Some of the movie was filmed in Reino Park (the name of the park which held Keiko) and some in Mexico City. Keiko was then found by scouts at the dilapidated park, and Warner Brothers decided to cast him to play the character of Willy. Unfortunately, he was anything but lucky his living conditions were abysmal. He was renamed Keiko, a name which means “Lucky One” in Japanese. He was sold once again, this time to an aquatic theme park in Mexico.
The young orca’s troubles did not end there.
Sadly, Keiko, then Siggi, suffered in his new home: he developed skin lesions and was bullied by older whales. In 1982, he was sold to a new aquarium in Ontario. Source: WikipediaĪfter his capture, he was taken to an Icelandic aquarium where he was originally named Siggi. Meet Keiko, the aquatic star of the popular children’s movie Free Willy an orca whale who was captured at a young age off the coast of Iceland in 1979 and was kept in a few aquariums before he was “hired” to appear in the film. In a crazy twist of fate, the film inspired the release of said whale, named Keiko, back into the open ocean sadly, his rehabilitation was largely unsuccessful. The film was actually based on the story of the very same whale who played its starring role. Following the heartwarming story of a boy who befriends an orca, (also known as killer whales), the movie ends with Willy, the whale, finally escaping to freedom in the wild. The film ‘Free Willy’ was instantly loved by young audiences everywhere following its release in 1993.
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