# Capt. Jack Sparrow (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826 "2012-02-05T04:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/21 "2012-02-06T04:54:52Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > What I couldn’t understand is: how could they make a fully fleshed and **entertaining** movie out of a _carnival ride?_ Because it wasn’t a carnival ride (pedantic perhaps, but it’s a huge difference). With that said, the results are impressive all the same ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/22 "2012-02-06T12:26:31Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > By appropriating a script that was meant for a completely unrelated movie. What the story there? ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/23 "2012-02-06T14:37:09Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > What the story there? At one point there was going to be a movie based on the _Monkey Island_ series of computer games, (which featured a young pirate, a female governor (as opposed to a governor’s daughter) and a ghost pirate who is cursed). That movie never got made but the writer for it became the writer for _Pirates of the Caribbean_. [Cracked article, first entry](http://www.cracked.com/article_19443_7-classic-movies-you-didnt-know-were-rip-offs.html) [Kind of an overview of the situation](http://www.miwiki.net/The_Curse_of_Monkey_Island_%28movie%29). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/24 "2012-02-06T18:30:52Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m pretty sure that’s it. Hadn’t the pirates spent a lot of the gold before they realized it was cursed? There was no reference to shopkeepers, tavern wenches, etc., all turning into zombies also, it was just the pirates. And of course Will wasn’t cursed either. OK, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks again, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/25 "2012-02-06T18:34:54Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > What I couldn’t understand is: how could they make a fully fleshed and **entertaining** movie out of a _carnival ride?_ 1. It was a book before it was a ride (thank mrs. ministryman for that tidbit). 2. They’re releasing a movie loosely based on a board game (Battleship), so anything goes. Wait…was that a whooshing sound I heard? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/26 "2012-02-06T18:46:01Z")
And they’re reusing the models from Transformers. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/27 "2012-02-06T22:37:20Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > 1. It was a book before it was a ride (thank mrs. ministryman for that tidbit). I think you’re confusing the first PotC movie (Curse of the Black Pearl) and the fourth (On Stranger Tides)…Black Pearl is explained above - an adaptation of a computer game, The Curse of Monkey Island, repurposed into a PotC movie (with a stop as a spec script unrelated to either license (but with elements borrowed from MI) on the way). On Stranger Tides was based on the unrelated book of that name, and had the PotC cast grafted on. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/28 "2012-02-07T03:16:08Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > I think you’re confusing the first PotC movie (Curse of the Black Pearl) and the fourth (On Stranger Tides)…Black Pearl is explained above - an adaptation of a computer game, The Curse of Monkey Island, repurposed into a PotC movie (with a stop as a spec script unrelated to either license (but with elements borrowed from MI) on the way). On Stranger Tides was based on the unrelated book of that name, and had the PotC cast grafted on. _PotC: On Stranger Tides_ is not actually based on the Tim Powers novel _On Stranger Tides_. The script being developed apparently had enough elements in common with the basic plot of the novel (Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth) that Disney felt it best to buy the rights to the novel to avoid potential legal problems, but the stories are pretty different and the characters even more so. The first \*PotC \*movie actually reminded me more of the novel _On Stranger Tides_ than did the fourth one. The whole zombie pirate thing is a fairly obvious idea that any number of people could have thought of independently, but the plot of the novel involves zombie pirates kidnapping a girl named Elizabeth and taking her to a special location where they will perform a magical ritual involving her blood. Looking at [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Stranger_Tides) just now I see that the creator of the _Monkey Island_ games has said he was inspired by the novel _On Stranger Tides_, so I guess it all comes back around on itself. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/29 "2012-02-07T03:20:37Z")
[Heh. It was a video game before it was a movie. Kind of.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_monkey_island) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/30 "2012-02-07T03:24:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [Heh. It was a video game before it was a movie. Kind of.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_of_monkey_island) And the videogame was inspired by the ride, ironically, according to that same article. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826/31 "2012-02-07T21:25:27Z")
I…think we just formed a causation loop. Hold on tight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-jack-sparrow-spoilers/611826.md?page=1)