According to production notes in AMPAS library files, screenwriter Keith A. Walker conceived the story idea while working with Donner on The Goonies (1985, see entry) in Astoria, OR. Citing the script’s “international appeal,” Regency Enterprises founder Arnon Milchan agreed to serve as executive producer through the company’s production and distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.
       Actor Jason James Richter was cast as “Jesse” from among 4,000 young actors who auditioned in a nationwide casting call. To find a whale suitable to portray “Willy,” filmmakers searched throughout the U.S., Japan, France, Spain, and Argentina, before discovering Keiko, a twelve-year-old Orca that had been residing at Reino Aventura amusement park in Mexico City, Mexico, since 1985. According to People, Keiko was originally captured from his home off the coast of Iceland and sold to Marineland in Niagara Falls, NY, in 1982, before moving to Mexico. The Free Willy production team was able to film Keiko in the park while it underwent renovations throughout May and Jun 1992. A wooden backdrop placed around the circumference of the Reino Aventura aquatic arena made it appear as if the park was located in the Pacific Northwest.
       A 16 May 1993 LAT article claimed that director Simon Wincer was hired only five weeks before production began to replace an unnamed director who producers deemed “too inexperienced” for the estimated $20 million project. Although a 3 Mar 1992 HR production chart referred to the film by its working title, Willy, the 7 Jul 1992 HR, announced that Free Willy began principal photography 18 May 1992. Animal action was monitored by American Humane Association employee Netta Bank. The 19 Jul 1993 issue of Time magazine reported that filmmakers frequently used a robotic whale “stunt double” covered in 3,000 pounds of urethane rubber, as well as a model of the top of the whale, which was made moveable by hydraulic propellers. Once filming concluded in Mexico City, production moved to Portland, OR, for an additional three weeks on locations at Pioneer Courthouse Square, the warehouse district, Skateboard Park, and Oaks Amusement Park. Filming also took place in Astoria’s Hammond Marina. Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen portrayed a fish vendor. A 3 Nov 1992 DV brief stated that Wincer completed the picture “on budget.” The 13 Jul 1993 LAT listed a final production cost of $13 million.
       According to a 10 Jun 1993 DV news item, Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” was the first song released under the artist’s newly-formed record label, MJJ/Epic, and was accompanied by a music video featuring scenes from the film. The 29 Jun 1993 DV reported that Warner Bros. also negotiated more than twenty promotional tie-ins, including a Willy plush toy by Dakin Inc.
       A 19 Jul 1993 HR article stated that because the film did not have a marketable star, Warner Bros. decided to generate word-of-mouth by holding a “sneak” screening on 5 Jul 1993. In response to overwhelmingly positive feedback, the studio held additional previews on 10 and 11 Jul 1993. Free Willy opened 16 Jul 1993 in 1,476 theaters, before expanding to an additional 400 theaters on 23 Jul 1993.
       Several months later, the 13 Dec 1993 HR reported that Donner, Shuler-Donner, and Jason James Richter participated in a demonstration in San Diego, CA, protesting the capture of three white-sided dolphins for an aquarium in Chicago, IL. The film’s popularity also generated publicity for a campaign to release Keiko from his restrictive, undersized tank at “El Nuevo” Reino Aventura and eventually return him to the wild. The 9 Sep 1994 Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that El Nuevo Reino Aventura agreed to move Keiko to a larger facility if artist Robert Wyland painted a mural of the whale, while People claimed that the park was unable to sell Keiko for their $1 million asking price due to his declining health and a contagious skin condition. On 22 Nov 1994, WSJ stated that Warner Bros. planned to donate $2 million to support the “Free Willy” Keiko Foundation’s efforts to have Keiko treated at a rehabilitation facility in Oregon. The following summer, the Humane Society of the U.S. announced that Keiko would be transported via cargo jet to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Nov 1995. On 28 Oct 1996, HR reviewed a Discovery Channel television special scheduled to air that day, which documented how the film’s release led to Keiko’s relocation. In 1999, the 17 Jan NYT announced that Keiko had been returned to his home in the Icelandic waters off the Westman Islands, where he lived in a “natural sea pen...that [allowed] the whale to interact with other marine life.”
       Meanwhile, Donner, Shuler-Donner, Milchan, and producer Jennie Lew Tugend reunited with Warner Bros. for two sequels: Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995, see entry) and Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997, see entry). Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson returned for Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, while Jason James Richter and August Schellenberg reprised their roles in both films. Due to Keiko’s rehabilitation, Willy was re-created through the use of robotic doubles.
      End credits state: “No whales were harassed or mistreated during the making of this film and all scenes involving a live animal were supervised by the American Humane Association,” and include, “Special thanks to: Nuevo Reino Aventura and staff and the people of Mexico City; The people and cities of Portland, Astoria and Warrenton, Oregon and Anacortes, Washington; Oregon State and Washington State Film Offices.” A 9 Aug 1993 article in People magazine noted that end credits of the theatrical release concluded with the toll-free telephone number of the Earth Island Institute, which executive producer Richard Donner and producer Lauren Shuler-Donner hoped would help raise awareness about the hunting of sea mammals.