Born to Be Wild

Born to Be Wild is a 1995 American family comedy film released by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. Plot 14-year-old Rick Heller is a juvenile delinquent who continues to get himself into trouble. To keep him out of mischief, his mother, Margaret, puts him to work cleaning the cage of a female western lowland gorilla named Katie. Margaret is teaching Katie to communicate through the use of sign language. When the owner of the gorilla, Gus Charnley, takes her away to become a flea market freak, Rick realizes he loves Katie and goes to rescue her to take her on an adventurous journey that gets her out of the country. In the end Rick found a home for Katie in the mountains and they say goodbye to each other and Katie makes a family of her own. Cast Wil Horneff as Rick Heller Helen Shaver as Margaret Heller John C. McGinley as Max Carr Peter Boyle as Gus Charnley Jean Marie Barnwell as Lacey Carr Marvin J. McIntyre as Bob Gregory Itzin as Walter Mallinson Titus Welliver as Sergeant Markle Thomas F. Wilson as Det. Lou Greenberg (as Tom Wilson) Alan Ruck as Dan Woodley John Procaccino as Ed Price Obba Babatundé as Interpreter David Wingert as Gary James John Pleshette as Donald Carr Janet Carroll as Judge Billings Talia Paul as Gorilla Team Reception Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle said the animatronic gorilla looked phony, but concluded "The film has its moments of nutty fun" and "it also has a couple of touching scenes—if you can get beyond that bogus ape look." The Washington Post critic Rita Kempley called it "a heart-yanking family yarn that resembles a simian adaptation of Nell" and also compared the movie to Free Willy.