Free Willy is an animated television series, inspired by the 1993 film of the same name.

The television series was produced by Regency Enterprises and the Canadian company Nelvana for Warner Bros. Studios. This show, which aired for one season (1994) on ABC, continues the adventures of Jesse and Willy, who were introduced in the film. The overarching storyline is reminiscent of Moby-Dick: an oil baron, known to the main characters only as a cyborg called "The Machine" until the final episode, loses his arm to Willy while committing an environmental atrocity and wants revenge upon "that rotten whale... and his boy".

While the first half of the show centered mostly around Willy and Jesse's adventures in the Misty Island Oceanic Reserve, the second half took them to the Arctic and back, with the group returning just in time for the Christmas special.

[edit] Plot

Jesse and his adoptive parents have moved to the coast. Jessie is given a job at the local wildlife rescue and research centre where Randolph now works. In the first episode Jessie discovers he has the ability to talk to animals and Randolph tells him that he is a Truth Talker. This gives him the ability to talk to Willy and the other animals in the centre allowing the animal characters in the show to have full personalities and bigger roles in the episodes.

The main villain of the series is a man called the Machine who seeks revenge on Willy because he is responsible for Machine losing an arm and part of his face, making him a cyborg (at first it was implied that he bit them off, but a flashback revealed that Willy caused a destruction of his submarine, which hurled him into a ship's screw propeller). He still uses his old identity of Mr Stone. The Machine has also created creatures out of toxic waste which are green and slimey and not usually too bright. They carry out his instructions to pollute and destroy the living creatures and eco systems.

Through out the series the Machine comes up with many plots and schemes to destroy Willy and the eco system. These involve dumping waste and rubbish in the ocean and creating weapons such as a Giant Squid with a taste for Orca, and Creating a Redtide designed to destroy all living things in the area.

[edit] Voice actors and their characters

Characters not seen in the movies are described in parentheses.

• Zachary Bennett - Jesse
• Paul Haddad - Willy
• Gary Krawford - The Machine (alias Rockland Stone, villain)
• Alyson Court - Lucille (talking seal)
• Rachael Crawford - Marlene (marine research assistant)
• Neil Crone - Mr. Naugle (head marine biologist)
• Michael Fletcher - Randolph
• James Kidnie - Amphonids (toxic waste blob servants of The Machine)
• Ron Len - Glenn
• Sheila McCarthy - Annie
• Andrew Sabiston - P.R. Frickey (publicist for Stone's oil company)
• Kevin Zegers - Einstein (talking dolphin)

[edit] Featured living animals

• Killer Whale - Willy
• Bottlenose Dolphin - Einstein
• California Sea Lion - Lucile

Additional characters, whose voice actors are unknown, include Captain Frye (henchman of The Machine) and other talking sea creatures.

[edit] Availability

The show has not been released on VHS or DVD.

[edit] External links

• Free Willy at the Internet Movie Database