pirates
A chicken in Puerto Dorado.

A chicken in Puerto Dorado.

"I guess...I guess I'd want to be back on a farm. There is enough money for me to buy a little farmstead of my own. I'd get some geese, and ducks, maybe some turkeys...chickens, of course. Couple of pigs. I love bacon and ham. And a mule for plowing, and some milk cows."
―Robert Greene to Jack Sparrow[src]

The chicken was a large and round short-winged bird, a common and widespread domesticated animal from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia. A male's crowing was a loud and sometimes shrill call, serving as a territorial signal to other males, and in response to sudden disturbances within their surroundings; female hens cluck loudly after laying an egg and to call their chicks. Chickens gave different warning calls to indicate that a predator was approaching from the air or on the ground. Some breeds have a mutation that causes extra feathering under the face, giving the appearance of a beard. Most chickens were raised by humans for food, providing meat and eggs, while others were kept as pets. In comparison to mammals such as cattle or hogs, chicken meat (commonly called just "chicken") and chicken eggs have become prevalent in numerous cuisines.

History

Will Turner lies unconscious surrounded by chickens.

Will Turner lies unconscious surrounded by chickens.

"Your countrymen ran like chickens before Guillaume le Conquérant!"
―Etienne de Ver to Lucius Featherstone[src]

Chickens were found, some kept as pets, in various towns like Port Royal, Jamaica.[1] Fresh food was a luxury on the ships because it soon rotted in the tropical heat. Mostly the crew lived on hard tack (biscuits) and salted meat. The captain ate better and the ship carried a few live sheep and chickens for his table.[2][3]

When Stone-Eyed Sam's warriors captured young Jack Sparrow and Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III on Isla Esquelética, they revealed their intention to "feed" the goddess Chantico. Unaware that the warriors wanted to sacrifice him and his companion, Jack suggested to his captors that they feed the goddess some coconuts and chicken.[4]

There were chickens kept in the hold of the Black Pearl, most notably under Captain Jack Sparrow during the search for the Dead Man's Chest.[5] After Jack and the Pearl were dragged to the realm of Davy Jones' Locker by the Kraken,[6] Sparrow hallucinated many versions of himself, including one vision that clucked and walked in the manner of a chicken, as well as laying an egg. Later, in Tortuga, Jack Sparrow was in the company of the redheaded Scarlett and the blond Giselle as they made their way down the dock, where chickens were in cages. The chickens clucked as they arrived at a small vessel, noticing the Black Pearl was gone, and as Jack spotted Gibbs dozing in a spot on the dock.[7] One wanted poster offered "one basket of chickens" as a reward for Jack's capture.[8]

Behind the scenes

Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean

A pirate sits on a cage full of chickens.

A pirate sits on a cage full of chickens.

Chickens first appear in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, which opened in 1967.[9] They were later identified by name in Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies by Jason Surrell. Among the fifty-five animals that appear in the ride,[10] chickens appear on display in the marketplace, "continuously clucking" where an impromptu auction is taking place.[11] In one of the ride's many refurbishments, the Pooped Pirate brandishes a chicken leg instead of a lady's undergarment in the revised incarnation of the scene.[12]

Other media

Chickens appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, beginning with the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In the film, Captain Hector Barbossa had Elizabeth Swann eat a piece of meat served in the captain's cabin aboard the Black Pearl. While unidentified in the film,[1] it was identified as turkey in the film's audio description,[13] as well as the German novelization in 2006.[14] However, in the English novelization, also published in 2006, the piece of meat was described as a chicken.[15]

In the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, a cage of chickens clucked as Captain Jack Sparrow entered below decks of the Black Pearl.[6] As written in Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay, the captain raised his pistol and the chickens suddenly went quiet. "That's what I thought," Jack said before making his way to the rum locker.[16] The scene was cut from the film, but was retained in the junior novelization.[5] In the deleted scene "Steady As She Goes" featured in Blu-ray releases beginning in 2011, presumably due to Johnny Depp's improvisation on set, Sparrow instead tells the chicken, "I thought so" before addressing the other occupying animals as "ladies."[17] While unnamed in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,[7] one of Jack Sparrow's hallucinations was named "Chicken Man" in the description for the "I Miss Him Already" scene.[18]

On September 11, 2009, during a presentation at the D23 Expo, Johnny Depp appeared dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow with Disney Chairman Dick Cook to announce a "Summer 2011" release for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Depp as Sparrow was cracking wise about rum and said he'd like a snack, suggesting the "talking frog" Kermit from The Muppets who had been on stage earlier "probably tastes like chicken."[19][20]

Chickens appear in several Pirates video games. Although they do not appear in the story itself, chickens were used as a life bar in the PlayStation 2 and PC versions of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[21] In LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, a chicken with a tricorne hat is present at James Norrington's promotion ceremony.[22]

Appearances

Sources

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  2. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, pp. 26-27: "Black Pearl"
  3. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, pp. 28-29: "Black Pearl"
  4. ↑ Jack Sparrow: The Timekeeper, pp. 57-59
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), p. 16
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  8. ↑ The Wanted posters of Hector Barbossa, Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard, and Davy Jones at Treasure Cove.
  9. ↑ Disneyland: From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow
  10. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies, p. 50
  11. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies, p. 94
  12. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies, p. 99
  13. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Audio description from Disney+)
  14. ↑ Fluch der Karibik, pp. 110-111
  15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization), p. 87
  16. ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  17. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Deleted/Extended Scene: "Steady As She Goes"
  18. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Deleted/Extended Scene: "I Miss Him Already"
  19. ↑ Boucher, Jeff. "Johnny Depp (in Jack Sparrow costume) surprises Disney D23 Expo audience", Archived from LA Times blog. September 11, 2009.
  20. ↑ Johnny Depp (in Jack Sparrow costume) surprises Disney D23 Expo audience | Hero Complex – movies, comics, pop culture – Los Angeles Times - Archived
  21. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
  22. ↑ LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game