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Supernatural

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Most pirates, namely Jack Sparrow, believed in the supernatural, while the astronomer Carina Smyth chose not to believe in "supernatural nonsense" until she saw Armando Salazar's ghostly crew.

Most pirates, namely Jack Sparrow, believed in the supernatural, while the astronomer Carina Smyth chose not to believe in "supernatural nonsense" until she saw Armando Salazar's ghostly crew.

"Silverback came looking for it two years ago....It was a horrible night...his leg and terrible grin all glowing red like fire...everything in the house flying around...I'd never seen anything like it. Before that time, nothing out of the ordinary had happened to me—or anyone I knew for that matter. Wizards and magic and supernatural things were things you read about, not things you lived. I didn't know there really were wizards! Or pirates. Or pirate wizards. I thought they was just stories my da' told me."
―Tim Hawk[src]

Supernatural referred to phenomena or entities that were beyond the laws of nature. It was featured in folklore and religious contexts, but could also be seen as an explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions or belief in the paranormal. The term was attributed to non-physical entities, such as angels, demons, gods, ghosts and spirits. It also included claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including magic.

History[]

Elizabeth Swann did not believe in "ghost stories" until she found herself in one with pirates that turn into supernatural skeletons in the moonlight.

Elizabeth Swann did not believe in "ghost stories" until she found herself in one with pirates that turn into supernatural skeletons in the moonlight.

"There is a prophecy. Maybe you don't believe in the supernatural."
"Oh, no, no. I've seen a thing or two."
―Angelica and Jack Sparrow[src]

Over the centuries, the supernatural had both a substantial and terrible impact, most notably to sailors and pirates during the Age of Piracy. After Hernán Cortés denied to stem the slaughter of the Aztecs, the heathen gods placed a curse upon 882 pieces of Aztec gold buried in a stone chest; the curse would later fell upon Captain Hector Barbossa's pirate crew.[1] Aboard the ghost ship Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones' crew was one of the renowned supernatural crews to sail the seven seas, as they were transformed into beings with fish-like body parts and cursed into an afterlife of eternal servitude and damnation in service to Jones.[2] The infamous pirate Captain Edward "Blackbeard" Teach had supernatural resources aboard his flagship the Queen Anne's Revenge, such as his zombie crew and various aspects of his dark magic, and a prophecy by Blackbeard's zombie quartermaster helped Angelica believe in the supernatural.[3]

Over the years, Captain Jack Sparrow found himself caught up in adventures of supernatural intrigue,[4] with some of his possessions having supernatural qualities that gave a special edge,[5][6] including a compass, from the voodoo mystic Tia Dalma, which did not point north but directed the owner to whatever he or she wanted most.[2] By the time of his service in the East India Trading Company, Jack had seen his share—and more—of supernatural happenings. Just knowing Tia Dalma guaranteed that one would see things that were not of earth.[7] When the Black Pearl was risen from the depths by Davy Jones, it was given the supernatural ability to outsail any ship in the Caribbean, thereby also being the only ship to outrun Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman.[2][8] The navigational charts, which originally belonged to Sao Feng but fell into Jack's hands, was the only guide that took into account the role of the supernatural in mortal affairs.[8][3] When Jack saw Blackbeard burning the Cook alive with Greek fire he thought the fire looked supernatural.[9]

The Silent Mary was a supernatural ghost ship that floated with more than half of her hull torn apart, and was able to go sailing without any sails.

The Silent Mary was a supernatural ghost ship that floated with more than half of her hull torn apart, and was able to go sailing without any sails.

By 1751,[10] despite the Spanish Navy captain Armando Salazar and his supernatural crew of cursed ghosts aboard the Silent Mary leaving one man alive to tell the tale, the Devil's Triangle was considered an old sailor's myth. Although it was half-rotten and broken up, the Silent Mary defied the laws of physics by sailing without any sails and floating with more than half of her hull torn apart. Carina Smyth, a young astronomer and a woman of science, didn't believe in "supernatural nonsense" despite Henry Turner pointing out the ghost ship behind them, only believing it after seeing Salazar's ghostly crew with her own eyes.[11]

Behind the scenes[]

"You think of the sea, and there are a lot of supernatural stories you've heard. But nobody had actually done those stories as part of a larger pirate movie or swashbuckler, so there was a wealth of legends to draw from. We touched on some of those in the first movie: there's a line of dialogue in which Will talks about sending himself down to Davy Jones' Locker. So, in DEAD MAN'S CHEST, we decided to explore who Davy Jones is, and then we brought in another well-known legend of the seas, the Flying Dutchman, and combined them together."
―Ted Elliott[src]

During the development of a motion picture version based on Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were inspired by the opening narration of the talking skull and the ghostly voices featured in the ride and suggested the element of the supernatural, creating the idea of cursed skeleton pirates, which gave the story and screenplay an edge that really interested producer Jerry Bruckheimer.[12][13] Rossio stated that the 1985 fantasy film Ladyhawke served as an inspiration for the skeleton pirates, and that they insisted the film be based on the supernatural, ghost story, gothic horror aspect, which is consistent with many tales of the sea.[14] Although the term "supernatural" was used in various behind the scenes material for the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, notably the film's production notes[15] and the audio commentary included in home video releases,[16] the word was first published in the 2005 book Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies by Jason Surrell.[17]

The supernatural element would continue throughout the multi-media franchise. Director Gore Verbinski thought that as the filmmakers grafted the pirate genre with the supernatural, it was "fair game to go into everything from the Orient to sea monsters" as well as have the opportunity to "open the thing up, take the genre to a wild place."[18] On the treasure trove of pirate and seagoing history, lore and mythology, Elliott said, "You think of the sea, and there are a lot of supernatural stories you've heard. But nobody had actually done those stories as part of a larger pirate movie or swashbuckler, so there was a wealth of legends to draw from." As such, while it was touched on in The Curse of the Black Pearl, the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End brought in well-known legends of the seas, like Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman, and combined them together.[4][19]

Having thought of Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth as key story elements, Elliott and Rossio decided to use Tim Powers' 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which also had supernatural elements, as an inspiration for the fourth film.[20] Powers stated that, in the process of writing his book, it occurred to him that the Caribbean pirates in the 18th century could probably be a good basis for the "supernatural adventure" sort of book he liked to write.[21][22] Like the novel, the film featured Blackbeard as a primary character having supernatural powers.[3][20]

Appearances[]

Non-canon appearances[]

Sources[]

External links[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 POTC2 Presskit
  5. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide
  6. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
  7. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Six: The Wicked Wench
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  9. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization), p. 72
  10. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel
  11. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  12. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, p. 7: "Foreword by Jerry Bruckheimer"
  13. ↑ Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean
  14. ↑ Original 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Screenwriter on How a Budget Crisis Changed the Villains | Hollywood Reporter
  15. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean production notes, accessed Dec 9, 2006
  16. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Audio Commentary with Screenwriters Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Jay Wolpert
  17. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
  18. ↑ DisneyWar
  19. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: "Pirate Lore"
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 POTC4 Presskit
  21. ↑ Tim Powers ON STRANGER TIDES (original & followup interviews - JohnnyDeppReads
  22. ↑ Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Tim Powers Interview - YouTube - Archived
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