Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove
Encyclopedia
Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove is a 2010 direct-to-video
family film
and the fourth installment in the Free Willy
series. It stars Beau Bridges
and Bindi Irwin
. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray
on 23 March 2010 in the United States. It was released on August 2 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Unlike the last films, this film isn't connected in any way to the first three movies and is considered to be a reboot of the series.
) is sent to stay with her maternal grandfather Gus (Beau Bridges
), who operates a run-down amusement park by the sea front in Cape Town
, South Africa. Upon arrival, Gus is playing poker while Kirra is met at the airport by Mansa, one of her grandpa's employees. Kirra is initially unhappy about her new home, an old house designed like a pirate ship attached to the amusement park, but she makes friends with a boy called Silfiso. Gus informed Kirra of how he came to end up at the amusement park before the two go on a bike ride.
During a fierce storm, a baby male orca becomes separated from his pod (family), and stranded in the lagoon on Gus' property. The next morning, Kirra discovers the animal. Kirra named the orca Willy, who proves to be a big hit. However, Kirra is concerned that Willy is being over-exposed and not eating. Gus sets Kirra and Silfiso to work in the park, during which time Silfiso and Kirra get on well together. One day, Kirra goes out while her grandpa is asleep and talks to Willy about her parents, before she finally manages to get Willy to eat a fish.
Gus' competitor Rolf Woods learns about the new attraction at Gus' park, and offers to buy Willy; the sum of $500,000 is mentioned, but no deal is made. After much perseverance, Kirra persuades Gus to call the marine rescue centre, and it is discovered that the animal had under-developed echolocation
skills and needed his pod, meaning that he would eventually starve and would die if he was returned to the ocean. Kirra does much researching; she and Silfiso make several attempts to feed Willy but fail. One evening, Gus reveals how Kirra's mother, after going to college and meeting her father, returned to South Africa and gave Gus money to buy the park, which he lost mostly through gambling. Gus also revealed that he was both too ashamed and broke to go to his daughter's funeral when she died. The following day, Kirra tries again to feed Willy, and this time, she succeeds and even manages to stroke Willy.
Rolf hatches a plot to get the financially distressed Gus to sell Willy at a cheaper price. Rolf hires two men to make Willy sick by feeding Willy fish that have been in anti-freeze; he orders them to inject Willy with anti-freeze if he refuses the fish. The two men sneak into the park by night, but their splashing and shouting wake up Kirra, who comes down to the lagoon to confront the intruders. During the commotion, Gus arrives; Willy bites one of the hired hands on the backside, and the two men are chased off. Gus later goes around to Rolf’s house and angrily accuses him of sending the men to try to poison Willy. Rolf denies it but keeps offering to buy Willy.
Kirra camps out by the lagoon to keep Willy calm after the events of the previous night. Willy wakes her up, and Kirra assumes he wanted feeding. He refuses a fish, and Kirra strokes him, but then Willy pulls her into the water and lets her ride him. Kirra and Willy become a double-act at the park, attracting reporters and cameramen. After the show, Gus gives Kirra a bucket of live fish which she used to help develop Willy’s echolocation. Kirra puts a blindflold on Willy while Silfiso throws the fish into the water, hoping that Willy would start using his sonar to find the fish. After a while, Willy manages to learn to use his echolocation, and eats live fish put into the lagoon by Silfiso. In the meantime, Rolf returns to tempt Gus with a lower offer for Willy. Faced with a mounting orca food bill, Gus agrees to sell Willy to Rolf. Gus holds out and gets the originally mentioned half-million, but insists exchange would have to take place ten days later, after Kirra's departure.
Mansa has made an underwater recording device to record Willy’s sounds, hoping to use the sounds to allow his pod to locate him. After recording Willy’s sounds, Silfiso, Kirra, and Mansa work for days, but without any results. Silfiso invites Kirra to go on a bike ride to meet his Uncle Rudy, who is a ranger. On their way back, they see a billboard for Rolf’s amusement park, advertising Willy as a new attraction. The pair hurries back to Gus’s amusement park, but not before Gus has signed the agreement selling Willy to Rolf. Kirra is heartbroken, but makes Gus promise her to make sure that Rolf takes good care of Willy. Later, when Kirra goes down to the lagoon to tell Willy that she is leaving for home, she sees Willy’s pod. The pod has gone by the time Gus arrives; a skeptical Gus said she had perhaps imagined it.
While Gus has gone out, Kirra and Silfiso go to see Uncle Rudy with a plan to put Willy back into the ocean. However, he is not around, and the two children manage to steal a crane truck and return to the amusement park. Back at the park, Gus agrees to help them get Willy back into the ocean if his pod can be found. With Mansa’s help, the four of them get Willy onto the truck. Kirra and Silfiso head for the harbour with Willy, while Gus and Mansa stay to distract Rolf, who they know is on his way over. Eventually they find Willy's family, because when Kirra goes to get more water, an orca jumps out the water. Willy is lowered back into the water and is joined by Kirra, who jumps in to say goodbye.
At the day of Kirra's departure, she says goodbye to Mansa and Silfiso and at the airport, and asks Gus if she can come back next summer. As she gets on the plane, Gus wipes away a tear. Kirra smiles as she takes a final look on Cape Town while in the ocean below, Willy and his pod swim off into the depths.
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
family film
Family film
A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...
and the fourth installment in the Free Willy
Free Willy
Free Willy is a 1993 family film directed by Simon Wincer, and released by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label. The film stars Jason James Richter as a young boy who befriends an orca whale, named "Willy."...
series. It stars Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
and Bindi Irwin
Bindi Irwin
Bindi Sue Irwin is the daughter of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin. Bindi is a child celebrity who has tried her hand at acting, singing, songwriting, dancing, and rapping...
. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
on 23 March 2010 in the United States. It was released on August 2 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Unlike the last films, this film isn't connected in any way to the first three movies and is considered to be a reboot of the series.
Plot
Dr. Sam Cooper is a veterinarian in Australia. After Sam, a widower, is hospitalized with a broken arm and leg for six weeks, his daughter Kirra (Bindi IrwinBindi Irwin
Bindi Sue Irwin is the daughter of The Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin. Bindi is a child celebrity who has tried her hand at acting, singing, songwriting, dancing, and rapping...
) is sent to stay with her maternal grandfather Gus (Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
), who operates a run-down amusement park by the sea front in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa. Upon arrival, Gus is playing poker while Kirra is met at the airport by Mansa, one of her grandpa's employees. Kirra is initially unhappy about her new home, an old house designed like a pirate ship attached to the amusement park, but she makes friends with a boy called Silfiso. Gus informed Kirra of how he came to end up at the amusement park before the two go on a bike ride.
During a fierce storm, a baby male orca becomes separated from his pod (family), and stranded in the lagoon on Gus' property. The next morning, Kirra discovers the animal. Kirra named the orca Willy, who proves to be a big hit. However, Kirra is concerned that Willy is being over-exposed and not eating. Gus sets Kirra and Silfiso to work in the park, during which time Silfiso and Kirra get on well together. One day, Kirra goes out while her grandpa is asleep and talks to Willy about her parents, before she finally manages to get Willy to eat a fish.
Gus' competitor Rolf Woods learns about the new attraction at Gus' park, and offers to buy Willy; the sum of $500,000 is mentioned, but no deal is made. After much perseverance, Kirra persuades Gus to call the marine rescue centre, and it is discovered that the animal had under-developed echolocation
Echolocation
Echolocation may refer to:* Acoustic location, the general use of sound to locate objects* Animal echolocation, non-human animals emitting sound waves and listening to the echo in order to locate objects or navigate...
skills and needed his pod, meaning that he would eventually starve and would die if he was returned to the ocean. Kirra does much researching; she and Silfiso make several attempts to feed Willy but fail. One evening, Gus reveals how Kirra's mother, after going to college and meeting her father, returned to South Africa and gave Gus money to buy the park, which he lost mostly through gambling. Gus also revealed that he was both too ashamed and broke to go to his daughter's funeral when she died. The following day, Kirra tries again to feed Willy, and this time, she succeeds and even manages to stroke Willy.
Rolf hatches a plot to get the financially distressed Gus to sell Willy at a cheaper price. Rolf hires two men to make Willy sick by feeding Willy fish that have been in anti-freeze; he orders them to inject Willy with anti-freeze if he refuses the fish. The two men sneak into the park by night, but their splashing and shouting wake up Kirra, who comes down to the lagoon to confront the intruders. During the commotion, Gus arrives; Willy bites one of the hired hands on the backside, and the two men are chased off. Gus later goes around to Rolf’s house and angrily accuses him of sending the men to try to poison Willy. Rolf denies it but keeps offering to buy Willy.
Kirra camps out by the lagoon to keep Willy calm after the events of the previous night. Willy wakes her up, and Kirra assumes he wanted feeding. He refuses a fish, and Kirra strokes him, but then Willy pulls her into the water and lets her ride him. Kirra and Willy become a double-act at the park, attracting reporters and cameramen. After the show, Gus gives Kirra a bucket of live fish which she used to help develop Willy’s echolocation. Kirra puts a blindflold on Willy while Silfiso throws the fish into the water, hoping that Willy would start using his sonar to find the fish. After a while, Willy manages to learn to use his echolocation, and eats live fish put into the lagoon by Silfiso. In the meantime, Rolf returns to tempt Gus with a lower offer for Willy. Faced with a mounting orca food bill, Gus agrees to sell Willy to Rolf. Gus holds out and gets the originally mentioned half-million, but insists exchange would have to take place ten days later, after Kirra's departure.
Mansa has made an underwater recording device to record Willy’s sounds, hoping to use the sounds to allow his pod to locate him. After recording Willy’s sounds, Silfiso, Kirra, and Mansa work for days, but without any results. Silfiso invites Kirra to go on a bike ride to meet his Uncle Rudy, who is a ranger. On their way back, they see a billboard for Rolf’s amusement park, advertising Willy as a new attraction. The pair hurries back to Gus’s amusement park, but not before Gus has signed the agreement selling Willy to Rolf. Kirra is heartbroken, but makes Gus promise her to make sure that Rolf takes good care of Willy. Later, when Kirra goes down to the lagoon to tell Willy that she is leaving for home, she sees Willy’s pod. The pod has gone by the time Gus arrives; a skeptical Gus said she had perhaps imagined it.
While Gus has gone out, Kirra and Silfiso go to see Uncle Rudy with a plan to put Willy back into the ocean. However, he is not around, and the two children manage to steal a crane truck and return to the amusement park. Back at the park, Gus agrees to help them get Willy back into the ocean if his pod can be found. With Mansa’s help, the four of them get Willy onto the truck. Kirra and Silfiso head for the harbour with Willy, while Gus and Mansa stay to distract Rolf, who they know is on his way over. Eventually they find Willy's family, because when Kirra goes to get more water, an orca jumps out the water. Willy is lowered back into the water and is joined by Kirra, who jumps in to say goodbye.
At the day of Kirra's departure, she says goodbye to Mansa and Silfiso and at the airport, and asks Gus if she can come back next summer. As she gets on the plane, Gus wipes away a tear. Kirra smiles as she takes a final look on Cape Town while in the ocean below, Willy and his pod swim off into the depths.