You know, just the fact that we get to make a living making pirates movies here in the 20th century... that in and of itself is absolutely terrific.
I like big numbers (laughs).
Um... the world? (laughs). You know, you can't anticipate that level of interest. Well, I guess Disney can, but we didn't (laughs).
I thought the numbers from the very opening weekend were a bit shocking, just relative to what was the previous record for a three-day weekend, and to trounce it; it just had to be this confluence of events: Johnny Depp's popularity, the popularity of the first film being out on DVD, kind of an amazing trailer, a great title, a bit of the competition backing off. It was a sort of perfect storm of events coming together.
Well, there actually is a story to the ride. It's about a crew of pirates who find a treasure and then discover it's cursed and it turns them into skeletons... It's told in reverse. You see the end of the story, all the skeletal pirates with the cursed treasure, and then you see their hunt for it. In Disneyland Paris, they've actually flipped it, so that it's in the right order. I can't believe that the French went linear. It's just so bizarre (laughs).
There were many times in the design ofCurse of the Black Pearl where we would reach an impasse or get stuck on finding a solution and turn to the ride and get the solution there. Those vignettes are such that they're captured moments, always in some sort of larger situation. So it doesn't look like a movie but, in a sense, it really is, because it's just like freeze-frames from a film.
Yeah, you know, there was a period when I was a kid where what I wanted to do was be an Imagineer. I was very much into the whole Disneyland experience and to have actually contributed back to the park in this way, it makes me very happy.
Wait, you work for Disney?
Darn, because I was going to say -- an official Disney representative has said that characters we created are actually in the rides. (Laughs) I was going to have our legal team get on that right away (laughs).
No, like Ted says, it's amazing. I'm a little torn on that because I'm enough of a purist and, having been on the original ride so many times, that I may have been in the camp that appreciated Marc Davis' work and the Imagineering work so much that... [it was] like, couldn't we just do a new version somewhere else and keep the original? On the other hand, I thought that the work done was pretty fantastic and I guess it's continuing. You know, going through the Davy Jones character in the mist there is just a highlight.
You know, one of our original..
...sort of creative edicts we gave ourselves...
...Yeah, in the very, very beginning, was we wanted to... have it be possible that,
Yeah, "What is the movie that this ride might have been based on?"
Well in terms of the characterization, they're the same character. We created this kind of trickster, fast-talking type of character or rather, just somebody who you didn't know -- was he actually a good pirate who was pretending to be bad at what he did or was he actually bad at it and lucky? -- and using a lot of language to kind of confuse people and keep them off guard. But I've said this before, Johnny's performance of that character, I could not have imagined that. It's just amazing. It took the characterization we created and took it to a whole other level (laughs).
One of the joys of filmmaking -- and it is just pure joy -- is how different disciplines are brought together, so you can take writing, you can take the design of the character, you can take lines of dialogue, and execute those according to an intent. And then a director can come along and a costume designer can come along and execute their fields and then an actor comes along and brings all that knowledge, and ability -- capability -- of the world of acting to the role as well and in that mix of expertise, when everything works right, you can come up with something that does endure, hopefully, or enters into the popular consciousness. But it's just a joy to have things come together like that. It doesn't always happen but when it does, it's just amazing to be a part of it.
We had everything worked out in complete detail from the very start (laughs).
(Laughs). Terry's lying.
The first film was designed to be a complete experience and at the time, we thought it might be the last pirates film ever made and it felt that way as we were doing it and so we tried to put everything we could think of into that film. Then, based on the popularity, you get the opportunity to do two more and it was not planned. I don't think we gave five minutes to thinking about what might go beyondCurse of the Black Pearl because the intent at that time was to get that movie done and have it be as good as it could be.
Which one that we're prouder of? Oh no. Totally unfair question (laughs).
You know, every child is loved in their own way.
And I'm still pretty happy withAladdin. I really liked that movie. But I mean, there is always the next movie. [That's] kind of how you have to look at it: "We'll get it right next time. Well those are good, but there's a perfect one yet to be made."
I think for me, the thing that will always be amazing aboutAladdin is that it was our first hit film and it was the first time where you opened up and you're number one in theaters and you know, the world is watching your film... it's an amazing feeling. And that turned out to be the #1 film of the year in 1992. We've reached that later, other times, but to do it for the first time was kind of a crazy thrill. You don't even think it's possible and then it's happening.
Well you knowTreasure Island, which was the source forTreasure Planet, that is the pirate genre right there. A lot of the things that we're playing with in all three of thePirates films come out of just that very simple premise of is Long John Silver a delightful Falstaffian character or a contemptible villain (laughs)? That's sort of something we carried into Jack Sparrow.
I think ... what we were doing [withShrek] was kind of more playing with the audience's own knowledge of these fairy tales and Disney has done such an excellent job of sort of claiming that middle real estate as their own, that if you're looking for just instant recognition, you have to kind of play off of those Disney places. But there were a couple of shots at the park, but [they were] shots at the park as they had become under Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner, so I feel okay about that (laughs).
Our technique is to just let the giant corporations fight over us, so we work for Disney and then DreamWorks pulls us over there and then Disney pulls us back and it's not the worst thing to be courted by these two behemoths in the business.
Well you know, never say never, but right now we're just kind of looking forward to taking some time off (laughs). We've been all working on these movies for over two years now and it's about as close to honest work as I ever want to have to do.
I imagine that there might be some forces in play that might want there to be a fourth movie but I think there's truly no guarantee and there are actually also forces in play that would make it not happen. So for the purposes ofAt World's End... certainly on the set as we shoot out each actor, there's a sense of high school coming to end, you know, like summer is upon us and we're all going out there and graduating and this actually could be it. I think there's a chance of that. Certainly,At World's End is designed to finish the story. This trilogy was designed to be complete and I think that's part of what givesAt World's End its power... that sense [that] this could be it -- this is the last of Jack Sparrow that you'll see. Right now, it's designed to be the last of the trilogy.
Thank you.
Thanks, Aaron.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - 2-Disc Special Edition Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - 3-Disc Gift Set
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 2-Disc Limited Edition Aladdin: Platinum Edition & Collector's Gift Set Treasure Planet
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - 2-Disc Collector's Edition
Gore Verbinski, director ofPirates of the Caribbean trilogy (November 2007) Vince Papale, the inspiration forInvincible (December 2006)
Jim Kammerud, director ofThe Fox and the Hound 2 (December 2006) Moira Kelly, voice of Nala inThe Lion King (December 2006)
Irene Bedard, the voice of Pocahontas (May 2005) Don Dunagan, the voice of Bambi (February 2005)
Michael Angarano, star ofSky High (November 2005) Angela Robinson, director ofHerbie: Fully Loaded (October 2005)
Priscilla Weems, star of "Five Mile Creek" (October 2006) Jim Brickman,The Disney Songbook (October 2005)
Don Grady, former Mouseketeer, "My Three Sons" star, and current Disney musician (November 2005)
Don Hahn, veteran Disney producer (October 2006) Leonard Maltin, film critic/historian and author (December 2005)
Ilene Woods, the voice of Cinderella, and Disney producer Don Hahn (September 2005)
Taylor Lautner, Sharkboy ofThe Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (September 2005)
Pirates of the Caribbean: DVD Easter Eggs
Pirates of the Caribbean in UD's Top Live Action Disney Movies Countdown
Top 30 Disney Villains Countdown featuring Captain Barbossa
Complete List of 1980-Present Live Action Disney Movies
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Interview conducted December 5, 2006 by Aaron Wallace. Published December 19, 2006. All images copyright Disney.
Thanks to Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio for their time and to Buena Vista Home Entertainment for making it possible.
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