No fanfare for the 50th anniversary of Pirates

[Curious Constance]

Why is everyone acting like they missed the anniversary and did nothing to celebrate it when it's not until 3-18-17?

I bet they do more to celebrate the anniversary closer to when the new movie comes out. Hype the anniversary at the same time you're hyping the new movie. Kill 2 birds with one stone kind of thing.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I wouldn't expect anything beyond some new merch. And even then, we're getting pretty close with no merch previews.

 

[mickEblu]

I wouldn't expect anything beyond some new merch. And even then, we're getting pretty close with no merch previews.

So no life size Auctioneer replica?

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

So no life size Auctioneer replica?

Ack, that would be so creepy

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The best piece of POTC merchandise ever produced was last year. A little PVC figure of the redhead based on Marc Davis concept art. It came with some other figures, but the only other good one was the auctioneer.

 

[Stevek]

I'm guessing there will be some basic merchandise and celebratory buttons. Still some time to announce something...just not a lot of time.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

I can't help but get depressed they didn't take this opportunity and celebrate the 50th with a nostalgic marketing opportunity; and revert everything back to the way it once was before all the changes (and additions) that occurred from the movie tie-in and political correctness. We should all be in agreement the movie tie-in was nothing more then marketing to promote the franchise and sell it's merchandise, and if they are going to be all 'politically correct' to satisfy a few people that have no sense in humor and take everything far too seriously; they'd really need to change the entire attraction; which consists of murderers, rapists, thieves, etc.

Sure, because, you know, we really want to highlight rape and murder in a family park.

Look, this has been a debate at WED/WDI and DL management from the beginning of planning and designing Pirates. There is an inherent conflict in trying to create a Pirates attraction. The arc of portrayal in TV and movies over the past 50 years has gone from mostly happy-go-lucky rogues with parrots and eye patches to much darker, more violent themes. We spend most of our coverage of PotC in Shanghai on the advanced technology and the focus on the movie franchise. What we ignore is the sensibility for the target audience--a country where modern day piracy is altogether real. In Hong Kong they didn't even try!

PotC at Disneyland is my all-time favorite theme park ride. I consider her to be the great lady of the attraction universe. But there are many layers to this problem. Just about every funny gag has a dark side. Dunking the mayor till he spews water--view this in the age of waterboarding. Auctioning women? Chasing women with the implication of rape? Burning down people's homes and livelihood? Sure, we love the hat guy who will never make it into that boat. But there would be children made homeless.

Do not call this political correctness. This is about a premier family entertainment company grappling with changing mores and cultural norms. It's a theme park ride. It's not real. But societal changes have made parts of the original attraction less G-rated. This is not the only thing from Disneyland's history that is cringeworthy. I have watched the Disney People and Places documentary Disneyland U.S.A. and the narrator's comments about Native Americans are very discomforting. In the early days of N.O. Sq. there were African-American boys (and by "boys" I mean under the age of puberty) tap dancing on the side of Royal Street and they were specifically cast by ethnicity. Today you have Frozen at the Hyperion with blind casting. Today, the image of the traditional Aunt Jemima "Mammy" character is problematic. Yet the Jemima greeter at the Pancake House (now Riverbelle) was beloved and the lady who played her was reportedly devastated when the sponsorship ended and she was laid off, claiming it was the best job she ever had.

This stuff has many facets and layers. But it's not at all simple. The company has tried to keep Pirates current and palatable to today's visitors. They have an investment in this evolving franchise and have chosen to try and capitalize on it. I don't agree 100% with all of the changes. But I understand where they are coming from and I like parts of it and am generally OK with all of it. YMMV.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Aren't we getting a new Auctioneer AA?

 

[thomas998]

I was told they'd have a Kiera Knightley animatronic shifting her cargo and showing us her "larboard side"

Given her anorexic figure if she turns sideways she'll be invisible.

 

[JD2000]

Sure, because, you know, we really want to highlight rape and murder in a family park.

Look, this has been a debate at WED/WDI and DL management from the beginning of planning and designing Pirates. There is an inherent conflict in trying to create a Pirates attraction. The arc of portrayal in TV and movies over the past 50 years has gone from mostly happy-go-lucky rogues with parrots and eye patches to much darker, more violent themes. We spend most of our coverage of PotC in Shanghai on the advanced technology and the focus on the movie franchise. What we ignore is the sensibility for the target audience--a country where modern day piracy is altogether real. In Hong Kong they didn't even try!

PotC at Disneyland is my all-time favorite theme park ride. I consider her to be the great lady of the attraction universe. But there are many layers to this problem. Just about every funny gag has a dark side. Dunking the mayor till he spews water--view this in the age of waterboarding. Auctioning women? Chasing women with the implication of rape? Burning down people's homes and livelihood? Sure, we love the hat guy who will never make it into that boat. But there would be children made homeless.

Do not call this political correctness. This is about a premier family entertainment company grappling with changing mores and cultural norms. It's a theme park ride. It's not real. But societal changes have made parts of the original attraction less G-rated. This is not the only thing from Disneyland's history that is cringeworthy. I have watched the Disney People and Places documentary Disneyland U.S.A. and the narrator's comments about Native Americans are very discomforting. In the early days of N.O. Sq. there were African-American boys (and by "boys" I mean under the age of puberty) tap dancing on the side of Royal Street and they were specifically cast by ethnicity. Today you have Frozen at the Hyperion with blind casting. Today, the image of the traditional Aunt Jemima "Mammy" character is problematic. Yet the Jemima greeter at the Pancake House (now Riverbelle) was beloved and the lady who played her was reportedly devastated when the sponsorship ended and she was laid off, claiming it was the best job she ever had.

This stuff has many facets and layers. But it's not at all simple. The company has tried to keep Pirates current and palatable to today's visitors. They have an investment in this evolving franchise and have chosen to try and capitalize on it. I don't agree 100% with all of the changes. But I understand where they are coming from and I like parts of it and am generally OK with all of it. YMMV.

I don't know. We could be misunderstanding each other or it may just be a difference of opinion.

But didn't you only help to show just how many things people could be offended by; and they'd actually need to demolish the attraction if to satisfy everyone who is overly sensitive; why change one or two potentially offensive things and not everything? Is it not better to acknowledge things and learn from them; instead of sweeping them under the rug as if they never existed?

And is it right to tarnish a beloved, original attraction to capitalize on a movie based upon it; and then everything changed be half-baked?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

There are many of us who rightfully point out that the movie changes were mostly poorly implemented. WDW got it far worse, of course. It makes you wonder who's making these decisions and why they're not being fired when the entire elaborate original ending of the ride with a bunch of AAs is replaced by a single character in a boring scene where the boats all get backed up and having nothing to see anymore.

 

[dweezil78]

There are many of us who rightfully point out that the movie changes were mostly poorly implemented. WDW got it far worse, of course. It makes you wonder who's making these decisions and why they're not being fired when the entire elaborate original ending of the ride with a bunch of AAs is replaced by a single character in a boring scene where the boats all get backed up and having nothing to see anymore.

Which original ending are you talking about -- DLs or WDWs? I don't recall a bunch of AAs in either ending. There were the two dudes sent over from World of Motion for a short while trying to pull the treasure up the lift hill in DL, is what what you meant?

Edit: Ah -- nevermind, I see you mean WDW. Yeah, they botched that last scene for sure. Had totally forgotten how much better that was, it's been so long already.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Sure, because, you know, we really want to highlight rape and murder in a family park.

Look, this has been a debate at WED/WDI and DL management from the beginning of planning and designing Pirates. There is an inherent conflict in trying to create a Pirates attraction. The arc of portrayal in TV and movies over the past 50 years has gone from mostly happy-go-lucky rogues with parrots and eye patches to much darker, more violent themes. We spend most of our coverage of PotC in Shanghai on the advanced technology and the focus on the movie franchise. What we ignore is the sensibility for the target audience--a country where modern day piracy is altogether real. In Hong Kong they didn't even try!

PotC at Disneyland is my all-time favorite theme park ride. I consider her to be the great lady of the attraction universe. But there are many layers to this problem. Just about every funny gag has a dark side. Dunking the mayor till he spews water--view this in the age of waterboarding. Auctioning women? Chasing women with the implication of rape? Burning down people's homes and livelihood? Sure, we love the hat guy who will never make it into that boat. But there would be children made homeless.

Do not call this political correctness. This is about a premier family entertainment company grappling with changing mores and cultural norms. It's a theme park ride. It's not real. But societal changes have made parts of the original attraction less G-rated. This is not the only thing from Disneyland's history that is cringeworthy. I have watched the Disney People and Places documentary Disneyland U.S.A. and the narrator's comments about Native Americans are very discomforting. In the early days of N.O. Sq. there were African-American boys (and by "boys" I mean under the age of puberty) tap dancing on the side of Royal Street and they were specifically cast by ethnicity. Today you have Frozen at the Hyperion with blind casting. Today, the image of the traditional Aunt Jemima "Mammy" character is problematic. Yet the Jemima greeter at the Pancake House (now Riverbelle) was beloved and the lady who played her was reportedly devastated when the sponsorship ended and she was laid off, claiming it was the best job she ever had.

This stuff has many facets and layers. But it's not at all simple. The company has tried to keep Pirates current and palatable to today's visitors. They have an investment in this evolving franchise and have chosen to try and capitalize on it. I don't agree 100% with all of the changes. But I understand where they are coming from and I like parts of it and am generally OK with all of it. YMMV.

Love this post. I appreciate your frankness. You've articulated exactly why the Disneyland PotC ride is problematic for me, and apparently for Disney as well. I love it, but it's underlying theme hasn't aged well.

That said, here are some interesting pics I found showing the ride's development and construction.

Walt and associates ride testing the boats.

The famous burning town scene under construction

Facade construction

Guests attending a pre-opening walk-through party inside the attraction. @TP2000 note the lady with with the fabulous updo and late 60s fashion on the right!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

And a legend is born.

 

[Practical Pig]

Sure, because, you know, we really want to highlight rape and murder in a family park.

Look, this has been a debate at WED/WDI and DL management from the beginning of planning and designing Pirates. There is an inherent conflict in trying to create a Pirates attraction. The arc of portrayal in TV and movies over the past 50 years has gone from mostly happy-go-lucky rogues with parrots and eye patches to much darker, more violent themes. We spend most of our coverage of PotC in Shanghai on the advanced technology and the focus on the movie franchise. What we ignore is the sensibility for the target audience--a country where modern day piracy is altogether real. In Hong Kong they didn't even try!

PotC at Disneyland is my all-time favorite theme park ride. I consider her to be the great lady of the attraction universe. But there are many layers to this problem. Just about every funny gag has a dark side. Dunking the mayor till he spews water--view this in the age of waterboarding. Auctioning women? Chasing women with the implication of rape? Burning down people's homes and livelihood? Sure, we love the hat guy who will never make it into that boat. But there would be children made homeless.

Do not call this political correctness. This is about a premier family entertainment company grappling with changing mores and cultural norms. It's a theme park ride. It's not real. But societal changes have made parts of the original attraction less G-rated. This is not the only thing from Disneyland's history that is cringeworthy. I have watched the Disney People and Places documentary Disneyland U.S.A. and the narrator's comments about Native Americans are very discomforting. In the early days of N.O. Sq. there were African-American boys (and by "boys" I mean under the age of puberty) tap dancing on the side of Royal Street and they were specifically cast by ethnicity. Today you have Frozen at the Hyperion with blind casting. Today, the image of the traditional Aunt Jemima "Mammy" character is problematic. Yet the Jemima greeter at the Pancake House (now Riverbelle) was beloved and the lady who played her was reportedly devastated when the sponsorship ended and she was laid off, claiming it was the best job she ever had.

This stuff has many facets and layers. But it's not at all simple. The company has tried to keep Pirates current and palatable to today's visitors. They have an investment in this evolving franchise and have chosen to try and capitalize on it. I don't agree 100% with all of the changes. But I understand where they are coming from and I like parts of it and am generally OK with all of it. YMMV.

I appreciate and agree with every point you've made in this very thoughtful post. Instead of calling it "political correctness,' with the shallow, knee-jerk connotations that term now carries, I think of it as being appropriately politically adaptive out of necessity. While I wouldn't shed a tear if the movie overlay was peeled off, I realize we cannot return to 1967, and we certainly should not want to.

But there is a part of me that feels like I survived my childhood exposure to the original Pirates, while growing up with a strong code of ethics, respect for women, and an abhorrence of violence. It was my parenting that guided me, and against that, the comic, though now insensitive imagery presented in a theme park ride held no power at all. Yes, Disney needed to adapt to the changing society, but I don't think the original POTC was granting license to children to grow up to be murderers, rapists and thieves (and I realize that you didn't suggest that it did).

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Edit: Ah -- nevermind, I see you mean WDW. Yeah, they botched that last scene for sure. Had totally forgotten how much better that was, it's been so long already.

Off-topic, but I realized when you wrote this that I'm not sure I know what the original WDW ending was... (Rode it once as a kid and don't remember it). Anyone mind filling me in?

 

[HMF]

Off-topic, but I realized when you wrote this that I'm not sure I know what the original WDW ending was... (Rode it once as a kid and don't remember it). Anyone mind filling me in?

 

[TP2000]

Guests attending a pre-opening walk-through party inside the attraction. @TP2000 note the lady with with the fabulous updo and late 60s fashion on the right!

That's mid 60's, not late 60's. Ah, that lady makes me remember it well... 1966.... Mondrian sheath dress skimming the knee, piled up hair shellacked into place, drink in one hand, cigarette in the other, gentleman a decade or two younger on her arm. Story of my life.

Just please someone tell me I'm not the puffy guy on the left, without a date and hitching his pants up in front of the camera.

 

[Old Mouseketeer]

That's mid 60's, not late 60's. Ah, that lady makes me remember it well... 1966.... Mondrian sheath dress skimming the knee, piled up hair shellacked into place, drink in one hand, cigarette in the other, gentleman a decade or two younger on her arm. Story of my life.

Just please someone tell me I'm not the puffy guy on the left, without a date and hitching his pants up in front of the camera.

Mondrian was my first thought--as in Partridge Family bus! LOL

But I don't think this is inside the attraction--it's more likely staged at the studios. The ceiling is way too low and there are architectural details that differ. There's no roof above the Mercado and only one window. There's also no "Vino" sign sticking out. That looks like an oil or gas heater above the goat. Are those the real AA figures or static mannequins?

I'm sure there's an interesting story about this party. I wonder what Dave Smith might be able to add. Or maybe Ron Dominguez and Richard (Rick with a "D") Nunis. Who else is still alive?

 

[Practical Pig]

That's mid 60's, not late 60's. Ah, that lady makes me remember it well... 1966.... Mondrian sheath dress skimming the knee, piled up hair shellacked into place, drink in one hand, cigarette in the other, gentleman a decade or two younger on her arm. Story of my life.

Just please someone tell me I'm not the puffy guy on the left, without a date and hitching his pants up in front of the camera.

I seem to be one of the few around tonight. so ... you are not the puffy guy on the left, without a date and hitching his pants up in front of the camera.

Seriously though, with your fabulous online persona, I have a hard time imagining you too far away from your Roger Sterling avatar. I was nine in 1966, and had to look up "Mondrian sheath dress," but once I did, memories flooded back. My mother was Mondrian adjacent then. Her hair was piled like that, but softened with tendrils disguising the seam with her temples. But she mostly skipped from the early sixties fashions to the late sixties/early seventies look. I remember granny dresses.