges from “that’s fine” to “oof.”
But each provides an important glimpse at the state of film in the early 1990s and what was or wasn’t engaging audiences. And each should prove fairly interesting to talk about (and then, don’t worry, I have a really great Franchise Friday tie-in in early August and then that month gets really bonkers); also, if you want something a bit more current than the Summer of 1993 series, I should have some thoughts on Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One in the coming days, and there’s a really fun episode of “We’re Watching Here” waiting in the wings. So, it’s not all going to be vintage.
But first, we gotta talk about Free Willy.
I’m not even sure whether Free Willy has a mark on a generation past mine. When killer whales began carrying out (well-orca-strated?) attacks on yachts this summer, I didn’t see any memes of Willy leaping over Jesse. Although the films are available on Max, my kids have never stumbled over any of them, even if there are apparently four to track down. While David Zaslav and the crew over at Warner Bros. Discovery seem eager to squeeze every last drop out of all the IP they own, I haven’t heard a whisper of them rebooting or developing a legacy sequel. Heck, Space Jam: A New Legacy existed only to cram in every bit of WB content, and there was nary a Keiko or Michael Madsen to be found.
Which, to be clear, I’m not asking for. But it’s kind of curious. Because Free Willy wasn’t just a kiddie-film diversion that popped up in theaters and disappeared to VHS oblivion. The film, which had a $20 million budget, was the 11th highest grosser of the year, bringing in $77 million in the United States and Canada, and $153 million worldwide. It was released on July 16, 1993, and it stayed in the top 10 at the box office until mid-September. Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” became a top single, and critics were kind; the film has a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. And it had cultural impact that went beyond entertainment; it drew attention to the plight of orcas, particularly its “star,” Keiko, who was living in substandard conditions at an amusement park until the film urged people to take action (Keiko was eventually returned to the ocean; subsequent Willy films used animatronic whales). Before Blackfish, there was Free Willy.
So, either the film was just not really any good and fell out of the public consciousness quickly, or kids just don’t like the slower-paced, more emotional and less hijinks-based family film, right? I decided to put that to the test. A few weekends ago, while my wife was out of town, I decided to show my kids Free Willy for what was my first time watching it in probably at least 25 years, maybe longer. And we’d see what the results were.
If you don’t remember, Free Willy is about Jesse (Jason James Richter), a troubled runaway who’s been in and out of foster homes and living on the streets. When he’s caught vandalizing a local amusement park, he’s returned to his foster parents (Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson) and his social worker makes sure he returns to the park to clean up his mess. While there, he befriends an animal trainer (Lori Petty) and the park’s aquatic manager (August Schellenberg). He also forms a bond with the park’s prized orca, Willy, who is too temperamental to behave for shows but calms down in Jesse’s presence.
In some ways, Free Willy is another E.T. clone, about a troubled kid who finds a friend who understands him in the way that the humans around him don’t. But director Simon Wincer, working from a thoughtful script by Keith A. Walker, seems to have learned the right lessons from Spielberg’s film. Free Willy is rooted in emotion, not hijinks, and it’s mercifully clear of any slapstick or overt silliness.
The lead child performance by Richter is quite good. Jesse’s angry, but it’s defensive anger, and Richter modulates it well. The tension with his step parents is navigated with understanding and thoughtfulness. Jesse is angry and defensive because he’s afraid he’ll be abandoned again, but the film is never one-sided. His foster parents are also unsure of whether they want the responsibility of taking in a young, angry kid, and the film allows them the opportunities to be frustrated. But it never devolves into hysterics or melodrama; it feels real. There’s a sequence where Jesse gets angry and throws a ball through a window, and I tensed up, sure that this was the moment where the film was going to introduce a conflict that would pit the family against each other. But the scene’s resolution is actually tender and moving, and it understands the ebbs and flow of family dynamics. And as Jesse bonds with Willy and the trainers at the park, Richter does a good job of letting down his guard and showing the boy coming into his own with confidence and joy. It’s a good performance, even if the film’s beats are familiar.
The heart of the movie, of course, is the relationship between Jesse and Willy. And the use of a real orca and animatronics is believable. The film links Willy and Jesse because they are both angry and feel confined against their will; they also both miss the family from which they’re isolated. It’s not realistic, mind you – there’s a bit too much anthropomorphizing of Willy, who can also respond to Jesse by shaking his head yes or no, and I don’t know that the depiction of pre-teen street life has much verisimilitude – but it works on a level that engages both kids and adults. A few months from Avatar: The Way of Water, you can also similarities between that film’s Payakan storyline and this film’s main plot (right down to shots of the whale’s eye and a POV shot to earn our empathy).
Watching the movie on this side of Blackfish is a bit uncomfortable. The characters feel bad for this particular whale because he’s separated from his family and lives in a small tank because of the whims of money-grubbing park owners. But there’s not really a reckoning with the idea that holding a whale for the purposes of putting on a show is just point-blank wrong. Petty’s character wants better care for Willy, but doesn’t seem troubled about turning him into another one of her performing animals. Schellenberg’s character seems a bit more conflicted, but the film only really trots him out to deliver speeches about Native beliefs that are linked to orcas, and I can’t decide whether that’s a genuine and moving thing, or whether the film is just engaging in some cultural exploitation in the hopes for depth.
In the final act, the attempt to free Willy (hey, that’s the name of the movie!) is less because the characters have a change of heart about the work they’ve been engaged in and more because the cartoonish villains attempt to kill the whale. It leads to a chase sequence that works as a bit of adventure and suspense – how do you transport a giant whale on land? – although I don’t know that the villains pose any believable threat (and how only one cop becomes involved in this is beyond me). But it doesn’t matter. It all, of course, needs to just build to the final triumphant moments where it looks like all hope is lost, but everyone believes in Jesse to get Willy to jump to freedom (and that iconic final shot of the whale soaring over Jesse’s head is really well done).
Free Willy never hits the highs of E.T., but that’s okay. With two young kids, I’ve seen a lot of recent children’s movies, and this is refreshingly devoid of the shrillness and shallowness of those. I appreciate that it takes Jesse’s emotions seriously, and I think the relationship between him and his foster parents is well developed. And 30 years on, the effects are still believable. Free Willy is a good movie; not great, but it’s good.
And as for my kids? My oldest son, who’s about Jesse’s age, was engaged in the story. He has his own anger issues, and I think Jesse’s emotions resonated with him. My daughter, who’s a bit younger, was caught up with Willy’s plight, at one point in tears when she thought he might not return to his family (she was happy when he finally escaped). Both kids enjoyed the movie and didn’t seem bored by its lack of slapstick or overt action.
So, the film is a strange case, but maybe refreshingly so. Maybe Free Willy is just a movie that will be allowed to live as a product of his time, sometimes stumbled upon by families who find something to enjoy about it. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I’d love to see original new family movies released with this amount of emotional honesty and thoughtfulness.