Pirates of the Caribbean

From The Unofficial DisneyWiki

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the best-known attractions at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. It first opened at Disneyland in 1967, was the largest Audio-Animatronic project to date and was the last attraction of which Walt Disney was involved in the design.

[edit] The original ride

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

The ride begins amid glimmering fireflies during an evening abuzz with the croaking of bullfrogs. Daring adventurers board their boats at Lafitte's Landing, and are at once afloat in the heart of bayou country. Once past several rickety houseboats, the soft strumming of a banjo melody can be heard over the peaceful symphony of nature. But, then a more chilling sound becomes audible: the thundering of a waterfall, and the frightening echo of "Dead men tell no tales!"

After a hair-raising plunge into the depths of an underground grotto, guests behold the skeletal remains of an unfortunate band of pirates, guarding their loot and treasure with macabre delight.

Suddenly, cannonballs whistle overhead and explosions throw water into the air – a fierce battle between a marauding pirate galleon and a Caribbean fortress is in full swing. The village beyond is overrun with sinister pirates, looking for treasures to steal, wenches to auction, and rum to drink. Carefree, tipsy pirates succeed in ravaging the town and setting it aflame, filling the night air with an orange glow, while a rollicking tune echoes over the rooftops: "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!"

Your boat then takes you through a jail, where imprisoned pirates are doing their best to escape. There are sound of popping and crackling wood, and an orange and red glow can be seen all around. This can mean only one thing – the pirates have set fire to the town. Timbers are smoldering and cracking overhead as you sail through a storage room filled with gun powder, cannon balls and whiskey-filled, gun-shooting pirates.

The final shoot-out between the inebriated crew and captain of the pirate ship in a flaming ammunition warehouse threatens to demolish the entire village at any second. Somehow, you manage to slip by, undetected, and return to the sleepy bayou where you started your journey.

[edit] Changes

At one point in the ride, pirates were seen chasing women. The intent of the pirate must be inferred; many interpreted it as attempted rape. A 1997 modification of the story has a woman carrying a plate of food with her to suggest that the pirate is after the food, not her. A woman who occasionally peeked out from under the barrel she was hiding inside was replaced with a fish standing on it tail; the fish was later removed. The "pooped pirate" who had been chasing the woman and had managed to get hold of her shoe and part of her slip was changed to offer a turkey leg to passers by. A figure of Captain Jack Sparrow now peers out from inside the barrel. In addition, the original 1967 storyline has been restored and extra farm animals added around the Pooped Pirate removed. Also at the beginning of the ride you ride through smoke that has a projection of Davy Jones on it. Also there is a mild drop.

[edit] POTC: The Movie Franchise

In 2003, a film based on the ride was released: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as well as two sequels Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. A computer game (by Akella), loosely connected to the movie's plot, was also made. It has been announced that there will be a fourth movie in the franchise, scheduled to arrive in theatres in 2010 or 2011.

Ron Gilbert has often been quoted for having said that his inspiration for making Monkey Island came from the ride (this has since be refuted to 'merely' being a source of ambience [1]). The ride has left its mark however, the best example of this being the prison scene in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge with the key-carrying dog, who is named Walt after of course, Walt Disney.

[edit] Movie Tie-ins to the Attraction

The original Disneyland attraction reopened after a lengthy refurbishment on June 26, 2006. In addition to the restoration of the original chase scene story and the removal of figures added during the 1997 change, the attraction now boasts a new audio system, upgraded solid-state lighting, additional treasure and tie-ins with the two movies to date. Extremely realistic Audio-Animatronic figures of Captain Jack Sparrow appear in the dunking scene, the chase scene and in a new finale. Another realistic AA of Barbossa now captains the Wicked Wench in the fort scene and a digital Davy Jones from the latest movie now appears on a mist screen. The Disneyland attraction received the benefits of actual movie props from Dead Man's Chest including the actual Aztec treasure chest. Engineers intended to retheme the Wicked Wench into the Black Pearl, but permission was denied by producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The Magic Kingdom version has adiitional scenes as well, but not on the level of Disneyland's.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] POTC: The Online Game

On October 31st, 2007, Disney Interactive introduced an online multiplayer role playing video game based on the movie.

[edit] Specifications

[edit] Disneyland

Opening day - March 18, 1967
Ride time - 14.5 minutes
Capacity - 3400 guests per hour
Audio-Animatronics figures - 66 pirates; 57 animals and birds
Total amount of water - 750,000 gallons
Main lift pumps - Pump number one is rated at a maximum of 20,000 gallons per minute while Pump Number Two is rated at a maximum of 18,000 gallons per minute
First drop length - 52'
First drop angle - 21 degrees
Second drop length - 37'
Second drop angle - 21 degrees
Length of final lift back to Lafitte's Landing - 90'
Angle of final lift back to Lafitte's Landing - 16 degrees
Number of buildings - 2
Number of levels - 3 (Blue Bayou, upper caverns and main show in basement)
Maximum ceiling height - 40'

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Pirates of the Caribbean. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with DisneyWiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.