The Free Willy Surprise — Michael Jackson

THE FACT

Michael's contribution to the 1993 family film Free Willy — the song Will You Be There, included over the closing credits — was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Grammy. He insisted it be released as a single only after the film's theatrical run, so as not to overshadow the movie's children's-film identity.

WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW

Will You Be There had actually been written and recorded for the Dangerous album in 1991 — it was the fifth track on the record — but had not been released as a single. When Free Willy producers came to Sony looking for a closing-credits song that would 'speak to the bond between a child and an animal', Quincy Jones suggested Will You Be There. Michael agreed but insisted on a clause: no single release until at least eight months after the film opened in theatres. Free Willy was released July 16, 1993, on a $20 million budget, and earned $77 million worldwide — partly thanks to the song's emotional payoff in the closing scene. Will You Be There was released as a single in November 1993 and won the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Song From a Movie, plus a Golden Globe nomination. Its closing spoken-word coda — 'In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, will you still care?' — was added by Michael in the studio at the suggestion of Andrae Crouch, the gospel choir leader who had also worked on Man in the Mirror. The orca whale used in Free Willy, Keiko, was eventually freed into Norwegian waters in 2002 thanks largely to public pressure tied to the film's legacy. Keiko died in 2003.

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THE MOMENT

Michael Jackson — Will You Be There (Free Willy Theme, 1993) — Originally a Dangerous album track — repurposed as the closing scene of Free Willy.

SOURCES

Will You Be There — Wikipedia ↗