129 Fun Facts About Pirates of the Caribbean

Which producer is behind the whole Pirates of the Caribbean film series?

Jerry Bruckheimer almost passed on the project: he called the first script 'a straight pirate movie' and told Disney he didn't know what to do with it.

Who directed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films?

Gore Verbinski shot the second and third films back to back, with the first film's cast and crew signed on for both sequels.

Which director, best known for the musical Chicago, took over the Pirates series for On Stranger Tides?

Rob Marshall, a former choreographer, said his dance background helped him stage the action, which 'felt like big production numbers'.

Which screenwriting duo wrote the first four Pirates of the Caribbean films?

Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the writers of Shrek, were brought in to rework the first script and came up with the idea that its villains would be cursed.

Roughly how much did the first five Pirates of the Caribbean films gross worldwide in total?

$4.5 billion: On Stranger Tides passed $1 billion worldwide even though its North American takings were the lowest of the first four films.

Depp famously modelled Jack Sparrow on which rock musician?

Keith Richards: reading about 18th-century pirates, Depp decided they were the rock stars of their day, and Richards later played Jack's father, Captain Teague.

Which Looney Tunes character did Depp also cite as an influence on Jack Sparrow?

Pepé Le Pew: the script's Jack was a cocky young swashbuckler, and Depp remade him as a vain, debauched rogue with a dash of the amorous cartoon skunk.

What did baffled Disney executives ask on first seeing Depp's Jack Sparrow?

If he was drunk or gay: the film's producer said it took a while to calm the studio down, and the performance went on to earn Depp an Oscar nomination.

Screenwriter Stuart Beattie first wrote the Pirates films' roguish hero with which actor in mind?

Hugh Jackman: Beattie says that is why the pirate is called Jack, but Jackman was not yet an international star, and Disney went after Depp.

Which comedian was considered for Jack Sparrow but was busy filming a 2003 comedy?

Jim Carrey was tied to Bruce Almighty, in which Morgan Freeman plays God, and so missed a role first conceived as 'a young Burt Lancaster'.

Which 2002 flop based on a Disney attraction made Michael Eisner try to halt the first Pirates film?

The Country Bears: after it flopped, Eisner went to shut Pirates down in person, but a tour of the concept art won him round, though he still asked why it had to cost so much.

Which actor reportedly declined The Curse of the Black Pearl, expecting a flop, then played a pirate in Stardust?

Robert De Niro is said to have expected it to bomb like earlier pirate films; accounts differ on whether he was offered Jack Sparrow or the villain Barbossa.

Who plays blacksmith Will Turner?

Orlando Bloom plays Will Turner; fresh from The Lord of the Rings, he read the script after Geoffrey Rush, his Ned Kelly co-star, suggested it.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth Swann is the daughter of which Port Royal official?

The Governor: Weatherby Swann wants her to marry Commodore Norrington, but her tight corset makes her faint and fall into the bay during his proposal.

Port Royal, the harbour town in The Curse of the Black Pearl, is on which real island?

Jamaica: the real Port Royal was a notorious pirate haven until an earthquake in 1692 sank much of the town into the sea.

On which island do the Black Pearl's cursed crew keep their stone chest of gold?

Isla de Muerta: Barbossa's crew stole the chest's 882 gold pieces there, and the curse holds until every one is returned along with their blood.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, the cursed gold was originally paid to which conquistador?

Barbossa recounts that the Aztecs paid the gold to Hernán Cortés to stem his slaughter; when his greed went unsated, the heathen gods cursed it.

Which Royal Navy ship do Jack Sparrow and Will Turner steal from Port Royal?

HMS Interceptor: Jack and Will trick Norrington's men into leaving her unguarded, then sail off after disabling the bigger Dauntless's rudder so it cannot give chase.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, what does young Elizabeth take from the shipwrecked Will Turner?

A gold medallion: she takes it for fear he will be hanged as a pirate, and eight years later its pulse in the sea draws the Black Pearl's crew to Port Royal.

The Curse of the Black Pearl was the first Disney-branded film to receive which MPAA rating?

PG-13, for action and adventure violence: one Disney executive admitted she would not be taking her own five-year-old to see it.

Which actress plays Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean films?

Keira Knightley, cast at 17, expected an easy time sitting about and screaming, but the director had her climbing up ships and jumping off them.

Who is credited as composer of the first film's score?

Klaus Badelt is credited for the first film's score; Hans Zimmer, contractually tied to The Last Samurai, oversaw it uncredited and then scored the next three sequels himself.

Which prize did Depp win as Jack Sparrow in The Curse of the Black Pearl?

A SAG Award: Depp was not at the ceremony to collect the Screen Actors Guild prize, and a week later he lost the Oscar to Sean Penn.

Which false body part does the pirate Ragetti keep losing in the Pirates of the Caribbean films?

His wooden eye: Mackenzie Crook wore two contact lenses to create it, and admitted the effect was uncomfortable, though not painful.

Who takes a coin from the cursed chest in the post-credits scene of The Curse of the Black Pearl?

The monkey: Barbossa's capuchin, mockingly named Jack, steals a coin and becomes undead again, which is why it cannot be killed in the sequels.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, why is the rum gone from the desert island?

Elizabeth burned it: she set the smugglers' rum cache alight as a signal fire, and the column of smoke led the Royal Navy to rescue them.

How does Jack Sparrow reply when Norrington calls him the worst pirate he knows of?

'But you have heard of me,' Jack replies, turning the insult into proof of his fame; moments later he escapes by taking Elizabeth hostage.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Barbossa says the pirate Code is more what you'd call what?

'Guidelines' rather than actual rules, he tells Elizabeth: she had invoked parley to bargain with him, but he keeps her aboard because she is no pirate.

Which one-word question does Jack Sparrow habitually tack onto the end of his sentences?

'Savvy?' caps his boast when a navy lieutenant scoffs that two men will never sail a warship out of the bay: 'Son, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?'

Where do Jack and Will go to recruit a crew, meeting Joshamee Gibbs?

Tortuga is where Jack and Will find Gibbs asleep among the pigs; the real island off Hispaniola was a lawless buccaneer haven in the 1600s.

Who plays the Flying Dutchman's tentacled captain in Dead Man's Chest?

Bill Nighy plays Davy Jones; years later a taxi driver told him the character reappears after the fifth film's credits, a cameo nobody had mentioned to him.

What accent does Davy Jones speak with in Dead Man's Chest?

Scottish: the director wanted the Flying Dutchman's captain to sound Dutch, but the actor chose a Scots accent that no one else in the cast had.

Which member of the Flying Dutchman's crew was played by a real actor in make-up rather than CGI?

Bootstrap Bill Turner was the one Dutchman crewman done in prosthetic make-up, on Stellan Skarsgård; his barnacled shipmates were computer-generated over motion-capture performers.

What did Jack receive from the Dutchman's captain in exchange for a debt of 100 years of service?

Davy Jones raised the Black Pearl from the depths for Jack, who got 13 years as her captain; when the bill came due, Bootstrap delivered the Black Spot.

What is the name of the voodoo priestess played by Naomie Harris in Dead Man's Chest?

Tia Dalma tells Jack's crew how Davy Jones, unable to bear losing the woman he loved, cut out his own heart and locked it in a chest.

Lord Cutler Beckett is chairman of which organisation?

The East India Trading Company: Beckett opens Dead Man's Chest by halting Will and Elizabeth's wedding with warrants for their arrest for helping Jack escape.

In Dead Man's Chest, which game does Will Turner play against Davy Jones to find out where a key is kept?

Liar's Dice: Will stakes an eternity of service against the key, and his father joins the game and loses on purpose to save him.

The cannibal-island scenes in Dead Man's Chest were shot on which Caribbean island?

The Pelegostos cannibal-island scenes were shot on Dominica, whose small government was unprepared for a 500-strong film crew taking over most of its roads.

What was the only Academy Award Dead Man's Chest won?

Best Visual Effects: instead of using a motion-capture studio, ILM recorded the actors playing Davy Jones and his crew on set and animated the sea creatures over them.

Dead Man's Chest's $135.6 million opening weekend broke a record held by which superhero film?

Spider-Man had held the record since 2002 with $114.8 million; on Dead Man's Chest's opening day, cinemas reported constant sell-outs and asked Disney for more screens.

In Dead Man's Chest, Jack, Will and Norrington's three-way sword fight spills onto which runaway object?

A water wheel: it breaks off an old mill and rolls away through the jungle with Will and Norrington still duelling on top and Jack caught inside.

How is the resurrected Barbossa reintroduced in the final scene of Dead Man's Chest?

Biting an apple: under the first film's curse he could feel and taste nothing, and apples were what he craved most.

Roughly what was the budget of At World's End, then the most expensive film ever made?

$300 million: it was shot back to back with Dead Man's Chest, and the record fell four years later to its own sequel, On Stranger Tides.

Which Hong Kong star plays the Pirate Lord Sao Feng in At World's End?

Chow Yun-fat plays Sao Feng, but audiences in mainland China saw little of him: censors there cut about half of his twenty minutes on screen.

Which ship serves as Lord Cutler Beckett's flagship in At World's End?

Beckett commands HMS Endeavour; when the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman turn their broadsides on her together, he walks down her stairs in a daze as she explodes.

What are the nine Pirate Lords' tokens called?

Pieces of eight: the first court was too broke for real coins, so the 'pieces' are just pocket junk; an honest name, Gibbs says, would not sound very piratey.

Which title does the Brethren Court vote to give Elizabeth Swann in At World's End?

Pirate King: each lord always votes for himself, so the post sat empty until Jack broke the deadlock by backing Elizabeth; only the King can declare war.

Which sea goddess did the first Brethren Court bind in human form?

Calypso was bound in human form by the first Brethren Court, who learned how from her lover Davy Jones after she failed to meet him when his ten years at sea were up.

Once Will Turner captains the Flying Dutchman, how long may he spend ashore for every ten years at sea?

Will gets one day ashore for every ten years at sea; he leaves Elizabeth the chest with his heart, and the post-credits scene jumps a decade to show her waiting with their son.

On Stranger Tides was loosely based on a 1987 novel by which author?

The writers discovered the book while making the second and third films and borrowed Blackbeard, the Fountain of Youth and mermaids from it.

Who plays Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides?

Ian McShane plays Blackbeard, who shrinks the ships he captures and keeps them in bottles, the Black Pearl among them.

What did the costume department have to accommodate for Penélope Cruz during On Stranger Tides?

Her pregnancy: once it began to show, her sister Mónica stood in for the long shots while Penélope filmed the close-ups.

In On Stranger Tides, two silver chalices must be recovered from the ship of which explorer?

Ponce de León's ship, the Santiago, lies stranded on a clifftop; Jack and Barbossa climb aboard only to find the Spanish have already taken the chalices.

Which Dame has a carriage cameo opposite Jack Sparrow in On Stranger Tides?

Dame Judi Dench has a seconds-long cameo as a society lady whose carriage Jack tumbles into while fleeing through London; he leaves with her earring.

Which body part has Barbossa lost when he reappears as a privateer in On Stranger Tides?

His right leg: he lost it when Blackbeard seized the Black Pearl, and he has joined the King's navy only to hunt Blackbeard down in return.

Which US state hosted On Stranger Tides' tropical location shoot?

On Stranger Tides shot its tropical scenes in Hawaii, on Oahu and Kauai, whose jungles stood in for the approach to the Fountain of Youth.

Under what alternative title was Dead Men Tell No Tales released in the United Kingdom?

Salazar's Revenge, named for the film's ghost captain, was used in Britain and several other countries; the US title quotes a warning heard on the Disney ride.

Who plays the ghostly Spanish captain hunting Jack Sparrow in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Javier Bardem plays the undead pirate hunter, whom a young Jack Sparrow once tricked into sailing into the Devil's Triangle.

In Dead Men Tell No Tales, Carina Smyth is condemned as a witch because of which profession?

Astronomer: Carina steers by the stars using a diary left by the father she never knew, and insists on the gallows that she is a woman of science, not a witch.

Which pirate is revealed to be Carina's father?

Barbossa realises he is Carina's father when he recognises the ruby-studded diary he left with her as a baby; he dies at the climax saving her from Salazar.

Which Beatle appears as Jack Sparrow's Uncle Jack in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Paul McCartney cameos as Uncle Jack, a jailed pirate singing 'Maggie Mae'; Depp recruited him by text message when another rock star proved unavailable.

Where was Dead Men Tell No Tales filmed in its entirety?

Dead Men Tell No Tales was shot entirely in Queensland, Australia, around Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast; a $20 million government incentive made it the largest production then filmed in the country.

In Dead Men Tell No Tales, what does Jack Sparrow's crew drag through the streets of Saint Martin?

A bank: the whole building is hauled away with Jack clinging to it, but the gold spills out along the way, and his crew walk out on him.

Who plays Henry Turner, son of Will and Elizabeth, in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Brenton Thwaites beat Taron Egerton and Ansel Elgort to a role first announced only as 'Henry', a young sailor; his surname was confirmed shortly before release.

In what year did the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride open at Disneyland?

Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland on 18 March 1967, three months after Walt Disney's death; it was the last attraction he personally helped design.

What was Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride originally planned to be?

A walk-through wax museum was the plan until It's a Small World's boats proved a hit at the 1964 World's Fair, and Disney switched the pirates to a water ride.

What is the name of the pirate galleon that bombards the fort in the Disney ride?

Wicked Wench. Disney later reused the name: in the film franchise's backstory, Jack Sparrow's Black Pearl began as a merchant ship called the Wicked Wench before he renamed her.

Which theme song plays throughout Disney's original Pirates of the Caribbean ride?

Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) has lyrics by Xavier Atencio, a Disney animator who said he didn't know he could write music until Walt asked him to.

Which Disney park got a completely different ride, 'Battle for the Sunken Treasure', in 2016?

Shanghai Disneyland opened with Battle for the Sunken Treasure in June 2016, a film-based ride featuring Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones rather than the classic boat trip.

In the ride's updated auction scene, what has the famous redhead become?

A pirate helping sell loot: the 2018 rewrite swapped the bride-auction banner for 'Surrender Yer Loot' and turned the redhead from the prize into one of the armed pirates.

Which directing duo made Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth Pirates film?

Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg: Disney chose the Norwegian pair on the strength of Kon-Tiki, their Oscar-nominated sea epic, and their knack for working on a tight budget.

Which actor plays James Norrington, the Royal Navy officer who hopes to marry Elizabeth?

Jack Davenport plays Norrington in the first three films; the officer rescues the young Will Turner from a wreck, then loses Elizabeth to him years later.

A writer says his script for the fifth Pirates film was dropped partly because Depp feared its female villain echoed which film?

Dark Shadows, which also had a female villain. The script was set aside for a new writer's version, though its author kept a story credit on the finished film.

Which actor plays Weatherby Swann, Elizabeth's doting father, in the first three films?

Jonathan Pryce plays Swann, who steers Elizabeth towards a respectable match with Norrington while she falls for a blacksmith instead.

Which 2003 release joined The Return of the King in outgrossing The Curse of the Black Pearl in North America?

Finding Nemo, with about $340 million, and The Return of the King were the only 2003 releases to beat its $305 million; the cast and crew then signed for two sequels shot back to back.

At World's End set which North American box-office record on release?

Memorial Day weekend: it took a record $139.8 million over the four days, yet finished more than $100 million short of Dead Man's Chest worldwide.

The original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy collected 11 Academy Award nominations between them; how many awards did the films win?

One Oscar from 11 nominations: Dead Man's Chest's Best Visual Effects win; The Curse of the Black Pearl went 0 for 5 and At World's End 0 for 2.

Who plays the mermaid Syrena in On Stranger Tides?

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, a French-Spanish actress, learned English for the role and was kept out of the daylight during the shoot to keep her mermaid's skin pale.

Which actor plays Jack Sparrow's first mate Joshamee Gibbs?

Kevin McNally plays Joshamee Gibbs in all five films; Gibbs first appears as a Royal Navy sailor aboard the Dauntless before turning pirate.

What does a dog hold just beyond the prisoners' reach in both the Disney ride and The Curse of the Black Pearl?

The cell keys hang from its mouth while the prisoners try to coax it over with a bone. The film's dog returns in Dead Man's Chest, where island cannibals end up chasing it.

What does the buried Dead Man's Chest hold, giving its owner power over the Flying Dutchman's captain?

His still-beating heart is inside: the captain carved it out over a lost love, and whoever holds it can make him do their bidding.

In Joshamee Gibbs's tall tale, Jack Sparrow escaped a desert island by roping together two of which animals?

Turtles, lashed together with rope made from his own back hair, is the legend; in truth, smugglers who used the island as a cache picked him up after three days.

Which man helped design the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride but died three months before it opened?

Walt Disney never saw it finished: it was the last ride whose construction he personally oversaw, and its success led to copies at parks in Florida, Tokyo and Paris.

In On Stranger Tides, how does Blackbeard keep the ships he has captured, the Black Pearl among them?

Shrunk inside bottles, his miniature fleet includes the Black Pearl, which Joshamee Gibbs later steals back along with the rest of the collection.

Which instrument does the captain of the Flying Dutchman play with the tentacles that hang from his face?

A pipe organ is his instrument, and the melody he plays on it comes from the music-box locket he keeps beside it, twin to one owned by the woman he loved.

Which NFL team has used the Pirates of the Caribbean theme He's a Pirate as music at its home games?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers crowds hear a cut-down version before kick-off and during time-outs; in the first film the same track opens the end credits.

Which composer produced the first Pirates of the Caribbean score, then took the main credit on three sequels?

Hans Zimmer was busy scoring The Last Samurai, so he handed the first film to a colleague, yet he says he wrote most of its themes in a single night.

How does Cotton, the crewman of Jack Sparrow whose tongue was cut out, answer questions?

His parrot talks for him: Cotton trained the blue-and-yellow macaw to say set phrases, though nobody in the crew has worked out how.

Which future Avatar star plays the pirate Anamaria, who slaps Jack Sparrow for stealing her boat?

Zoe Saldaña appears as Anamaria only in the first film, and one of its screenwriters took the character's name from his daughter's middle name.

Which mark of doom is Jack Sparrow given in Dead Man's Chest to draw the Kraken to him?

The Black Spot is brought to him by a crewman of the Flying Dutchman, who warns that he must serve a century aboard or be dragged down by the monster.

In which Asian port do the crew seek Sao Feng's charts to the land of the dead in At World's End?

Singapore was built on a Universal Studios stage as 40 structures standing in a shallow tank; with few records of the city in that era, the designers chose an Expressionist look.

Which artefact do Jack Sparrow and Henry Turner seek in Dead Men Tell No Tales to break every sea curse?

The Trident of Poseidon lies on the sea floor, reached only when the ocean parts, and Henry destroys it to release his father from the Flying Dutchman.

What odd gift does Jack Sparrow carry away from the voodoo mystic in Dead Man's Chest as protection at sea?

A jar of dirt is her answer: the Flying Dutchman's captain can step on land only once a decade, so Jack is told to carry land with him.

By which method is Jack Sparrow nearly executed on Saint Martin in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

A guillotine is the method he picks for himself by accident, and his crew burst in to rescue him before the blade can do its work.

In The Curse of the Black Pearl, which word do captives invoke under the Pirate Code so no pirate may harm them?

Parley works so well as a running gag that the pirate Pintel threatens anyone who says the word again, then ends up crying it himself to surrender.

When mutineers maroon Jack Sparrow on a desert island, what single item do they leave him with?

A pistol with one shot is the marooned pirate's quick way out, but Jack saves the bullet for ten years to use on the first mate who led the mutiny.

What makes Keira Knightley's character faint and fall from a clifftop in The Curse of the Black Pearl?

Her tight corset leaves her breathless just as a naval officer is proposing, and Jack Sparrow dives in to save her, only to be arrested as a pirate.

In Dead Men Tell No Tales, what does Jack Sparrow barter for a drink, freeing a crew of vengeful ghosts?

His magic compass takes being given away as a betrayal, and it retaliates by freeing the ghost crew who have an old score to settle with him.

In Dead Man's Chest, how does Will Turner's fiancée keep Jack Sparrow aboard for the Kraken?

She chains him to the mast, having realised the monster wants only Jack, and distracts him with a kiss while she snaps the shackle shut.

Jack Sparrow fights alongside the hero Sora in a Port Royal world of which video game series?

Kingdom Hearts II retells The Curse of the Black Pearl with Jack as a member of the player's party, and the third game returns to adapt At World's End.

Which pirate video game added a free Jack Sparrow story expansion called A Pirate's Life in 2021?

Sea of Thieves brought in Jack, Joshamee Gibbs and the captain of the Flying Dutchman for a new original story rather than a retelling of the films.

Which Utah landmark stood in for the afterlife where Jack Sparrow is stranded in At World's End?

Bonneville Salt Flats gave the Locker its endless blank horizon, and the sequence was shot in near-monochrome to set it apart from the colourful world of the living.

Dead Man's Chest was Disney's highest-grossing release until which 2010 film overtook it?

Toy Story 3 edged past it four years on; Dead Man's Chest had been the world's top-grossing film of its release year and is the biggest earner of the five Pirates films.

Which actor, Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter films, plays King George II in On Stranger Tides?

Richard Griffiths got the part on the recommendation of Johnny Depp, a long-time fan of his performance in Withnail and I.

Which actor, Mr Collins opposite Keira Knightley in Pride & Prejudice, plays Lord Cutler Beckett?

Tom Hollander makes his entrance in Dead Man's Chest on horseback in a rowing boat, an idea the writers had saved from a scene cut out of The Mask of Zorro.

Which star of Skins and The Maze Runner plays Carina Smyth in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Kaya Scodelario worked with the screenwriter to make sure Carina, a scholar condemned as a witch, was no copy of the heroine of the earlier films.

Which future Hunger Games star plays Philip, the captive missionary in On Stranger Tides?

Sam Claflin was newly out of drama school when he was cast, and it was Johnny Depp who suggested making the character a man of the cloth.

In On Stranger Tides, Blackbeard seeks the Fountain of Youth because a prophecy says who will kill him?

A one-legged man duly arrives: Geoffrey Rush's privateer, who cut off his own leg to escape Blackbeard's attack and comes to settle the score with a poisoned sword.

Besides two silver chalices and the Fountain's water, what does the ritual in On Stranger Tides require?

A mermaid's tear goes into one cup only: whoever drinks from it takes every remaining year of life from the person who drinks from the other.

In On Stranger Tides, who is found recruiting a crew in London while posing as Jack Sparrow?

Angelica, a former lover of Jack's, is signing up sailors for her father's ship under his famous name, and she soon has the real Jack shanghaied aboard too.

In what disguise does Jack Sparrow turn up at Joshamee Gibbs's London trial in On Stranger Tides?

A judge is his cover, and from the bench he swaps his friend's death sentence for life in prison so that the pair can slip away together.

What is the name of Jack Sparrow's father, the Keeper of the Code who cows the other Pirate Lords?

Captain Teague rules that only an elected Pirate King can declare war, which forces the deadlocked Brethren Court to hold a vote.

Geoffrey Rush's resurrected captain sits on the Brethren Court as Pirate Lord of which waters?

The Caspian Sea is his domain, and the title explains his return: he was raised from the dead only because his token as a Pirate Lord was needed for a ritual.

Which song do condemned prisoners sing at the start of At World's End to summon the Pirate Lords?

Hoist the Colours was co-written by the director himself with the film's composer, and in the story it obliges the Brethren Court to convene.

In Dead Men Tell No Tales, in which cursed stretch of sea did a young Jack Sparrow trap a Spanish pirate hunter?

The Devil's Triangle killed the hunter and his crew and kept them there as ghosts, which is why they want every pirate at sea dead, and one above all.

Which ghost ship does the undead Spanish pirate hunter command in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

The Silent Mary sailed for the Spanish Navy before the curse; afterwards her crew cannot set foot on land, which is how their quarry slips away from them.

A replica of which famous ship, built for a 1962 Hollywood epic, was among the tall ships used in Dead Man's Chest?

HMS Bounty was one of four tall ships the crew had on hand, and each was painted differently on its two sides to save money.

Which 17th-century warship, sunk in harbour on its maiden voyage, inspired the look of the Flying Dutchman?

Vasa, a Swedish warship raised from Stockholm harbour in 1961, lent her high carved stern to the designers, along with old Dutch vessels called fluyts.

The directors of Dead Men Tell No Tales were hired on the strength of which Oscar-nominated seafaring film?

Kon-Tiki convinced Disney that the Norwegian pair could stage a high-seas adventure on a limited budget, and they took the first Pirates film as their model.

Animators of the Kraken in Dead Man's Chest studied a live octopus crawling over models in which 1962 film?

King Kong vs. Godzilla gave them something to copy, because the beast had no real-life model; on set, cement-filled pipes smashed the ship it attacks.

The skin of the Flying Dutchman's computer-generated captain was scanned from which everyday object?

A coffee-stained cup made of Styrofoam was scanned into the computers; early designs gave the villain mere growths on the chin before the full beard of tentacles.

The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy's director skipped On Stranger Tides to make which other film with Johnny Depp?

Rango, an animated western starring Depp as a pet chameleon, was in production at the same time, so a new director took the helm of the fourth Pirates film.

The digital young Jack Sparrow of Dead Men Tell No Tales copied Johnny Depp's look in which TV series?

21 Jump Street supplied the face, along with What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and it was laid digitally over a younger actor who played the scenes on set.

In which themed land of the California park does the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride stand?

New Orleans Square suits the opening scene, a drift through a Louisiana bayou at dusk, past a restaurant built to look like a plantation garden party.

Why did Florida's Magic Kingdom open in 1971 without a version of Disneyland's pirate boat ride?

The Caribbean was too close to Florida for the theme to feel exotic, the planners reasoned; they changed their minds, and a version opened two years after the park.

Which Dutch DJ released a 2006 club remix of He's a Pirate, the Pirates of the Caribbean theme?

Tiësto put his version out as a single in its own right, while other dance reworkings of the theme were gathered on an EP called Pirates Remixed.

On which island is the Dead Man's Chest dug up, setting off a three-way sword fight for its contents?

Isla Cruces sees Jack, Will Turner and a disgraced navy officer all fight for the prize; its beach scenes were filmed on White Cay, a small island in the Bahamas.

Why did the director of the first Pirates film object to its subtitle, The Curse of the Black Pearl?

Only the gold is cursed, he pointed out, not the ship; the studio chief insisted, so the words were printed almost too small to read on most posters.

Which first name did Johnny Depp coin on set for the mutinous captain played by Geoffrey Rush?

Hector is never spoken in the first film and surfaced only in its DVD commentary; Jack finally says the name on screen in At World's End.