'The Ballad of Keiko' Music Video | The Good Whale by Serial Productions

After the movie “Free Willy” became a hit, word got out that the star of the film, a killer whale named Keiko, was sick and living in a tiny pool at a Mexican amusement park. Fans were outraged and pleaded for his release. “The Good Whale” tells the story of the wildly ambitious science experiment to return Keiko to the ocean — while the world watched. An epic tale that starts in Mexico and ends in Norway, the six-episode series follows Keiko as he’s transported from country to country, each time landing in the hands of well-intentioned people who believe they know what’s best for him – people who still disagree, decades later, about whether they did the right thing.

In Episode 5 of “The Good Whale,” Keiko disappears in Icelandic waters, swimming east for four weeks. Unobserved, with no human contact. Since nobody knows what happened to Keiko during that mysterious time, we decided to recreate it — as a musical. From Keiko’s perspective, naturally.

Listen to "The Good Whale" here

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CREDITS

Song:

Primary Artist: Jordan Fisher

Feat. Artists: Quentin Earl Darrington, Brian d’Arcy James, Paul Alexander Nolan

Writers: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul & Mark Sonnenblick

Producers: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Ian Eisendrath, August Eriksmoen

Co-Producers: Daniel Alarcón, Ira Glass, Jen Guerra

Recording Engineer & Mixer: Derik Lee

Recorded at Power Station at Berklee, New York

Mastered by Oscar Zambrano, Zampol Productions

Video:

Directors: Carlos López Estrada and Anna Moskowitz

Producer: Elle Keseley

Executive Producers: Valerie Bush, Alissa Shipp, Jen Guerra, and Ndeye Thioubou

Production Company: Antigravity Academy

Directors of Photography: Gabe Knoos-Newton and Joshua Echevarria

Puppets by Viva La Puppet

Puppet Captain: Michelle Zamora

Editor: Maky Rupert

VFX: Justin Nguyen

Puppeteers: Audrey Densmore and Chris de la Cruz

Puppet Fabricators: Michelle Zamora, Audrey Densmore, and Gabriella Padilla

Colorist: Elliott Powell

1st AC: Maceo Brinkerhoff

Gaffer: Monty Sloan

Key Grip: Austin Speakman

Set Painter: Lily Kachikis

2nd Unit Gaffer: Garland Berenzy

2nd Unit Swing: Jake Shapiro