Free Willy - Plot

Plot

The film begins with a pod of orcas swimming near the coastline of the Pacific Northwest. The pod is tracked down by a large group of whalers, and a single orca (Keiko the Orca) gets caught in their net. Despite their best efforts to save him, his family leaves him behind, and he is taken away to a local amusement park.

Sometime later in Washington, Jesse (Jason James Richter), a young 12-year-old boy who has been on the streets since he was abandoned by his mother six years before, gets caught by the police for stealing food and vandalizing a theme park, along with a group member of three other abandoned children. However, his social worker Dwight helps him avoid legal consequences by placing him in a foster home and provided he cleans up the mess at the park. While there, Jesse befriends Willy, the orca that was caught earlier and has a collapsed dorsal fin. He is amazed by Willy who obeys his commands, something the trainer, Rae Lindley (Lori Petty), had failed to do. Over time, Jesse and Willy become the best of friends, and Jesse earns a long-term job at the marina while learning to live with his new and supportive foster parents, Glen (Michael Madsen) and Annie Greenwood (Jayne Atkinson).

The owner of the amusement park, Dial (Michael Ironside) sees the talent Jesse and Willy have together, and makes large plans to host "The Willy Show" in hopes of boosting sales and making money for himself. On the day of the first performance, everyone is set to begin, but Willy comes down with stage fright due to the children banging constantly on his underwater observation area. Willy scares them off by smashing against the tank, unintentionally damaging it. Jesse is devastated, and plans to run away feeling everyone has let him down. Later, while at the tank, Jesse notices Willy's family calling to him and Dial's assistant Wade (Richard Riehle) and other men sneaking into the underwater observation area and damage the tank enough that the water will gradually leak out in an effort to kill Willy. It is surmised that Dial is interested in collecting the insurance money, since he has a $1,000,000 life insurance policy on Willy.

Thus, Jesse, Haida native Randolph Johnson (August Schellenberg) and Rae begin plans to release the orca. They use equipment at the park to load Willy onto a trailer, and Jesse and Randolph "borrow" Glen's truck to tow Willy to a marina. They try to stick to back roads to keep from being spotted with a gigantic orca, and eventually get stuck. Wade meanwhile notifies Dial that the orca is missing, and begin a search to find Willy.

Jesse must admit that he needs help, and calls his foster parents using a CB-Radio in Glen's truck. Annie and Glen show up and help free the truck, and continue on to the marina to release Willy. Dial knows where they are likely headed, and when they show up, he, Wade and his henchmen are blocking the gate into the marina. Glen charges at them full speed in the truck, forcing the henchmen to move right before the truck plows through the gate to the marina. Glen quickly turns the truck around and backs Willy into the water, flooding his truck in the process.

Willy is finally released into the water, but Dial and his goons attempt to stop them. During the struggle, Jesse gets Willy to swim away, but panics when he sees that Dial has the whaling company to back him up when their boats show up in the water. They release nets and Jesse has one last chance to get Willy away before he becomes trapped. He runs towards a wall of rocks, calling for Willy to follow him, which steers him away from the boats. Jesse goes to the edge of the rocks where Willy swims up to him and tells Willy that if he makes the jump (it will be the highest jump Willy has ever attempted), he'll be free. Jesse then starts to cry as he tells Willy goodbye, but pulls himself together and goes back to the top of the rocks. He says a prayer that Randolph taught him from a story from his tribe and throws his arm in the air, giving Willy the signal to jump. To the amazement of everyone, Willy makes the jump with no problem and is finally free to return to his family and escapes the boats. Everyone cheers, Willy leaps out of the water in celebration, and Jesse happily jumps up and down, but stops when he realizes that he'll probably never see Willy again. He goes back to Glen and Annie who hug him as they look out into the sea. Willy calls out to Jesse in the distance and both say their final farewell.

The movie ends with Willy who has found his family and the entire pod swims and jumps through the ocean