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Edge Innovations created an animatronic double for Keiko, the killer whale that starred in
Free Willy. Since many of the scenes in the movie were too dangerous for
Keiko and/or the actors, our animatronic whale ended up being used in over 50% of the
whale scenes in the first Free Willy. And since Free Willy 2 and Free
Willy 3 were shot largely in the open sea, Keiko got to retire to the beautiful
Pacific Northwest while the workload was carried almost entirely by our animatronic whales
(a few scenes used wildlife footage). It's a credit to our engineers and artists
that Keiko's spirit and personality were present in all three movies, even though Keiko
himself appeared only in the first of the three.
What others say about our work in Free Willy:
 | "Walt Conti’s creations have the realistic look of
’Lost World’s’ dinos and considerably more emotional connection to the
audience." -- Leonard Klady, Variety |
| "How real were the fake Willys? Persuasive enough so that the real Willy
got the hots for them." -- Richard Corliss, Time |
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