Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Story

In a world of swash-buckling pirates, sword-fights and buried treasure, three unlikely heroes are thrown together. Pirate Jack Sparrow and blacksmith Will Turner travel across the sea to rescue the kidnapped Elizabeth Swann from the devious Captain Barbossa. But will they be able to end the curse of the Black Pearl?

Why we chose it

A swash-buckling pirate adventure which harks back to the pirate adventures of the Golden Age of Hollywood and which was frequently mentioned as a favourite by visitors to the museum. Children were often found re-enacting Pirates of the Caribbean in our Treasure Island themed pirate ship immersive space, part of the 26 Characters exhibition.

Where it came from

This film is inspired by the ride of the same name in the original Disneyland Park in California, which opened in 1967, three months after Walt Disney died. The song from the ride, Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me), written by George Bruns and Xavier Atencio, is featured in the film. The director, Gore Verbinski, wanted to bring back the pirate genre which he felt had disappeared since the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Where it went next

Many critics had expected the film to flop as previous pirate and ride-inspired films had done. But, despite being the first PG-13 Disney film, Pirates of the Caribbean became the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2003. It broke records for live action DVD and VHS editions sold in the first week. It was nominated for and won several awards; notably, Johnny Depp won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his leading male performance as Jack Sparrow.

Associated stories

Four sequels followed. The first two, Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End were released back-to-back in 2006 and 2007 and continued the story of Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. The next two, On Stranger Tides and Deadmen Tell No Tales more closely followed Jack Sparrow. None were quite as successful as the original. Gore Verbinski has also directed The Lone Ranger (2013) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013).