Free Willy 3: The Rescue (1997)

Director:

Sam Pillsbury

Writers (WGA):

Keith Walker (characters)
John Mattson (written by)

Release Date:

8 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

A new friend. A new threat. A new adventure that will capture your heart.

Plot:

A teenage Jesse and old friend Randolph try to foil an illegal whaler threatening Willy and his pregnant mate.

Plot Keywords:

Whaler | Whale | Friend | Sushi | Harpoon

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jason James Richter	...	Jesse
August Schellenberg	...	Randolph Johnson
Annie Corley	...	Drew Halbert
Vincent Berry	...	Max Wesley
Patrick Kilpatrick	...	John Wesley
Tasha Simms	...	Mary Wesley
Peter LaCroix	...	Sanderson (as Peter Lacroix)
Stephen E. Miller	...	Dineen
Ian Tracey	...	Kron
Matthew Walker	...	Captain Drake
Roger R. Cross	...	1st Mate Stevens
Rick Burgess	...	Smiley
Roman Danylo	...	Pizza Kid
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Dobson	...	Coast Guard (uncredited)
Keiko	...	Willy (uncredited)

Directed by
Sam Pillsbury

Writing credits (WGA)
Keith Walker		(characters) (as Keith A. Walker)
John Mattson		(written by)

Produced by
Richard Donner	....	executive producer
Julie Durk	....	associate producer
Jennifer Dawn Gero	....	associate producer
Jennie Lew Tugend	....	producer
Mark Marshall	....	co-producer
Douglas C. Merrifield	....	co-producer
Arnon Milchan	....	executive producer
Lauren Shuler Donner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Cliff Eidelman

Cinematography by
Tobias A. Schliessler		(director of photography) (as Tobias Schliessler)

Film Editing by
Margaret Goodspeed		(as Margie Goodspeed)

Casting by
Lynne Carrow
Judy Taylor

Production Design by
Brent Thomas

Art Direction by
Douglasann Menchions

Set Decoration by
Louise Roper

Costume Design by
Maya Mani

Makeup Department
Sandra Davis	....	hair stylist: underwater unit
Gina Hole	....	makeup artist
Lisa Leonard	....	hair stylist
Julie McHaffie	....	hair stylist
Lisa Taylor Roberts	....	makeup artist (as Taylor Roberts)

Production Management
Warren Carr	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bob Dahlin	....	first assistant director
Catherine Kretz	....	third assistant director
Collin Leadlay	....	assistant director: insert unit
Karen Margolese	....	trainee assistant director (as Karen Margolis)
Kim H. Winther	....	second assistant director (as Kim Winther)

Art Department
R.D. 'Luther' Fairbairn	....	property master (as Luther Fairbairn)
Erich Hepnar	....	greensman (as Eric Hepnar)
Helen Jarvis	....	assistant art director
Philip Jean	....	construction foreman
Paul Jenkinson	....	lead dresser
Daphne Klebe	....	art department assistant
Wendy McAllister	....	illustrator
Jennifer Moore	....	assistant property master
Stephen Wright	....	construction coordinator
Margo Kaczynska McKenzie	....	paint coordinator (uncredited)
Dena Skalin	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Francesca Benedetti	....	assistant sound editor
Kelly Cole	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jonas Crawley	....	foley mixer
Jacqueline Cristianini	....	sound supervisor
Lisa Doyle	....	assistant sound editor
Real Gauvreau	....	sound editor
James Genn	....	assistant sound editor
Dean Giammarco	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sophie Hotte	....	sound editor
Sean Kelly	....	sound editor
James Kusan	....	boom operator
Sheena Macrae	....	sound editor
Bill Mellow	....	adr mixer
Sina Oroomchi	....	adr mixer
Iain Pattison	....	adr mixer
Rick Patton	....	production sound mixer
Paul A. Sharpe	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Paul Sharpe)
Paul A. Sharpe	....	sound supervisor (as Paul Sharpe)
Shane Shemko	....	foley artist
Cal Shumiatcher	....	additional sound editor
Steve Smith	....	additional sound editor
Issac Strozberg	....	sound editor (as Isaac 'The Scud' Strozberg)
Kevin Townshend	....	sound editor
Cam Wagner	....	foley artist
Steven Weakes	....	cable person
Dario DiSanto	....	foley assistant (uncredited)
Bill Hermans	....	second engineer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Zach Anderson	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Rey Aquino	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Lance Beard	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Ty Boyce	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Dave Caldwell	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Walt Conti	....	whale effects supervisor
Alex Contreras	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Manuel Contreras	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Kim Darren	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Stephanie Englert	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Robert Falck	....	special effects assistant (as Rob Falck)
Joss Geiduschek	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations (as Joss Geidusheck)
Jose Gonzales	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Paul Greenfield	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Salmon Harris	....	special effects assistant
Bob Hurst	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
David Knight	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Ingrid Larson	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Tony Lawson	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Tony Lazarowich	....	special effects coordinator
Jim Lovette	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Gabe Mackillop	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Alphonso Maldonado	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations (as Alfonso Maldonado)
Rudy Maldonado	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Rosana McHenry	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Jean McNary	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Russell Mead	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Kim Mortensen	....	special effects first assistant
Mike Pendergast	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Robin Petravic	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Scotty Pringle	....	special effects assistant (as Scott Pringle)
John Raff	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Rick Ray	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Gary Reyes	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Scott Riley	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Corie Robert	....	special effects assistant
Edward Roberts	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations (as Ed Roberts)
Ray Rodriguez	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Don Saxby	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Sam Scroggin	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Mark Terzich	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Jesse Thomas	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
John Titus	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Jeff Weintraub	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Dorian West	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
John Williams	....	animatronic whale creator: Edge Innovations
Gary Bridges	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)
Pieter Folkens	....	killer whales designer/sculptor (uncredited)
Barry Hebein	....	special effects assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Tom Brydon	....	digital artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
Ken Hayward	....	digital artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
James G. Hebb	....	3D artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures (as Jim Hebb)
Stephen Pepper	....	digital artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
Christine Petrov	....	digital artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
Gary Walker	....	digital artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
Lee Wilson	....	visual effects supervisor: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
Bruce Woloshyn	....	digital artist: Rainmaker Digital Pictures
Tom Archer	....	digital compositing artist (uncredited)
Jamie Hallett	....	optical cameraman (uncredited)
Keith Hamakawa	....	visual effects coordinator (uncredited)

Stunts
Dan Bradley	....	stunt coordinator
Lauro Chartrand	....	stunts
George Josef	....	stunts
Michael Langlois	....	stunts
David Mylrea	....	stunts
Scott Nicholson	....	stunts
Mike Nomad	....	stunt coordinator: underwater unit
Fred Perron	....	stunts
Ronald Robinson	....	stunts
Fiona Roeske	....	stunts (as F.E. Roeske)
John Sampson	....	stunts (as John D. Sampson)
Dawn Stofer-Rupp	....	stunt coordinator (as Dawn Stofer)
John Wardlow	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Randy Alderson	....	best boy electric: underwater unit
Jim Bach	....	video assist operator
Wayne Baker	....	first assistant camera: underwater unit
Fred Boyd	....	chief lighting technician
Anne Chu	....	second assistant camera: underwater unit
Richard Eagan	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Greg Fox	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Derek Grieves	....	dolly grip (as Derek Grieve)
Michael Guthrie	....	best boy grip: underwater unit
Shane Harvey	....	still photographer
Kim Heath	....	key grip: underwater unit
Pauline Heaton	....	underwater photographer: whale birth footage
Tim Hogan	....	key grip
Dennis Jones	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Rick Maddux	....	chief lighting technician: underwater unit
Stephen Maier	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Brian Pearson	....	director of photography: second unit
Bob Talbot	....	cinematographer: wildlife
Peter Tang	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
William Waring	....	camera operator (as Will Warring)
Ken Woznow	....	best boy grip

Casting Department
Lana Carson	....	casting assistant
Courtney Gross	....	casting assistant: Los Angeles
Wendy O'Brien	....	casting associate: Vancouver
Lynne Carrow	....	casting: Canada (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Grace Anderson	....	key costumer
Linda Lee Langdon	....	assistant costume designer (as Linda Langdon)
Debbie Winston	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Jordan Acomba	....	assistant editor
Sean Hubbert	....	assistant editor
Mark Lemmon	....	assistant editor
David Orr	....	color timer
Heather Persons	....	first assistant editor
Michael Smith	....	assistant editor
Bonni Devlin	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Bruce Botnick	....	music scoring mixer
Cliff Eidelman	....	conductor
Darrell Hall	....	music editor
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Patrick Russ	....	orchestrator
Janet York	....	music supervisor
Jacqueline Tager	....	assistant music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
John Franta	....	transportation co-captain
Darold Hadley	....	transportation co-captain
Scott Irvine	....	transportation coordinator
Ron James	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Helen Akerly	....	assistant production coordinator (as Helen Ackerly)
Tanja Balic	....	set assistant
Michele Barber	....	assistant production accountant
Shauna Beal	....	assistant: Mr. Milchan
Don Blackburn	....	set assistant
Mark Carter	....	set assistant
Jill Christensen	....	production coordinator
Candice Dickens	....	assistant production coordinator (as Candace Dickens)
Deborah Dimitroff	....	set assistant
David Falicki	....	medic: underwater unit
Julia Frittaion	....	unit publicist
Steve Garber	....	set assistant
Cathy Mickel Gibson	....	production accountant
Cy Grospe	....	set assistant (as Cyrillan Grospe)
Kirk Johns	....	location manager
Josée Kedzierski	....	office assistant (as Josee Kedzierski)
Ned W. Krumrey	....	craft service: underwater unit
Morgan Lewington	....	set assistant
David Richard Lewis	....	set assistant
Kathy Liska	....	assistant: Ms. Shuler Donner
Glen Lougheed	....	set assistant
Melanie Masson	....	assistant: Mr. Pillsbury
Sandra Matossi	....	production accountant: Canada
Patti McReynolds	....	craft service (as Patty McReynolds)
Patti McReynolds	....	first aid (as Patty McReynolds)
Richard Medhurst	....	craft service: underwater unit
Cynthia Neber	....	assistant: Mr. Donner (as Cynthia L. Neber)
Rozzana Ramos	....	assistant: Mr. Milchan
Steven E. Rudy	....	set assistant
Melisa Sánchez	....	script supervisor: underwater unit (as Melisa Sanchez)
David Schladweiler	....	staff assistant: Los Angeles
Lauren Shatzko	....	craft service
Lauren Shatzko	....	first aid
Don Steele	....	marine coordinator
James Svornich	....	marine coordinator: USA (as Jim Svornich)
David Tarris	....	assistant location manager (as Dave Tarris)
Lynne Taylor	....	assistant production coordinator
Matthew Vogel	....	assistant: Ms. Tugend
Susan Weir	....	script supervisor
Annie Wilkinson	....	studio teacher
Carol Bailey	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)
John Carron	....	playback coordinator (uncredited)
Neil McDaniel	....	marine operator (uncredited)

Thanks
Keith Walker	....	dedicatee (as Keith A. Walker)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Regency Enterprises (in association with)
• Donner/Shuler-Donner Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1997) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1997) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1997) (UK) (theatrical)
• Gemini Film (1997) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1997) (France) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (2001) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Bros. (1998) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Edge Innovations
• Rainmaker Digital Pictures

Other Companies

• S.L. Feldman & Associates  music supervision
• Varèse Sarabande  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Free Willy III (Australia)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements involving whale hunting, and for brief mild language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #35154) | South Korea:All | Philippines:G | Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Germany:o.Al. (w) | UK:U | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Part of the birth scene at the end of the movie included real footage from the birth of K'yosha, an orca born at Vancouver Aquarium to parents Bjossa and Finna, both of whom are also seen in the birth footage. (Finna also had a bent dorsal fin, allowing him to be used as "Willy".)

Quotes:

Drew: What are you doing?
Jesse: Making a call. Willy likes the sound of my harmonica playing. When he hears it, he knows it's me.
Drew: Oh, so you think your gonna play that sound on the hydrophone
Jesse: Uh huh.
Drew: And he's just gonna come running.
Jesse: Uh huh.
Drew: From miles away.
Jesse: Yeah.
Drew: Okay.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gray Matters (2006/I)

Well, it was OK

There's nothing really wrong w/this movie, but it's not as enchanting as the 1st 2 & if nothing else forces the story to an end. Jesse, 16, & Randolph are 1ce again siting whales as a job, & discover that Willy has a girlfriend, Nikki - who's pregnant! Meanwhile, 10-year-old Max gets to go "fishing" w/his father John, which is a big deal. But he falls overboard & is saved by Willy, & when he learns that John is actually an illegal whaler it upsets him - but he doesn't have the nerve to say so. Jesse's harmonica signal is discovered by John's crew, & when they realize it draws Willy they plan to exploit it to call whales. Jesse knows what danger Willy & his future family are in. When he meets Max, he pretends to be looking for work as a whaler, then reveals he knows John's work & wants to stop it, while showing Max Willy. Now Max tries to figure out whether or how to tell his father to stop hunting, while Jesse & Randolph try to get proof of his illegal actions. Really it's a good movie, but not as interesting as the others - the action is a bit slow. I take it as a warning sign that Max, not Jesse, is the 1st character shown. The friendship between Jesse & Willy is still there (of course) but not the similarity they have in families - in the 1st, they both miss theirs & share pain, in the 2nd Jesse learns his mom dies & he has a brother while Willy rejoins his family, but here Willy is about to become a father & Jesse definitely isn't. No girlfriend either - wonder why, he was interested in girls in the 2nd. The Greenwoods are mentioned 1ce but never shown, when Max describes a large family: "It's like any other family, you know", Jesse only replies "No, I don't." Except some music, Randolph's Indian culture, something I've always loved, is gone - the story isn't even told to Max, unlike Elvis. The asst, Drew, is pain & gives Jesse a hard time. This is good, but I prefer the others - I've never been a sequels fan.