Credit: Disney (all images)Pirates of the Caribbean is often considered a “must-do” attraction at the Disney Parks. Originally, Walt’s vision of the ride saw it as a walk-through wax museum of villains and pirates throughout history. Eventually, that idea was changed to a dark boat ride through various villages with the iconic “Yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!” playing over head.
In 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released and viewers were introduced to Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), and Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightly) for the first time. That would be the first film in a franchise that would see a total of five movies and cause the attraction to undergo a refurbishment that would incorporate Depp’s version of Jack Sparrow as well as other characters like Captain Barbossa and Davy Jones.
While the inclusion of these characters has been pretty well-received over the years, there are a few fans that think the attraction could have done without. Pirates of the Caribbean was wildly successful with the first film, while the second and third installments didn’t get quite the same amount of recognition. The fourth and fifth films were disappointing in comparison, and one of the complaints fans have about incorporating Jack Sparrow into an already iconic ride is that it didn’t account for the possibility of future failure or controversy.
Perhaps the biggest complaint, however, is that the animatronics used for Jack are obviously newer, with an almost human-like range of motion and expressions and a better costume compared to the other animatronics seen throughout the ride. Many of them have frozen expressions, limited and repetitive movements, and half the time are broken and stand still instead of moving at all.
Pirates of the Caribbean was perhaps one of the first attractions to incorporate an IP into its retheme, turning it from an original attraction to a movie ride. While it’s still popular and the Jack Sparrow animatronic is a technological feat, the ride suffers from the jarring difference between those animatronics and the original ones as well as cementing the ride in movie universe.
Did Pirates of the Caribbean need to add Jack Sparrow or was it fine as it? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!