This argument for orca preservation is just flat exposition of the issue’s obvious elements—padded with enough wildlife photography and animatronic tricks to lure parents in search of something inoffensive. Marshaled by Jason James Richter, Willy’s defenders come up against a black-market whaler (Patrick Kilpatrick) who’s training his young son (Vincent Berry) in the family business. The father’s inevitable realization that he needs to find a new line of work evolves from a story so mechanistic in its condemnation of whale killers it’s likely to create sympathy for them. Written by John Mattson and directed by Sam Pillsbury.
