I was too scared (and too young) to see Jaws on my own in the summer of '75 when it came out. And I didn’t have anyone to take me. And like I said…too scared. :)
But some kids at school had seen it, and they instantly became the cool kids because they were brave enough to see Jaws. So that next year in 3rd grade, that was me, the goofy 9 year old toting the Peter Benchley paperback of Jaws around from class to class. And yep, I read it, cover to cover.
So when Orca came out the next summer I was determined that I’d see this beast in the sea film, and thus by extension become one of the cool kids. And hoo-boy was it way different from the Disney cartoons I was used to.