Talking Skull

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"I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew. We'll sing it all the time!" This article covers material from Disney Parks attractions around the world, including Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean. Therefore, the factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed. Please see this article's talk page to discuss possible changes.

Skull
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Also known as	Skull Talking Skull Jolly Roger Captain X
Statistics
Affiliation	Dead Man's Cove Jack Sparrow
Behind the scenes
First appearance	Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
Latest appearance	Battle for the Sunken Treasure
Portrayer	X Atencio (original) James Arnold Taylor

"Ye come seekin' adventure and salty ol' pirates, aye? Sure ye come to the proper place. But keep a weather eye open, mates, and hold on tight, with both hands if you please...there be squalls ahead, and Davy Jones waiting for them what don't obey."

―Talking Skull

This skull, known as the Talking Skull, Jolly Roger, or Captain X, is a character who appeared in the original Disneyland attraction Pirates of the Caribbean. Originally affixed to the wall overhead of the bateaux of the Blue Bayou, the talking skull issued a series of ominous admonitions that culminates with the chilling prophecy, "Dead men tell no tales." The skull appeared in several forms in Pirates of the Caribbean media, from either the famous design of a skull and crossed swords or bones, often seen in a Jolly Roger; or a floating skull.

Portrayal and appearances

After its appearance in the original Disneyland ride, the talking skull would be adapted in various Pirates media, including, but not limited to, promotions for the films series, related toylines, as well as making an appearance in The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow and other attractions to Disney Parks around the world.

Disney Attractions

Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean

"Psst! Avast there! It be too late to alter course, mateys...and there be plundering pirates lurking in every cove, waitin' to board. Sit closer together, and keep your ruddy hands inboard. That be the best way to repel boarders. And mark well me words, mateys...dead men tell no tales!"

―Talking Skull

The talking skull in the Disneyland.

The talking skull's first appearance was in Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean in Disneyland. After their boat turns a final corner of the Blue Bayou in the brick channel, guests find a mysterious voice from a living Jolly Roger. Mounted on the bricks above the boat's path, the talking skull with crossed swords (voiced by Disney legend X Atencio, who was also responsible for writing the entire show script) narrates the introduction to the dead men's grotto while asking guests to take heed of his warnings that dead men tell no tales.

The Talking Skull in the Magic Kingdom.

Because of the success of the attraction, other versions of the Pirates ride were made to other Disney Parks all over the world. However, when the ride at Walt Disney World was refurbished for the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in 2006, some sweeping changes were made to the classic attraction. One was the removal of the talking skull, much to the dismay of many fans. However, a new version of the skull would make a return in 2017 as part of a new on-ride photograph. As guests ride past the wrecked ship and its skeletal helmsman, the skull appears off to the side of the boat and makes a passing remark before a flash of lightning appears, masking the on-ride photograph. Afterwards, guests then plunge down a waterfall in the dark while the skull can be heard cackling maliciously.

The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow

"Ahoy there, Captain Jack!"
"Ahoy back, strange, inexplicably talking skull in the sky."
"Your new recruits have served you well. Prove themselves in battle, they did."
"You have trained them well, my floating, curiously luminous friend."

―Talking Skull and Jack Sparrow

Several years after the changed to the Pirates ride in Walt Disney World, the talking skull returned with a larger role in the 2012 attraction The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow (now voiced by James Arnold Taylor). As from the original ride, the skull first appeared in a plaque mounted with two crossed swords, introducing the attraction with the skull's now-famous words, "Dead men tell no tales," and subsequently narrating the whole experience by asking guests if they have what it takes to be part of Captain Jack Sparrow's ruddy crew.

The talking skull in The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow.

After guests walk through the door that the skull is mounted atop of, entering the main attraction, the disembodied pirate skull appears, now floating in the sky, narrating the adventurous moments that unfold, each representing memorable parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. When a skeleton army suddenly appeared, the skull in the sky asked guests to unlock a chest with great power and do away with the skeletons by reciting, "Send those bones to Davy Jones." The skull then guides guests through attacks from Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman, as well as the Kraken and mermaids. Finally, to finish of Davy Jones, the skull calls for Captain Jack Sparrow himself to come up from the ship's cabin and appear on deck, whether he was with a redheaded wench or stumbling on rum bottles on deck. Standing on the ship's bow, Jack took the lead in defeating Jones and the Flying Dutchman.

From there forward, Captain Jack and the floating skull share a rapport, in which Jack makes guests take the pirate's oath and sings "A Pirate's Life for Me", while Jack drinks a bottle of rum. After Jack disappears, the skull warns guests to mark what Jack had said as well as to remember the day they sailed with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Fantasmic!

The talking skull makes a brief appearance at the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean part of Fantasmic!. As the Black Pearl/Columbia sails away a projection of Jack Sparrow says to the audience "This is the day you will always remember as the day you almost caught Captain...", the skull interrupts him and screams "JAAACK!", with Sparrow finishing the line "Sparrow!"

Film series

Because the films were based on the original ride, they needed the skull as the series' main logo. The logo would appear in posters and various promotional material. Each of the Blu-ray releases had the skulls talk in the menus, introducing viewers to contents such as the film and its special features.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: A skull with crossed swords. This logo would also appear in Disney Parks as well as being the main logo for Pirates of the Caribbean Online.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: A skull with crossed torches.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: A skull with crossed bones.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: A silver skull with crossed swords. This logo would also appear on the cover of the Pirates of the Caribbean novel The Price of Freedom. The skull would also talk in a trailer for the Disney Second Screen feature, but not talk on the app itself, however.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: A metallic, gold and black-colored skull with golden crossed bones.

Behind the scenes

• In Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, the skull was voiced by Xavier Atencio, the Imagineer and Disney Legend who was also responsible for writing the entire show script for the attraction as well as the lyrics for "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)". James Arnold Taylor voiced the skull for 2012 attraction The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow at Disney's Hollywood Studios as well as in the 2017 addition to the Pirates ride at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World.
• There have been several names for the Talking Skull after appearing in the original attraction:
  • The character was credited as simply "Skull" in the 1967 final draft of the attraction narration script.
  • The name "Talking Skull" was used in several books about the Disney ride, like Jason Surrell's Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies.
  • Because the classic Jolly Roger flag was an influence, the skull was also referred to as a "talking Jolly Roger" on occasion. One of the skull's lines after being re-added to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the Magic Kingdom in 2017 was, "Aye, ye scallywags, save some room for your old mate, Jolly Roger, eh?"
  • In the script for the Shanghai Disneyland ride Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, the skull is named "Captain X" which serves as a tribute to Imagineer Xavier "X" Atencio.
• Disneyland's version of the Talking Skull has the appearance of a skull and crossed swords, wearing an eyepatch on its right eye, though it had been updated over the years, and is seen at the very beginning of the ride giving a sort of safety-spiel to guests before they drop down a waterfall into Dead Man's Cove. The original Magic Kingdom version first appeared as a skull with crossed bones, wearing an eyepatch on its left eye with its right eyeball intact, and was seen along with the skeletal helmsman at Dead Man's Cove before the drop that leads into the pirate galleon's attack on Puerto Dorado.
• When Disney was refurbishing Pirates of the Caribbean in 2006, adding elements from the movie franchise to the ride, the Talking Skull was removed from the Magic Kingdom version. While there was no definitive answer as to why the Talking Skull had disappeared in the first place, consensus amongst fans seemed to be that the Talking Skull was often broken anyway and perhaps no longer worked so well in the context of what was going on at that point in the ride, at that time. Regardless, the removal of the skull was not well received by the fans of the original attraction. However, Disney announced that a new photo capture is coming to Pirates of Caribbean at Magic Kingdom on June 19, 2017. It was revealed that after 11 years of absence, the Talking Skull (now sans crossbones) returned to the Magic Kingdom's version of the Disney ride. After the skull delivers a line, his eyes flash red while a photo is taken for the ride's souvenir photo of the guests with the skeletal helmsman.
• Prior to the Magic Kingdom's update in 2017, another talking skull that made its way to Walt Disney World by making an appearance in the short-lived The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attraction from 2012-2014 at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
• The skull logo for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl appears in the trailer for the 2006 video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow as the pirate flag of the Black Pearl.
• The Talking Skull's voice can be heard in the haunted caverns of the Sea of the Damned in the non-canon video game Sea of Thieves. A character called Cursed Captain plays a role similar to that of the Talking Skull.

Appearances

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure
• Fantasmic!

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
• Disney Pirates: The Definitive Collector's Anthology