What Happened to Keiko the Whale? New Podcast Explores the Journey to SaveFree Willy'sOrca Star

Mar. 15, 2025

Imagery for “The Good Whale” podcast.Photo:Serial Productions

Serial Productions

Serial Productions is ready to share a whale of a tale.

PEOPLE has an exclusive first listen of the trailer forThe Good Whale, which launches on Nov. 14. The podcast follows the real-life fight to release the orca actor who played the titular whale in the1993 filmFree Willy.

The Good Whale Trailer

Free Willyis a family drama about an orphan, Jesse, who befriends a young killer whale, Willy, who was separated from his pod and placed in captivity. The film ends with Jesse leading Willy to freedom so the animal can rejoin his family.

According to a release fromThe Good Whale,afterFree Willybecame an unexpected hit, fans learned the orca who played Willy in the movie — a killed whale named Keiko — was ill and living in a pool at an amusement park. The revelations caused an uproar that led Warner Bros, the studio behindFree Willy, to seek a way to release the animal into the wild.

Poster for the 1993 movie “Free Willy”.The Legacy Collection/THA/Shutterstock

The Legacy Collection/THA/Shutterstock

What happened to Keiko the whale?

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“There is a lot of genre-bending going on inThe Good Whale,” Julie Snyder, the executive editor of Serial Productions, said in a statement about the upcoming podcast. “Because Daniel Alarcón is a novelist and a reporter, the podcast is a literary campfire epic, a scientific exploration, and then – in a bit of a left turn – it’s got a bit of Broadway musical thrown in, too. It’s one of the most inventive stories I’ve ever heard.”

“The Good Whale” podcast image.Serial Productions

Where isThe Good Whalepodcast available?

The Good Whalelaunches on Nov. 14, wherever podcasts are available and on the NYT Audio app. New York Times All Access and Audio subscribers will get exclusive early access to the entire series on that date. All other listeners will get access to the first two episodes of the podcast on Nov. 14, with subsequent episodes released weekly.

On Nov. 19, a Spanish-language version of the first episode will also be available onRadio Ambulante.

source: people.com