#captain redd

October 2023

H-he’s not into that! D///8

Redd: bullshit!

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I'm clearly upset that I never knew she existed in Disneyland. 😞

A Happy 55th Birthday to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride!

In Disneyland, March 18th, 1967, the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride would first debut; an indoor boat ride that took the viewer through a pirate adventure that highlighted all the key elements of popular pirate fiction. Included within were mangrove bayous, talking skulls, a cove, a shipwreck, cursed treasure, an assault on a Spanish fort and subsequent sacking of a Spanish city.

The ride went on to inspire the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which themselves contained elements as homage to the 67’ ride, and in years since the success of the movies the ride has since grown to include characters from films beginning in 2006. Characters such as Davy Jones, Hector Barbossa, Jack Sparrow, mermaids, and Blackbeard. As of the completion of the 2018 refurbishment of the ride, the red-haired lass who has been a part of the “Auction” scene has been rebranded as a pirate character named “Redd.” Redd is likely slated to either make an appearance in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film (whether it is a true sequel or a reboot), and/or will potentially be the lead character in the other planned Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff movie in the future.

During 2021, the video game Sea of Thieves introduced a crossover with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, which included storyline adventures called “Tall Tales;” a number of which saw the player witnessing and playing through many of the events depicted in the original ride.

The ride also houses its own secrets, some of which by this point are already well-known on the internet; the fact that the original ride featured real human remains as part of its displays, which were procured from UCLA as the fake skeletons they had made “didn’t meet their standards of realism.” As the ride has changed through the years, more believable skeletons have been created and it’s been stated that any of the original remains have since been returned to their countries of origin and received proper burials.

There however are many unconvinced, with conspiracies that human remains still are displayed as part of the ride, in particular a skull in the bed chamber that was donated by a former Imagineer, with cast members confirming it was real. There are other claims as well about other full skeletons, that either remain from the original ride or have successfully fooled ride-goers.

While the Pirates of the Caribbean ride was not the first popular portrayal of pirates of fantastical depictions built from years of folklore, ghost stories and so on, the franchise if oft looked down upon by some historians for assisting in the ‘tainting’ of ‘pirate facts’ in the greater public’s mind. In my own personal opinion, it has only done wonders for what is now the ‘pirate subculture community’ and has greatly assisted in keeping the public’s thoughts toward pirates. Countless numbers of individuals have leaned into learning actual real life history, spurred on by interest in the topic first by Disney. It is to be cherished for what it is, alongside true pirate history.

Currently, despite it being the ride’s 55th birthday, the ride is now temporarily closed until ‘Summer 2022’ as the ride is undergoing extensive refurbishment. Rumors exist online that once the ride reopens, it will be full of new clues as to the direction Disney plans to take the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise going forward.