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| This is Keiko in the wild. |
I am sure that besides learning about Orcas from Sea
World, the only other way is from watching the Free Willy movies. That is how I
became interested in orcas. Yes people, Willy was a real orca, but Willy was
just his acting name. His real name is Keiko. There are 3 movies with Keiko and
the last film uses a different orca but I really just want to focus on the
movies that star Keiko. The actor,
Jason James Richter who plays Jesse in the movies, will always thank Keiko for this opportunity. He was not afraid when he was will Keiko. He states, "I remember it being one of those moments of pure and utter fascination as a child..." This is how I felt and still feel to this day. Although Richter does not do much acting now, he still remembers his time with Keiko.
Jason James Richter who plays Jesse in the movies, will always thank Keiko for this opportunity. He was not afraid when he was will Keiko. He states, "I remember it being one of those moments of pure and utter fascination as a child..." This is how I felt and still feel to this day. Although Richter does not do much acting now, he still remembers his time with Keiko.
The 1st movie, Free Willy, is about Willy living in captivity. He lives in a
dolphin tank and will not listen to any of his trainers. The only one that
Willy accepts is a troublesome young kid named Jesse. They relate because they
feel they are alone. Those two learn to figure out what to do with Willy along
with Jesse’s friends and new family. This movie has a great example of how Sea
World is using the orcas in the tanks. My opinion is that the tanks should be
bigger and only used to rehabilitate the orcas and returned to the wild. I hope
people will watch this movie and understand that you can feel what the orcas
need and not just some sideshow attraction.
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| The first Free Willy movie came out in 1992. |
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| This movie came out in 1995. |
The 2nd movie, Free Willy 2: the Adventure Home, is all about family. Willy is
free and reunited with his pod. You learn that he has a brother and a sister. I
know this may sound a little “girly” of me but I relate because I too have a
brother and sister (note: at the time I watched this movie I did have a brother
and sister, now I have 3 more sisters). I am all about family which I am sure
you are as well. This movie overcomes family issues and what happens in an oil
spill. Oil spills not only hurt the waters, but the land and animals. When
watching, you will see the oil company plans to use the trapped orcas and sell
them to marine parks. This kind of gives you an idea as to what companies will
do for money. The orcas were not harmed during the movie.
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| This movie came out in 1997. |
The 3rd movie, Free Willy: the Rescue, is about poaching. Even though there is
poaching on land there is also poaching on the sea. Jesse returns and becomes
friends with a whaler’s son named Max. Jesse uses this to his advantage in
order to learn the poachers. Max does not want to be like his father, who is
one of the hunters, because Max like whales. The lessons learned in the film
are father/son relationships, poaching is never aloud, and when you believe something
is wrong you need to do something about it.
Although the acting may not be that great like if
you were using Brad Pitt or Emma Stone but you learn so much. These movies are
great for kids and hope they learn to value life. The final movie finally helps
set Keiko free. Keiko was released to the wild after many dilemmas. More info
on Keiko will be discussed later. Michael Jackson also helped with singing songs for the movies. The Free Willy-Keiko Foundation was founded
in order to help free Keiko and hopes to do the same for other orcas.
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