For Bindi Irwin, filming Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove without any animal co-stars was, well, weird. "We don't want to ruin the magic for the kids, but we didn't use a real whale," she says of the film's flippered star, a faux orca. "And I feel lost without animals!"

But on set, actress and animal activist Irwin wasn't lost at all. Filming in Cape Town, South Africa, for seven weeks last year, the 11-year-old Aussie worked with penguins, a giraffe and other exotic creatures. "It was so much fun," she says. "I told my mom I'd love to do a movie one day, and when Free Willy came along, I said 'yes' right away."