Thursday, November 19, 2009

Tell-No-Tales Thursdays: Jack Sparrow’s Treasure



Before Jack Sparrow came along, this is what visitors used to see at the end of the ride as their boat went up the hill above the pirate grotto. This poor fellow was eternally straining to get his loot up the hill, but to no avail. Now, may he rest in peace as he is lost to the ages. This AA figure was "rescued" by Tony Baxter from the World of Motion at EPCOT center before it became Test Track.





The last scene you view as you leave the underground Pirates cavern is this treasure room with Jack Sparrow. The AA is pretty impressive (more so in person than in this static shot), however, I don’t really care for this scene, as it just looks like a room dumped in the middle of the previous pistol duel. The entire Pirates ride seamlessly flows from one vignette to another, and yet the Captain Jack treasure just seems a little out of place.

A few more views:













And no flash:



Unfortunately, the Imagineer’s attempts to have Sparrow roll a coin between his fingers was unsuccessful. One day maybe...

See more Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean photos at my website.

7 comments:

William Bezek said...

I am a huge Depp fan but they should have just left the ride alone. I am distracted while on it remembering the way it used to be.

Major Pepperidge said...

I have to agree with Mr. Bezek... I like Johnny Depp, and liked the first POC movie, but I do find Jack Sparrow's presence a bit distracting. Probably younger people who only know this version think it's a totally natural fit!

Nice "no flash" photo, by the way...

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

I try to avoid Jack S throughout the ride, but you can't miss him at the end! The spinning coin trick might have made it better and they need to lose the drunken Johhny D sound track of him singing Yoho, its miserable...

That said, GREAT PHOTOS Dave! Thanks!

Dan Alexander said...

I grew up going to Epcot and miss the World of Motion! I love spotting "recycled" animatronics--or those that have been duplicated for other attractions, like how the "Pirates" pigs also live at Walt Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain.

TokyoMagic! said...

I don't mind the first two Jack Sparrows, but I've always thought that last scene looked "shoehorned" in. And I agree with VDT....they need to NOT have him sing!

Chiana_Chat said...

I miss World of Motion too! It was very much a descendant of an attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Ford's I think. Ironically a car sponsored ride replaced it.

walterworld said...

The best closing scene was the original one, with the pirate balancing on the barrels. This figure is now in the chase scene with the pooped pirate.

I can still remember looking back while climbing back 'up' the waterfall and seeing him continue to balance away!