Oops! Somali Pirates Attacked French Navy Ship
Bad idea: being a Somali pirate and attacking …
Really bad idea: … in the middle of the night …
Neatorama-worthy: a ship that turns out to be a French navy ship!
Admiral Prazuck told French TV station La Chaine Info the pirates seemed to be surprised that the navy ship fought back.
"Once they realised they were facing a ship that was responding and was heading towards them, they stopped shooting and attempted to flee," he said.
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Neatorama Facts: Pirates of the Caribbean
Photo: Ack Ook
[Flickr]
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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Luxury Russian Cruise Hunts Somali Pirates
Perhaps this is the way to deal with Somali pirates, and get a little R&R at the same time: a Russian luxury cruise line is offering wealthy customers the chance to hunt pirates!
Wealthy punters pay £3,500 per day to patrol the most dangerous waters in the world hoping to be attacked by raiders.
When attacked, they retaliate with grenade launchers, machine guns and rocket launchers, reports Austrian business paper Wirtschaftsblatt.
Passengers, who can pay an extra £5 a day for an AK-47 machine gun and £7 for 100 rounds of ammo, are also protected by a squad of ex special forces troops.
Update 6/26/09 – It’s a hoax, though I think the proposed (morbid and not to mention unethical) solution is still a matter of interesting debate – Thanks rb!
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Blackbeard Relics Found
A ship discovered off the coast of North Carolina in 1997 has been identified by experts as the Queen Anne’s Revenge, a ship used by the pirate Blackbeard. The ship was originally named Le Concorde before the pirate seized it from its French crew in 1717. Artifacts, such as this apothecary weight featuring two fleurs-de-lis, helped to identify the ship as Blackbeard’s.
Le Concorde’s surgeon, who was forced to serve briefly in Blackbeard’s crew, may have owned the weights, designed for pharmaceuticals. Pirates could have also used the weights to measure gold dust, experts say.
See more pictures at National Geographic. Link
(image credit: Wendy M. Welsh, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources)
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