The jump scene in "Free Willy" was accomplished by strapping an animatronic whale to a rocket launcher. Director Simon Wincer recalled the process in a new interview with The Guardian. Lori Petty, who ...

If you were a kid during the early ’90s, just hearing the words Free Willy conjures up an immediate mental picture of the film’s climactic moment. As Jason James Richter‘s character finally fulfills ...

I don’t know precisely when I first watched Free Willy. But I do remember that the film was central to a childhood obsession with whales – orcas, specifically – that followed me well into adulthood.

After helping Free Willy taste freedom, Dave Phillips is working to give two other orcas a life outside captivity, Phillips, a director of the International Marine Mammal Project at Earth Island ...

Michael Madsen's death was confirmed to PEOPLE on Thursday, July 3 Michael Madsen, who played Glen in Free Willy, died on Thursday, July 3, 2025, at 67 Costar Jason James Richter remembered sharing ...

Some movies are undeniably critic-proof. No matter what holes there may be in dramatic narrative, continuity or technical skills, family-film audiences can be misled into believing that any clean ...