Free Willy — Season 1, Episode 8: Shark Masters
Animation, Kids, Sci-Fi & Fantasy • 30 min • 1 season, 21 episodes • ★ 5.0/10
Episode synopsis
Misty Island is in turmoil: more and more sharks have been sighted recently, and they are even attacking people. Randolph, Marlene, and Jesse try to help, but only Jesse can truly make a difference. He manages to communicate with one of the sharks and discovers that Machine has stationed his submarine nearby. By attracting the sharks, he plans to drive the people out of the area so he can build his oil rigs without any disturbances. However, the unscrupulous villain hasn't accounted for Jesse and Willy.
About Free Willy
Free Willy is an animated television series, inspired by the 1993 film of the same name. This television series was produced by Warner Bros. Television, Regency Enterprises and the Canadian company Nelvana for Warner Bros. Studios. The show, which aired for one season on American Broadcasting Company, continues the adventures of the orca Willy and Jesse, the boy who freed him from captivity as shown in the film. In retrospect, the series also anticipates multiple plot elements of the film sequel, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, released the following summer. The overarching conflict is reminiscent of Moby-Dick: a powerful oil baron, known to the main characters only as a cyborg called "The Machine" until the final episodes, loses his arm and part of his face to Willy while committing an environmental atrocity and wants revenge upon "that rotten whale... and his boy".