Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home

"The adventure is back. The fun is back. Willy's back. And this time he's brought his whole family to meet an old friend ... and take on a new challenge."

1995 1h 35m EN

😐

5.9

MID

🥫

50%

ROTTEN

⭐

5.1

IMDB

★5.9TMDB · 665🥫50%Rotten Tomatoes★5.1IMDB · 20,306

FamilyAdventureDramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Jesse becomes reunited with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom as the teenager tries to rescue the killer whale and other orcas from an oil spill.

“The adventure is back. The fun is back. Willy's back. And this time he's brought his whole family to meet an old friend ... and take on a new challenge.”

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Cast

Jason James Richter
Jesse
Michael Madsen
Glen Greenwood
Jayne Atkinson
Annie Greenwood
August Schellenberg
Randolph Johnson
Mary Kate Schellhardt
Nadine
Francis Capra
Elvis
Mykelti Williamson
Dwight Mercer
Elizabeth Peña
Kate Haley

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Dwight H. Little
Writers: Karen Janszen, Corey Blechman, John Mattson
Languages: Danish, Indonesian, Italian, English, Portuguese, Malay
Countries: France, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 97% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 6 languages: Danish, Indonesian, Italian, English, Portuguese, Malay.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Free Willy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Dwight H. Little, shot by László Kovács. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Basil Poledouris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Dwight H. Little directs. László Kovács behind the camera. Basil Poledouris scores. Robert Brown cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, United States of America. Dialogue in Danish, Indonesian, Italian, English, Portuguese, Malay.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 97% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
231 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 6 languages: Danish, Indonesian, Italian, English, Portuguese, Malay.
4International production across 2 countries: France, United States of America.
5Part of the "Free Willy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Dwight H. Little, shot by László Kovács. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Basil Poledouris. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Robert Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Jason James Richter and Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "The adventure is back. The fun is back. Willy's back. And this time he's brought his whole family to meet an old friend ... and take on a new challenge.".
11IMDB entry: tt0113114 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: László Kovács
Original score: Basil Poledouris
Editing: Robert Brown
Production design: Paul Sylbert
Costume design: Erica Edell Phillips
Stunt coordinator: Conrad E. Palmisano
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $31,000,000
Box office: $30,077,111
Return: 97% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes: 50% 🥫 Rotten
IMDB rating: 5.1/10 · 20,306 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

2 wins & 2 nominations total

Part of

Free Willy Collection

The series primarily follows an orphan boy named Jesse who befriends a killer whale named Willy, and eventually develops a strong connection. While trying to juggle his newly found life, he and Willy are challenged with overcoming or defeating various hazards to the ocean or Willy himself including corporate greed, hunters, poachers and oil disasters.

Also by

Dwight H. Little

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2022-12-25
★ 4/10
It would be an excellent sequel, every bit as good as the original, if logic issues and plot holes didn't get in the way too much. If I can say that I really enjoyed the first film in this trilogy, I can't say the same for any of the sequels. The first film, even with all the flaws, was quite good and was so enjoyable that it became a milestone for many people's childhood and adolescence. This one, in addition to not bringing anything really new, has more flaws and problems than its predecessor. The film's biggest problem turns out to be the script: the action takes place some time after the events of the first film, but we continue to see Willy, the released orca, playing a heroic role in saving several other animals after an oil spill resulting from an accident with a tanker that passed too close to the shore. Of course, as it is predictable in a film like this, there is life danger to the orcas, but in the end, everything goes well. The script really ends up depending on each person's ability to turn off their brain and watch the film without asking questions. On the one hand, we are dealing with an orca whose release was amateurish, unforeseen and unprepared, as we saw in the opening film. In addition to this being something that goes against all the basic norms of those who deal with these animals, it increases the chances that a wild animal simply does not want its freedom, preferring the human contact it is already used to. It would help to understand how Jesse and Willy's relationship continues to be strong and important in this film, and the film that would follow. However, believing that the orca could hear Jesse's harmonica, even if it were far away, is as foolish as believing in Santa Claus, and is simply forgetting that these animals travel thousands of miles, and that the orca is one of the few marine mammals that can be seen in any sea in the world. Willy would never hear the sound of his friend's harmonica if he was that far away. And although the film touches on an important ecological and environmental point – the damage caused by oil spills – the way it does so is far from realistic. Oil spills are a serious matter, they mobilize a lot of technicians and there are specific ways to contain and clean them up, as well as to save the affected marine life. A bunch of amateurs just couldn't do much. In addition to the logic problems and holes in the script, the film has some very underwritten characters, although some of the heavy clichés of the initial film have been polished. And it is still pleasant to see the most important faces of the initial film return: Jason James Ritcher continues to work well as Jesse and is well supported by Michael Madson and August Schellenberg, who also return to the characters they already know. Francis Capra is doing very well, and Mary Kate Schellhart does what she can with the material she's been given. Technically, the film continues to bet heavily on good cinematography and the choice of beautiful filming locations. As with its predecessor, it's a film that doesn't look the age it already is, and if we saw it without knowing when it was released, we wouldn't give it more than ten years. Good sound effects, good special effects, a realistic and effective animatronic whale, are some of the values that this film presents to us and that deserve a positive note. The soundtrack is pleasant, skillfully recycling material from the early film.

Production companies