10 Things You Didn't Know About FreeWilly

[KobatheASMRbiker]

That necklace you got in one of the VHS copies of the Free Willy movies. Still have it to this day!

[ALIENCHASE-qvei]

I was lucky enough at a young age to be featured as the child chosen for a radio show here in Canada to do fun “weekend adventures” and one of those was spending the weekend at the aquarium and spending two nights sleeping there and helping with feeding and seeing the inner workings.

Hyak was the one male Orca they had there and prior to doing this radio show weekend adventures thing I was literally going to the aquarium every weekend (my mom had got me and her a yearly pass) and Hyak was my absolute favourite.

I got to sleep in the viewing area beneath the water line both nights and Hyak was always there just beyond the glass watching me fall asleep. I got to help feed him and interact with him as well.

It truly was one of thee most magical experiences of my life.

❤️

[kenbrown]

sadly, while Keiko was being "rehabilitated" in Oregon, it became clear to those who paid attention that Keiko lived to interact with humans. it also became pretty clear that a large portion of the population was completely ignoring reality in the urge to liberate Keiko. after his release in Icelandic waters, it's reported he would routinely approach boats looking or attention. in essence, releasing Keiko into the wild was a bit like taking a person who had grown up in show business and telling them they had to become a hermit to liberate them.

[freezngsapper]

I really want to thank you for acknowledging Keiko. I loved the movie when it released as an 11yro, but it wasn’t long after release the truth about Keiko came out. As a kid, being realized felt like such a win.

As an adult, and perhaps by Keiko’s example, I better understand a measured release is better.

As many have stated before me, this movie single handedly drove the killing spike into Seaworld. The Reef followed up to make sure it was done, but was this movie and the response it generated was the first lethal blow to the idea of keeping Cetacean’s captive.

I do think of Keiko often, a prop. I’m sad she died so young, but her death has been the spark for two generations now.

[juliacullins-vudc]

That's very true!! Animals capture the hearts of us! My family and I lost our poodle 7 yrs ago and to this day, it's still difficult !! We miss her daily! We lost my parents 4 yrs ago! 😢

[joeyd]

One of my favorite movies as a kid. This brings back lots of nostalgia!

[STRAKAZulu]

My family used to joke that we got a free Willie. He was our 150lb GSD mix, named Willie.

[DrFeelGoodHelpDesk]

Interestingly the animatronic whales for Free Willy were built by Walt Conti, who also made the titular Anaconda and would then go on to make the sharks for Deep Blue Sea.

[Gezusk]

That was a really good Michael Jackson “hee hee”. Wasn’t expecting that. Literally lol’d

[davedavies]

"Somebody Arnie won't be seeing at the party" took me so long to get that, but it made me howl 😂😂😂😂

[codys]

I remember being so excited about Keiko moving to my home state of Oregon. Even more excited when my family visited the Newport Aquarium and finally got to see him in person. I have a great picture that I took of him when he bumped right up to the glass to see everyone. You could tell he genuinely loved people and it was humbling to be separated by thick glass from such an amazing creature.
Now I get to take my children there and have new memories while still holding on to that moment.

[afibuffygirl]

I remember when this came out in the theater, I was just a kid. My mom is Chinese so she woke me up in the morning and said "u wanna go see wet willy?" Lol. She passed away in November from cancer so seeing this made me smile and think about her.

[juliacullins-vudc]

This movie was so touching, when I saw this film, I actually did get a little teary! 😊😢

[wstine]

This movie ruined SeaWorld's reputation way before The Reef.

[michaeljarreau]

I remember watching this as a child when my nephew and i were kids. I was touch by it. Free Willy is a heart warming film. Minty i hope you do a ten things you didn't know about My girl staring Ana horseford.

[lxxredxxl]

16:20 we got the Bulk and Skull theme!!! Awesome!! 😎

[ImBoones]

I find the actor that plays Todd in braking bad looks like Matt Damian, but I call him Fat Damian. I laughed when you brought up the Jack Nicholson reference 😂

[amyn.duncan]

The guy who played Jesse. He was in The Never Ending Story 3

[thijisvansise]

Definitely made me decide as a child that Sea World and similar animal captivity places were a net negative for animal kind.

[emrisilvasi]

Very interesting. Good job. I remember watching this as a kid I watched all three of them. I never heard of the last one. You should do the movie daryl 1985. When is iron eagle coming out ?