pirates
For other uses, see Snake (disambiguation)
Snakes in the Caribbean.

Snakes in the Caribbean.

"Mighty close one, that was."
"What would have happened if the snakes had bitten us?"
―Jack Sparrow and Tumen[src]

Snakes were elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes. Many species of snakes had skulls with several more joints, a fork-shaped tongue that allowed them to smell, sharp fangs, and slitted eyes. Snakes moved smoothly over surfaces with a distinctive twisting motion, and when angered, they started hissing and thrashing. Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction. Living snakes were found on every continent except on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans.

History

"The ship was a brigantine, name of La Vipère. Means 'snake' in French, and the name was appropriate. She was a pirate vessel. La Vipère's captain was named Christophe. Until the night he and his mates grabbed me, I thought he was my best friend. There were signs that he was a...snake...but I didn't see them. Or I didn't let myself see them."
―Jack Sparrow to Amenirdis[src]

While the subject of snakes could pertain to the predatory reptile, "snake" could be a term for an individual one held in low regard. Christophe-Julien de Rapièr, who was once Jack Sparrow's companion and best friend, was a French pirate and captain of a brigantine named La Vipère, which means "snake" in French. Jack Sparrow thought the ship's name was appropriate as she was a pirate vessel, and there were signs that de Rapièr was a snake, but until he facilitated the escape of his friend who had been accused of rogue piracy, Sparrow didn't see them, or he didn't let himself see them.[1]

Throughout the Age of Piracy, many stories were told of the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow, including how he acquired his famous compass from the voodoo priestess named Tia Dalma. In one story, Sparrow led the vicious Admiral Royce of the East India Trading Company through the jungles around the Pantano River, where they walked by a pyramid of human skulls engulfed by snakes.[2]

Jack Sparrow faces the "Mother of Water".

Jack Sparrow faces the "Mother of Water".

The jungles of San Silvestre were infested with snakes. A group of conquistadors was sent into the interior of the island to search for a long lost church, but what they found was a ruin full of human skeletons and snakes. Mad with hunger and fever, the conquistadors stayed there, starting to worship a giant snake that resided there as a deity, naming her the "Mother of Water". For some reason the snake did not eat them, seemingly protecting them from the other predators in the jungle. The conquistadors would repay the snake by feeding the beast with other unfortunate people who discovered the church. One day Jack Sparrow and his motley crew came to the church, searching for the legendary Weather Gauge. Misunderstanding the conquistadors' feverish talk of offering his body to worship the most beautiful creature to ever move across the Earth, Jack let them to take him to the snake, where he finally realized what his fate was supposed to be. Jack quickly sprung into action, stabbing the snake's left eye with a broken sword. As the beast chased Jack around the church, Jack tricked her into breaking the column that supported the roof, causing the entire building to collapse, killing the beast.[3]

Leech with a snake on Cannibal island.

Leech with a snake on Cannibal island.

During the search for the Dead Man's Chest, the crew of the Black Pearl tried to climb on vines to get out of the chasm while trapped in two cages made of human bones in Isla de Pelegostos, until Leech reached for a thick vine, but screamed as the vine came twisting into the cage.[4] Leech had pulled a snake, not a vine, causing the men to quickly let go, and their cage fell into the abyss.[5] Meanwhile, in a distant part of the swamp at the Pantano River in Cuba, Tia Dalma's shack was teeming with weird objects, including a preserved sea snake.[6][7][5] When Jack Sparrow and his crew entered the shack, a living snake was hanging from one of the trees around which the house was built.[5]

Angelica with a snake on a Caribbean island.

Angelica with a snake on a Caribbean island.

During the quest for the Fountain of Youth, in a jungle trek on an unchartered island in the Caribbean, a snake swims near Jack Sparrow and Angelica as they talked about the Profane Ritual on a murky river. As Jack recoiled at the snake, Angelica grabbed the snake and wielded it at Jack while describing (a la Tia Dalma) how many years the ritual takes from the victim before tossing the snake away. Later that night, while Hector Barbossa was describing Blackbeard's attack, specifically how the Black Pearl turned against Barbossa's crew, he said that the rigging was wrapping around them like snakes.[8]

Behind the scenes

"Would have been nice to get a real snake for the traveling in the river scene. Somehow ended up with a stand-in snake, purchased from a local dime store. At least that's how it was described to me. Pulling it through the water using fishing line ended up looking as unconvincing as that sounds. Of course the plan is to replace it CGI, but there's something to be said for the fear and realistic messiness that would be created by a real snake."
―Terry Rossio[src]

Snakes were first mentioned in the 2006 reference book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide,[6] later reprinted in the 2007 book Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide.[7] They first appeared in Irene Trimble's junior novelization for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.[4][5]

Some of Dead Man's Chest was filmed at the remote island of Dominica. For cast and crew, one of the great challenges were avoiding constrictor snakes.[9]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Barbossa tells Tia Dalma she looked as mean as a coiled snake while discussing their bargain.[10]

Snakes appeared in Tim Powers' 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which was used for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.[11]

According to Terry Rossio's posts on Wordplay, the snake that appeared to Angelica in a river scene in On Stranger Tides was a stand-in snake which was replaced with CGI.[12] The snake most closely resembles a coral snake, which are highly venomous an look similar to a nonvenomous milk snake or King snake. It was also depicted as being much larger than the real coral and King snakes.

Appearances

Sources

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Eleven: Pirates and Rogues
  2. ↑ Disney Adventures: "The Compass of Destiny!"
  3. ↑ Disney Pirates of the Caribbean: "Mother of Water"
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (junior novelization), p. 50
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, pp. 58-59: "Tia Dalma's Shack"
  8. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  9. ↑ POTC2 Presskit
  10. ↑ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  11. ↑ On Stranger Tides
  12. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/"We Sail With the Tide" by Terry Rossio