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Yo ho ho and 66 animatronic pirates! The Pirates of the Caribbean ride is one of my favorite Disneyland rides. And apparently, I'm not alone in this: over 300 million people have gone on the ride since it opened in 1967. But did they know that the ride was originally supposed to be a walk through with wax figures? Or that it was Walt Disney's favorite project? Or that political correctness led Disney to change some of the raunchy scenes?
For today's Neatorama Facts, let's take a look at some of the neatest facts about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland:
The Pirates of the Caribbean was Walt Disney's favorite ride. Actually, whatever ride Walt is working on was his favorite - and since he died during the construction of the ride, it will remain his favorite forever.
Originally, the Pirates of the Caribbean was supposed to be a walk through Rogue's Gallery with wax figures. Walt figured out that boats (which he did for the It's A Small World ride) and audio-animatronics (which he did for the 1964 New York World's Fair) would work better. But if you think about it: pirates and boat certainly go together!
Oh, and what did Walt do for the World's Fair? An animatronic of President Abraham Lincoln in an attraction called Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. After the Fair closed, the Disney pavilion was demolished and it was thought that the Lincolnbot was lost forever. Years later, someone discovered it packed in a crate - the animatronic president is now on display.
The
ride starts at Laffite's Landing, where you board a boat
after waiting in line for what seems to be three and a half days or so.
The Lafitte in Lafitte's Landing refers to Jean Lafitte (often spelled
Laffite), a real life pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico (and
subsequent American war hero) in the late 1700s/early 1800s. (Photo: John
Bellamy at pirates.wikia.com)
When you passed the Blue Bayou restaurant, look up at the second story
of the building. You may think that it's a facade, but the balcony actually
belongs to Club 33, a member-only restaurant that most
of us can't afford to join (it costs tens of thousands of dollars to join,
plus there's a ten year waiting list anyhow). But who says you can't see
the inside of Club 
33?
YouTube to the rescue!
The lyrics to Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me), the theme song of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride that you hear early on, was written by Disney Imagineers X Atencio and George Bruns. (X? How cool is that! Actually he was born "Xavier" but became X later on in life). It was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's sailor's work song (or sea shanty) "Dead Man's Chest" found in his 1883 novel Treasure Island. (Photo: Disney Legends)
Dead
Chest Island is actually an uninhabitable island close to the
island of Tortola in eastern Caribbean. The lyric "Fifteen men
on the Dead Man's Chest" and "Yo Ho Ho, and a bottle
of rum!" referred to the pirate Blackbeard's habit of leaving
crewmen on the deserted island, with only a bottle of rum, to die as punishment.
Back to the song for a minute. The Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) was sung by The Mellomen, a barbershop quartet that also sang many songs for Disney films. They also sang as backup singers for Elvis. The frontman of The Melloman, Thurl Ravenscroft, was the voice of Tony the Tiger, of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
OK, let's continue with the ride itself. Whether you love the old Pirates of the Caribbean or the new one with all the movie tie ins, you've got to admit, the floating head of Davy Jones on a waterfall of fog (fogfall?) is kind of cool. But who is Davy Jones? No, not the guy from the Monkees or the early stage name of David Bowie - Pirates of the Caribbean's character Davy Jones came from the old seaman's idiom "Davy Jones' Locker". It means the bottom of the sea: if someone was sent to Davy Jones' Locker, it means that he died at sea.
When the Pirates of the Caribbean first opened, Imagineers thought that the fake skeletons used were unconvincing. So they bought real human skeletons from UCLA Medical Center and used them as props. These have since been changed (phew!)
Remember the talking skull on the wall at the beginning of the ride? The original voice (now changed) was actually X Atencio's. Many other voices on the ride - like the auctioneer pirate, ship's captain and mayor - was provided by Paul Frees, who also did the Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion. But those were not Paul's most famous work: he was also the voice of Pillsbury Doughboy.
The Pooped Pirate before (L) and after (R).
Photos: Tellnotales.com
and FilmEdge (c)
Disney
The most famous pirate of the entire ride - besides the newly added Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones and Captain Barbossa for the movie tie-in - is the Pooped Pirate. Originally, the Pooped Pirate was shown boasting and waving a lady's lingerie while a woman peeked up from inside an oak barrel behind his back. But that was too raunchy for Disney - the Pooped Pirate was changed to the gluttonous pirate (the woman in the barrel was replaced by a cat) and then to a regular fat pirate holding the key and map (with Jack Sparrow in the barrel). X Atencio didn't like the change, and said that the ride was Pirates, not Boy Scouts of the Caribbean ...
If you love the new Jack Sparrow animatronics, check this YouTube clip where Johnny Depp met his robot counterpart:
When Pirates of the Caribbean first opened, people thought that real
flame was used for the burning town scene. Actually, the flickering flames
are created by illuminating strips of cellophane blowing through the air.
The fake flames are so convincing that the Anaheim Fire
Department requested that they be automatically turned off in case of
fire so firefighters can fight the real blaze and not waste time battling
artificial ones! (Source
Remember the jail scene where several characters were trying to get the key from the dog? The whistling guy in the middle is based on a janitor that used to work at what is now called Walt Disney Imagineering.
Just because the ride is dark, it doesn't mean that The Mouse doesn't see any hanky pankies goin' on. Like other rides in Disneyland, the Pirates of the Caribbean has many infrared security cameras - park operators can see what young lovers try to do. Sometimes they use the PA system to ... erhm, gently remind them that they're actually in public. Sometimes, if the deed is done, Disney cast members would applaud the romancin' riders who would then realize that they were being watched all along.
Purists: nostalgic about the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride? Here's a neat YouTube clip from the Wonderful World of Disney:
Now, I'm sure I missed a whole lot of neat Pirates of the Caribbean trivia - Do you have anything to add? Please do so in the comment section. (And if you like this Neatorama Fact feature, what should we do next? The Haunted Mansion? Indiana Jones Adventure? Space Mountain?)
More Disney Articles on Neatorama:
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As much as teen idols are adored and, well, idolized, not very many of them are able to sustain that kind of worship. Exceptions include Frank Sinatra and the Beatles, but the number of teen idols who faded into obscurity far outnumber the ones who have been wildly successful even after they outgrew the adolescent set. I’m looking at you, Jonas Brothers. Ahem. Here are six past teen idols and what they’re up to now.
First on our Teen Idols list has to be Bobby Sherman, mostly to not disappoint my mother. After graduating high school, Bobby was hired to be the house singer on Shindig!, a Hullaballoo-esque variety show. This T.V. exposure led to a role on Here Come the Brides. By 1969 he had his first gold record and by 1971 he had his very own T.V. show – Getting Together. Never mind that it only lasted one season. He continued various singing and and acting projects until 1988, when he turned his sights to the LAPD, where he became a specialist officer who trained recruits in first aid and CPR. In 1999, he started doing the same thing for the San Bernardino County, and now he’s a deputy sheriff there. He did the Teen Idol circuit with Davy Jones and Peter Noone for a while, but seems to be pretty involved with his police and CPR training work now. And if you think he has lost his squeaky-clean teen idol image, think again: he’s the proud creator of a 1:5 scale model of Disneyland’s main street, which resides in his backyard. Here he is singing his first big hit “Little Woman.” Check out that tie. Wow.
Photo from PajamasMedia.
Frankie Avalon owes his Teen Idol success to the trumpet. He was so skilled at the horn that he won a T.V. talent contest and started performing at private parties. At one such party, he happened to catch the eye of a talent scout who immediately got Frankie booked on Jackie Gleason’s variety show. Things snowballed after that, and after an appearance on Bandstand his idol status was cemented. He started doing movies – you probably know his Beach Blanket Bingo series with Annette Funicello – but he was also in a 1960 John Wayne flick called The Alamo. In fact, that’s where he met his wife. While filming the movie, he met Michael and Gretchen Wayne – John’s son and daughter-in-law. He ended up marrying Kathryn Diebel, Gretchen’s sister, which makes him a brother-in-law to John Wayne’s son. Nowadays, Frankie is still doing the Teen Idol circuit, performing with the likes of Bobby Rydell and Fabian at casinos and state fairs. He was also just on American Idol and pops up in movies from time to time (he played himself in Casino).
I think Christina Aguilera studied at the David Cassidy School of Teen Idol Denial. After starring on the wildly successful The Partridge Family from 1970-1974, David decided that he didn’t want to be known for the sugary pop music hits like “I Think I Love You.” He wanted to prove that he was a hard-core rocker, and to do so he gave a startling interview to Rolling Stone where he gave sordid details about his sex life and talked about how his illicit drug use. Despite his 19 albums – including 1998′s “David Cassidy’s Partridge Family Favorites” in which he apparently decided it was OK to go back to the old cash cow he had previously denounced – he is still largely known for his role as Keith Partridge. Since the early ’80s, David has been performing in various pre-Broadway, Broadway and Vegas shows. If you’ve been missing him, fear not: he will be starring with brothers Shaun (another Teen Idol) and Patrick in a sitcom for ABC Family called Ruby and the Rockits.
After the success of Philly and Jersey boys Frankie Avalon and Frank Sinatra, record execs started trolling the area for more kids to exploit, errr, make famous. The story goes that Fabian was sitting on the steps of his house crying because his dad had just been taken off in an ambulance when a record exec just driving by saw him sitting there and thought that his boyish good looks could be paydirt. He offered Fabian a chance on the spot and Fabian accepted because he knew his family would need the money with his dad being down and out. He was only 14 and didn’t have any singing experience to speak of, but execs back then were just as savvy as Disney is today about creating a complete mania over some kids with nominal talent. Fabian had a slew of hits until the payola scandal of the ’60s when he admitted that his records were doctored quite a bit to make his voice presentable. He tried to keep his fame with small parts in movies during the ’60s, and in 1973 he even posed for Playgirl (he was even Man of the Month). This was all to no avail, and he basically faded out of the scene for quite some time. He’s making the rounds again now and is also quite involved with the American Diabetes Association and holds a celebrity golf tournament for them every year. He also hosts “The Original Stars of Bandstand” in Branson, Missouri. Photo from FabianForte.net.
Peter Noone, AKA “Herman” from Herman’s Hermits actually grew up entertaining the masses: his first big break was on the British soap Coronation Street. He was only 15 when he became known as Herman and he’s been touring as his alter ego ever since. He left the group to pursue a solo career in 1971 but has never reached the same success he had with the band. Peter did guest appearances on a bunch of shows in the ’80s and early ’90s – Married With Children, Quantum Leap and My Two Dads among them. He also formed The Tremblers, a New Wave band that seems best forgotten. He still tours with “Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone” (he’s the only original member in that particular group) and looks to have a pretty dedicated fan base called the Noonatics. And I can’t say I blame them – he’s still a handsome dude and appears to have a pretty good sense of humor about himself, at least according to his blog posts on his website (questionable Photoshop skills notwithstanding). ‘Course, I’m probably biased… I grew up on Herman’s Hermits thanks to my dad and still enjoy a little “There’s a Kind of Hush” on my iPod from time to time. Photo from PeterNoone.com.
Call me crazy, but I feel like if a teen girl wanted Davy Jones to play her prom these days (ala The Brady Bunch), she could probably make it happen pretty easily. Ah, anyway, given his diminutive stature, I thought for sure this was a joke, but Davy says it himself – his original goal in life was to be a jockey. His dad sent him to train with Basil Foster, but after spending a little time with Davy, Foster decided he was better suited for show business. He hooked Davy up with an actor friend, and, like Peter Noone, Davy soon found himself acting on Coronation Street. He was so great in the role that he started acting in plays and even received a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of the Artful Dodger in Oliver! when he was just 16. He was signed to star in a sitcom about a boy band, which, of course, turned into a real band. Since the Monkees’ decline, he has returned to his Broadway roots and also – go figure – raises and trains racehorses. And he still tours, doing a gig or two a month (good people of Hershey, Pa., he’s headed your way!). Photo from DavyJones.net.
I know I didn’t get all of the big Teen Idols, so I’m curious to know who your big crushes were back in the day. I grew up in the era of N’SYNC and the Backstreet Boys but never got into them; my boy-band crushes tended more toward Paul McCartney and Jim Morrison. Share yours in the comments… the more embarrassing, the better!
