Trivia for
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) More at IMDbPro »

• On August 10, 2002, a fire started on the soundstage where the movie was shot. Nobody was hurt and the damage was estimated to be $350,000.
  
  
• The movie is inspired by, and takes its theme from, the popular Walt Disney theme park ride of the same name.
  
  
• Stick around after the credits for an additional scene.
  
  
• References to the Disneyland attractions include (but are not limited to): - three uses of the song "(Yo Ho, Yo Ho) A Pirate's Life for Me" by X. Atencio and George Bruns in the opening scene (sung by young Elizabeth), when Jack and Elizabeth are marooned on the island, and in the end by Jack. - The jail scenes, in which the prisoners try to tempt the dog who holds the key to their cell. Jack says, "That dog is never going to move" - although the movie dog eventually does, the one in the ride doesn't. Jack later tries to tempt it with a bone, as does one of the audio-animatronic pirates in the ride. - The "burning town" sequence, and within it, the redheaded prostitute (who slaps Jack), and the "stuffed pirate" drinking the rum spurting out of a barrel - Jack's initial discovery of Gibbs sleeping with the pigs - The line "Dead men tell no tales", said by the macaw, which is repeated throughout the ride's narration - A quick shot of a skeleton sprawled on the beach of the Isla de Muerta, with a crab nearby - During the raid on the town, seen is a man being dunked into a well. - A skeletal Barbossa drinks wine, which trickles through his exposed ribcage, as one of the skeletal pirates do. - During the battle scene between the two ships, Black Pearl and the Interceptor Captain Barbosa refers to his crew as "bloomin cockroaches" just like the captain in the ride does when his ship attacks a local town fort. - In Tortuga, we see a pirate drinking rum on top of two barrels and is wobbling just like in the ride. - There are references to cursed treasure in the ride: old pirates speak of cursed treasure and how you probably don't believe in it, and the line "Who knows when that evil curse will strike the greedy beholders of this bewitched treasure." - The woman wearing a red dress at Tortuga island that slaps Jack and he wonders if he deserved it is a character in the ride. - Part of the Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is called "Port Royal".
  
  
• The figurehead (a sculpted ornament on the bow of ancient vessels) of the ship carrying Elizabeth and Governor Swann at the beginning of the movie is actually the coat of arms of the United Kingdom and it is the figurehead of an actual ship of the line, the HMS Victory, which participated in the Trafalgar Battle against combined french and Spanish navies under the command of Lord Horatio Nelson in 1805. HMS Victory is now preserved at Portsmouth, England, as a museum and is the oldest commissioned warship in the world. She still has a captain and crew. The crest holds the French motto of the British monarchs "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right) and the Old Latin motto of the Order of the Garter "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (Shame on him who thinks evil of it). The film was such a success that Disney closed the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at Disneyland and Disney World to update them. The new storyline of the attractions will be that Captain Barbosa is chasing Jack Sparrow, both of which will be added in the form of animatronics. Disneyland opened their updated attraction on 26 June 2006, two days after the sequel's world premier. Disney World opened its new attraction on 7 July 2006.
  
  
• WILHELM SCREAM: Heard during the battle on the Dauntless between the Royal Navy and Barbossa's crew.
  
  
• The island Isla de Muerta is Spanish for "island of dead". Tortuga is also Spanish, meaning "turtle".
  
  
• The skull and crossed blades flag was the flag of "Calico" Jack Rackham, captain of the Revenge and longtime lover of notorious female pirate Anne Bonny.
  
  
• This was the first PG-13 release under the Walt Disney Pictures label in the United States. The Walt Disney Company, however, has released R rated films under the Touchstone Pictures label since the 1980's.
  
  
• The scene where Jack Sparrow stands tall on the mast of his sinking boat is an homage to Buster Keaton and the ending of The Navigator (1924). Johnny Depp also played a character who imitated the works of Buster Keaton in Benny & Joon (1993).
  
  
• Jack Sparrow's line "... and then they made me their chief," is a tribute to British comedy series "The Fast Show" (1994), of which Johnny Depp is an ardent fan, so much so that he guest starred in one episode. The line was originally said by a character, played by Mark Williams, who usually appeared in a kitchen and is, in its entirety "... and then they made me their chief. Which was nice." The line has also been said by another character, in The Fast Show, Sir Roly Birkin (played by Paul Whitehouse), who blurts out random sentences during his drunken, mumbled ramblings. The Fast Show was shown in the US under the title "Brilliant". (Depp uses another Fast Show catchphrase (again from a Mark Williams character) in an unused version of the "parley" scene in the cave when he says, "I'll get me coat...” - this can be seen on the DVD.)
  
  
• One of the film's last lines - "Bring me that horizon" - was conceived by Johnny Depp on the morning the scene was filmed.
  
  
• Keira Knightley wore colored contact lenses like Johnny Depp's in the last scene of the movie. But since her eyes are lighter than Johnny Depp's, they had to be dark in the center and light on the outside. She complained they made her so dizzy that she threw them away the night after shooting.
  
  
• When Will wakes up after being knocked out, he looks out into the port and you can see the same girl who played the young Elizabeth sweeping at a doorway (Lucinda Dryzek).
  
  
• The ship used as "HMS Interceptor" is an actual ship, the "Lady Washington" and is the official tall ship ambassador of the State of Washington. She can also be seen in Star Trek: Generations (1994) and was used as a reference for the RLS Legacy in Treasure Planet (2002).
  
  
• When returning from a night shoot on one of the Caribbean islands, Keira Knightley's boat struck a reef and went down. The only people aboard were Knightley, her mother and the boat's skipper, all of whom escaped unharmed and were rescued within a few hours. However, the incident ultimately determined that the rest of the island night shoots needed would complete filming in a studio, rather than on location.
  
  
• The title was originally just "Pirates of the Caribbean" but the name was changed in the hope that it would do well at the box office and a sequel could be made.
  
  
• The movie's world premiere was located at Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in California, home to the original Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, on June 28, 2003. This was the first ever movie premiere at Disneyland.
  
  
• Johnny Depp's character, Captain Jack, is portrayed as having gold teeth in the film. These are real and Depp had his dentist implant those and others into his mouth for the production. Disney executive 'Michael Eisner' thought there were too many and asked him to remove all but a few.
  
  
• Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski wanted to use the massive water tank in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico used for Titanic (1997) and Pearl Harbor (2001), but Peter Weir's film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) had the tank booked during the time Pirates was scheduled to shoot.
  
  
• The "walking under the row boat" scene is a direct homage to The Crimson Pirate (1952).
  
  
• The scene where Orlando Bloom impersonates Johnny Depp's performance was devised by Bloom who asked producer Jerry Bruckheimer if he could put it into the movie.
  
  
• Many of the crew got seasick while filming.
  
  
• The final cannon shot during the Black Pearl's siege of the town, billows into a Mickey Mouse head shape against the night sky
  
  
• In an attempt to ward off the seasickness that struck the rest of the cast and crew, Keira Knightley took a travel sickness pill... and fell asleep instead.
  
  
• Clothing and smears of charcoal were used to conceal Johnny Depp's numerous tattoos. The "Jack Sparrow" tattoo on his arm in the movie is a fake, but he got a real replica after finishing the film, in honor of his son Jack.
  
  
• The "Fort" in Port Royal is actually not on St. Vincent's, but at a closed down amusement park (Marineland) in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
  
  
• When Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the screenwriters, originally pitched the movie to the Disney executives in the early '90s, it was rejected.
  
  
• Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have said in interviews that they wrote the script in the early 90s. Somehow Steven Spielberg got hold of the script and wanted to direct the film with Bill Murray, Steve Martin or Robin Williams playing Captain Jack Sparrow. But Disney did not give permission for the film to be made.
  
  
• The names of the three main characters are all linked to birds. Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann and William Turner, who was a famous ornithologist.
  
  
• Alan Silvestri was first suggested to provide the score but has been replaced by Klaus Badelt. However, some movie posters still show the credit "Music by Alan Silvestri". These posters also show a different story credit, omitting the fourth story writer Jay Wolpert: "Screen Story by 'Beattie, Stuart' and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio".
  
  
• Governor Swann's first name is Weatherby, Commodore's is James, and Barbossa's is Hector. The latter is revealed on the DVD commentary with Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski.
  
  
• The substance sprayed on William Turner after the sword fight between him and Captain Jack Sparrow is actually powdered chocolate.
  
  
• The East Indian Trading Company really did brand pirates with a "P" but it was put on their foreheads instead of their arms.
  
  
• Industrial Light and Magic designers scanned turkey jerky to create the effect of decomposing skin when the pirates turn into their skeletal forms.
  
  
• The various "eunuch" lines were improvisations by Johnny Depp.
  
  
• When filming in the cave, excessive makeup was added to the characters so they wouldn't looked washed out on film. When the crew realized how cool the makeup looked on Johnny Depp, they continued to use it on him for the rest of the movie.
  
  
• Jimmy Buffett was offered a role as a pirate, but had to decline due to previous engagements.
  
  
• The words "pirate" and "piracy" are said 56 times.
  
  
• Johnny Depp wore contact lenses which served as sunglasses so he wouldn't be squinting in the sun all the time.
  
  
• According to the screenwriters' commentary on the DVD, Will Turner is the best swordsman in the film, Barbossa and Commodore Norrington are evenly matched, and Jack Sparrow is actually the worst.
  
  
• The monkey "Jack" is played by two capuchin monkeys. One is a 10-year old female named Tara, the other an 8-year old male named Levi.
  
  
• Voted number 4 in Channel 4's (UK) "Greatest Family Films".
  
  
• The tattoo that Orlando Bloom got on his right wrist during The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) is covered throughout most of the film. It's visible during the sword-fight in the blacksmith shop when Will raises his sword to parry after Jack's "You're not a eunuch, are you?" and again below decks on the Interceptor where Elizabeth reveals she took the medallion and Will realizes it was his blood the pirates need to lift the curse - you can see it just as he reaches to touch the medallion on her chest.
  
  
• Keira Knightley's hair was extended because it was still short from her previous roles.
  
  
• Having decided that pirates were the 18th century equivalent of rock stars, Johnny Depp's characterization of Sparrow was inspired by close observation of his friend Keith Richards, though he emphasized in interviews that it was not an impersonation.
  
  
• Michael Keaton, Jim Carrey, and Christopher Walken were all considered for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
  
  
• Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Tobey Maguire, Christopher Masterson and Christian Bale were all considered for the role of Will Turner.
  
  
• Jack (the monkey) is seen "smiling" when Barbossa thanks him specifically after he returns the Aztec coin to him after Jack Sparrow chases him. In the special features on the DVD it is revealed that the monkey did this purely by chance and it was not planned out in any way.
  
  
• According to the DVD commentaries, Geoffrey Rush has a theory that people watch the screen from left to right, just like when they read a book. Therefore, he tried to be in the left side of the screen as often as possible. He was particularly intent on doing this in the scenes with the monkey and Keira Knightley because he didn't think anyone would look at him otherwise.
  
  
• During the swordfight scene between Jack Sparrow and Will Turner in the blacksmith shop. The clanging of their swords are just about in sync with the rhythm of the incidental music.
  
  
• On the special feature disc, you can see an extended version of the cave scene where Jack explains the origins of the term "Parley". He mentions how raisins in reality are just humiliated grapes. This is an homage to the movie Benny & Joon (1993) which Depp starred in together with Mary Stuart Masterson and Aidan Quinn.
  
  
• In Italian the title is "The Curse of the First Moon", without "Pirates of the Caribbean" at the beginning.
  
  
• In an early version of the script, on the DVD commentary, they state that Norrington was to ask Elizabeth to marry him and she says no. Enraged by this Norrington was going to join Barbossa and the two of them were going to try take over the Caribbean. However this script was turned down.
  
  
• Johnny Depp improvised Jack Sparrow's catch phrase, "Savvy?"
  
  
• Keira Knightley almost didn't make it to the audition because of a traffic jam.
  
  
• In the original draft of the script, Barbossa was Italian not English.
  
  
• Lucinda Dryzek, who plays Young Elizabeth in the beginning of the film, can also be seen briefly in the background as Will wakes up (the morning after Barbossa and crew's pillage of Port Royal). She's the girl sweeping the porch.
  
  
• Keira Knightley claimed she was so sure she was going to get fired after a few days work on this film, she only packed a few things to go with her to start filming.
  
  
• The scene of the pirates walking along the sea bed and climbing up the anchor chain is a reference to 'Tales of the Black Freighter', the comic book referenced in the original Watchmen graphic novel.
  
  
• The island of Tortuga is loosely based on Little Cayman, the smallest of the Cayman Islands in the Carribean, which was initially used as a pirate base in the 17th century. The Cayman Islands were originally named Las Tortugas by Columbus, who first sighted them in 1503.
  
  
• Before the film was made, The Walt Disney Company weren't too sure whether or not to release the film in cinemas or direct to video. Had the film been direct to video Cary Elwes, Rik Mayall and Christopher Walken were their three choices for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
  
  

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