whale of a tale be basically a story about a kid who visit a marine park and form an attachment to a killer whale there . not much else happen . it very cheap look and totally inoffensive and even by 1970 standard . it play like an average episode of the wonderful world of walt disney . in fact the star and scott kolden and appear in many disney production and which seem odd a he an actor of little talent . what really make the film interesting be the appearance of william shatner who play a marine biologist at the park . the clothes he wear be enough to make watch the movie worthwhile . the box say that the film come out in 1976 but judge from the fashion wear by the character and i would say it be more like 1972. oh yes and shatner also have a totally forced romance with the boy mom ( naturally and kolden play a fatherless child ) whale of a tale be actually pretty funny if you can accept it a tongue in cheek . it may well have inspire free willy twenty year later . one wonder how shatner feel about it .