 By: Brianna Gerard |
| A vast expanse of moody blue waters reach out to the horizon like a hand groping for riches and jewels. The salty sea breeze whips through your hair and a Jolly Roger billows in the wind. You smile as you grip the helm, daydreaming about the hidden treasures and mountains of gold waiting to be discovered. Clunking along on a wooden leg, you bark at the crew to swab the deck or some such pirate jargon. The life of a pirate can be so glamorous; what’s not to love? Well, there’s the part about cursed treasure, greed resulting in death, shipwrecks, and drunken fights…but we’ll disregard those facts like those who crave a good adventure and find it riding Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland.
“Pirates” has been a favorite at the park since it opened on April 19, 1967. On that day, guests were delighted when pirates ran through the park, captured the Sailing Ship Columbia, and broke down the doors to Pirates with a battering ram. Park-goers then got in line to view the most elaborate display of Audio-Animatronics Disney had ever done. However, Walt had not originally planned Pirates of the Caribbean to be an actual ride… Rogues Gallery When construction for Pirates began in 1961, a huge basement was dug underneath New Orleans Square, where Walt Disney envisioned a walkthrough pirate wax museum. He dubbed it the “Rogues Gallery”. The gallery soon began to take form with the help of character designer and legendary Imagineer Marc Davis, and set designer Claude Coats. The team grew to include engineers such as Roger Broggie, Fred Joerger, and Wathel Rogers. Show designers Xavier (X) Atencio, Don Edgren, Yale Gracey, and Bill Martin also joined the bandwagon (Janzen 25). This wasn’t the only project Walt was involved in during this period. After the success of Walt’s first Audio Animatronics figure (a parrot) at the 1964 World’s Fair, WED (Walter Elias Disney) designers integrated enhanced Audio Animatronics in the wax figures to give them more personality and depth in the sculpted faces often styled after their creators. This change, the first of many, brought Animatronics designer and sculptor Blaine Gibson into the project. As the museum evolved, space grew shorter, and the walkthrough was exceeding its boundaries. This space crisis ultimately changed the course of the attraction from a museum to an actual ride. And to save room, it would be a water ride, built similarly to It’s a Small World. From Reality and Back Again When telling a story, authors tend to be pretty straightforward: they start with the beginning and end with, well, the end! Some might even throw in a flashback in the middle, to liven the up the novel. Walt and his Imagineers could have unfolded the tale of treasure and treachery in this simple manner, but when has Disney done anything ordinary? Being true creative leaders, the “layer of fantasy” concept was fashioned to unfurl the pirate tale. These layers, or transitions through scenes, are often unnoticed, but they are there to mold reality for the viewer in a realistic and flowing manner. Basically, the storyline of Pirates runs backwards in time, yet still managing to begin in the present. Yes, sounds confusing, but it all fits together like a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. The first phase shows the pirate skeletons as they will lay for eternity; unmoving, lifeless, limp. In the second phase, the skeletons are positioned in more lively activities, such as drinking or sitting in bed. Next come the real “flesh and blood” pirates parading around burning towns. Finally, the rider is brought back to the present with an added scene, pirates in the flesh lugging treasure turning into skeletons, at the end of the ride (while chugging up an anticlimactic hill). This going back in time, illusion of day turned night, and return to modern times deftly reveals the detailed journey of a pirate’s life in a way of storytelling totally unique to Disney. Stay tuned for the next installment of A Pirate’s Life For Me!!! Source: Janzen, Jack E. and Leon. "Pirates of the Caribbean...more gems from this Disney treasure." The E Ticket. Issue 32. 1999:page 25 |
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