Free Willy: Escape from Pirate s Cove is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by Will Geiger with the story by Cindy McCreery. It is a reboot as well as the final installment in the Free Willy film series. It stars Bindi Irwin, in her film debut, and Beau Bridges. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 23 March 2010 in the United States, and on 2 August 2010 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

It is the only film in the series not to feature any cast members from the first three installments, and the only film to be released direct-to-video. This is the first and only movie that Willy the killer whale in this film is not a real killer whale instead a combination of an electric robotic creature and CGI.

Plot

Australian child Kirra is sent to stay with her grandfather, Gus, in his run-down amusement park in Cape Town, South Africa, when her father is hospitalized for six weeks. Upon arrival, Kirra is met at the airport by Mansa, one of Gus s employees. Kirra is initially unhappy about leaving her father, but she eventually makes friends with a boy named Sifiso.

After a fierce storm, a baby male orca is separated from his pod, and becomes stranded in a lagoon on Gus s property. The next morning, Kirra discovers the animal and names him Willy. Willy proves to be a big hit amongst the park visitors, but the stress keeps him from eating. Kirra, concerned, persuades him to eat.

Gus s competitor Rolf Woods learns about the new attraction at Gus s park, and offers to buy Willy for $500,000, but no deal is made. After much perseverance, Kirra persuades Gus to call the marine rescue center for help in rehabilitating Willy back into the sea. However, Willy has under-developed echolocation skills and is unable to survive without his pod, thus making him unsuitable for rehabilitation. Not one to give up, Kirra does much research on how to train Willy to use his echolocation skill, despite being told that there is no known method to do so. She then tries and fails to feed Willy while he is blindfolded.

Rolf, desperate for Willy, hires two men and hatches a plot to poison Willy to induce Gus to sell the orca at a cheaper price, but Kirra spots the two at work and foils the plot. The henchmen flee, but Rolf denies all knowledge of the matter, though he offers to buy Willy again.

Kirra then camps out by the lagoon to calm Willy. Suddenly he wakes her up, pulls her into the water, and lets her ride him. In this way, Kirra and Willy become a double-act at the park, attracting many reporters and cameramen. The money the act earns then funds the fish needed for Willy s echolocation training. After many tries, Willy learns to use his echolocation, and manages to catch live fish swimming in the lagoon. In the meantime, Rolf returns to tempt Gus with a lower offer for Willy. Faced with a mounting food bill, Gus agrees to sell Willy to Rolf for $500,000, and insists the exchange take place after Kirra s departure.

Mansa makes an underwater recording device to record Willy s sounds, hoping to use them to locate Willy s pod, but several days attempts prove fruitless. One day, Sifiso invites Kirra to go to his Uncle Rudy s safari park to take her mind off Willy. On their way back, they see a billboard advertising Willy as a new attraction to Rolf s theme park. The pair hurry back, but find that Gus has already signed the agreement to sell Willy. Kirra is heartbroken, and makes Gus promise to make sure that Rolf takes good care of Willy. Later, when Kirra goes down to the lagoon, she sees Willy s pod. However, Gus does not believe her.

Kirra and Sifiso go to seek Uncle Rudy s help with their plan to put Willy back into the ocean. Unable to find him, the two steal a crane truck and drive it back to Pirate s Cove. Later, Gus agrees to help them return Willy to the ocean if his pod can be found. Kirra and Sifiso then head for the harbour with Willy, while Gus and Mansa stay to distract Rolf, who is already on his way. Eventually they find Willy s family, and Willy is reunited with them. Kirra jumps into the water to bid Willy farewell.

Kirra is next seen saying goodbye to Mansa and Sifiso before she leaves for the airport, promising to come back the next summer. As she gets on the plane, Gus wipes away a tear. Kirra smiles as she takes a final look on Cape Town. Meanwhile, Willy and his pod swim off into the ocean depths.

Cast

• Bindi Irwin as Kirra
• Beau Bridges as Gus Grisby
• Bongolethu Mbutuma as Mansa
• Siyabulela Ramba as Sifiso
• Stephen Jennings as Rolf V.D. Woods
• Matthew Roberts as Blikkie
• Heima Jaffa as Jayce
• Kevin Otto as Dr. Sam Cooper
• Louw Venter as Diff
• Darron Meyer as Doctor
• Getmore Sithole as Uncle Rudy
• Robert Irwin as Pirate Boy (uncredited)

Year	2010
ReleaseDate	2010-03-23
RuntimeMins	101
RuntimeStr	1h 41min
Plot	Kirra, a 12-year-old girl, discovers a baby Orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather’s rundown seaside amusement park. She embarks on a quest to lead Willy back to his pod.
Directors	Will Geiger
Writers	Keith Walker, Will Geiger, Cindy McCreery
Stars	Bindi Irwin, Beau Bridges, Bongo Mbutuma
Produced by	Thomas Becker,Vlokkie Gordon,Nina Heyns,Laura Lodin,Chris Miller,John Stainton,Jörg Westerkamp,David Wicht
Music by	Enis Rotthoff
Cinematography by	Robert Malpage
Film Editing by	Sabrina Plisco
Production Design by	Mike Berg
Art Direction by	Hamish Whitecross
Set Decoration by	Maria Labuschagne
Costume Design by	Darion Hing
Makeup Department	Carla Fourie,Zanmarie Hanekom,Lian van Wyk
Production Management	Vlokkie Gordon,Jan Kikumoto,Marisa Soneman,Lukasz Poninski
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Brett Hodgkinson,Hayley Ross,Leigh Tanchel,Corry Turner
Art Department	Jenn Baker,Patrick Baker,Kenneth Berg,Marco Guidetti,Daniel Krenzer,Maria Labuschagne,Etienne Maree,Patrick O’Connor,Chris Pechin,Mark Risk,Gordon Russell,Steven Saunders,Erica Van Den Raad,Jacobus Uys van der Merwe
Sound Department	Gregory M. Gerlich,Jeremy J. Gordon,Jenna Lange,Tim LeBlanc,Derek Mansvelt,Henau Marais,Steve Pederson,Stephen Webster
Special Effects by	Doug Hardy,Shirley Kirchmann,Adrian Smith,John Smith,Michael van Kesteren
Visual Effects by	Desmond Allan,Marc Bloch,Dave Clark,France Dreitser,Manny Dubon,David Dowie Dunn,Lani Ehrlich,Duncan Greenwood,William Harley,Gabriela Harris,Marc Horsfield,Matthew Kearney,Canda Kincses,Rory Mark,Shaun Marnewick,Neilan Naicker,Marco Raposo de Barbosa,Ash Ryan,Jason Slabber,Hilton Treves,Sean Ware,Chris Watts,George Webster,Chris B. Schnitzer
Stunts	Gary Green,Adam Horton
Camera and Electrical Department	Joe Alblas,James F. Blyth,Tarique Fredericks,Frank Gardiner,Frank Gardner,Kevin Groom,Regardt Maritz,Djuma Masudi,Jefri Meintjes,Margaret Muggleston,Sarel Pretorius,J.P. Ridgway,Brent Sauls,Dean Slotar,Hermie Venter,Oliver Wilter
Animation Department	Kirsten Beets,Richard Clark,Darrin Hofmeyr
Casting Department	Janine Holthuysen,Janet Meintjies,Christa Schamberger
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Marisa Toyas
Editorial Department	Karlo Babakhanian,Eunice Choi,Sue Gates,Michael Kaz,Ralph Paredes,Matthys Pretorius,Amber Taylor
Location Management	Katy Fyfe,Ulrich Riek
Music Department	Brian Keane,Andreas Lange,Jenny Leite,Chris McGeary,Jeff Toyne,Krzysztof Bielewicz,Piotr Witkowski,Sebastian Wlodarczyk
Script and Continuity Department	Carien Schutte
Transportation Department	Remy Djieutcheu,Grant Kilian,Ashley Olivier,Lester Sweetman
Additional Crew	Hilton Auffray,Matt Bierman,Lise-Marie Bothma,Eugene Cronje,Charles W. Francis,Jimmy Fraser,Andrew Hare,Claudia Kalindjian,Megan Korzynski,Joe Krenzer,Brent Kriel,Jon Kuyper,Eric Ladd,Valerie Legrain-Doussau,Jason Martin,Philane Ndaba,Allison Palmer,Simon Rhodes,Jayson Snyman,Brian Yonck
Genres	Adventure, Drama, Family
Companies	ApolloMovie Beteiligungs, Fiction Film & Television Limited, Film Afrika Worldwide
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG
ImDbRating	5
ImDbRatingVotes	2304
Keywords	animal character name in title,willy the whale character,slimehouse,tuba,father daughter relationship