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- "You'll recognize Cotton from the parrot he keeps at his side."
- ―Joshamee Gibbs
Cotton's Parrot was a blue and gold macaw parrot owned by Cotton, a pirate who joined the crew of the Black Pearl, under Captain Jack Sparrow.
Biography
Early life
Cotton with his parrot at Shipwreck City.
At some point in its life, this blue-and-yellow Macaw would be owned by a pirate named Cotton, and would live in Shipwreck Cove by the mid-1740s. One night, he would join Cotton, who joined with a group of pirates as the Auctioneer led an auction on two wenches, Scarlett and Giselle. After accidentally shooting at the Pirate Code, a pirate named Mungard ordered the Code locked up and warned the crowd of pirates that if any of them speak a word of what occurred, that he would have their tongues. It was then that Cotton and his parrot assured Mungard that mum's the word.[1]
However, Mungard ended up cutting off Cotton's tongue, though it is unknown if Cotton's tongue was cut off before or after Cotton spilled the beans about Mungard. Unable to speak, Cotton would subsequently train his parrot how to use a large number of phrases to essentially talk for him. Although how Cotton, now a mute, achieved such a feat is unknown and no one was able to figure out how.
Motley crew
Jack Sparrow's crew
- "If you're going to let a parrot speak for you, at least find one that makes sense!"
- ―Jack Sparrow to Cotton
Days later, Cotton and his parrot joined a large group of men, including Marty the dwarf, recruited by Joshamee Gibbs to serve under Captain Jack Sparrow. Gibbs informed Jack that Cotton was a mute, having had his tongue cut out and trained his parrot to talk for him. Cotton and his parrot participated in the voyage to save Elizabeth Swann from Hector Barbossa's cursed crew and retrieve the Black Pearl.[2]
The parrot accompanied Cotton throughout his time onboard the Black Pearl, serving under Jack. During the search for the Dead Man's Chest, Cotton's parrot was the only one to escape capture by the Pelegostos, who made Jack their new chief until he and his crew escaped. Days afterwards, Cotton and his parrot survived the attacks of Davy Jones' pet the Kraken, though watched as Jack and the Pearl were both dragged to Davy Jones' Locker. The parrot also accompanied the crew, now under the command of the resurrected Barbossa, during the rescue of Jack Sparrow. Cotton's parrot also formed a partnership with Jack the Monkey, though faced a moment of parley when the monkey pointed a pistol at the parrot. After arriving to Shipwreck Island, when the time came for the pirates brought the fight to Cutler Beckett and his armada, the parrot flew away from Cotton. After the battle had ended the parrot returned once again to his master's shoulder.
Cotton and his parrot remained aboard the Black Pearl when Barbossa stole the Black Pearl from Jack again, and continued to serve aboard the ship. Sometime later, the Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by Blackbeard, attacked the Pearl. After the ship's defeat, Blackbeard had the Pearl turnd into a ship in a bottle. Both Cotton's Parrot and Jack the monkey were inside the Pearl in a bottle.
Jack Sparrow would later discover the bottle and gain possession of it, thanks to Joshamee Gibbs. It is unknown if Cotton's Parrot would ever return to his original size.
Personality and traits
- "Listen...if anyone should ask, tell them Will Turner went into the jungle in search of Jack Sparrow. Understand? I'm talking to a parrot."
"Aye, aye, sir!" - ―Will Turner and Cotton's Parrot
Cotton's Parrot was very loyal to Cotton and, like most parrots, was most often seen on his master's shoulder. The only known case where the parrot did not accompany Cotton was when facing Cutler Beckett's Armada.[3]
The parrot was known to use nautical catchphrases like "Don't eat me", "Shiver me timbers", "Dead men tell no tales" and "Walk the plank" for more complex ideas (in these particular cases, "You missed a spot on the deck" and "We don't like the job you're doing, Captain Jack."). "Wind in your sails!" was generally accepted to mean "Yes". The bird at times appeared to be more intelligent than many of the Black Pearl's crew members, to the point of giving Cotton orders occasionally. Another phrase the parrot said was "uh oh. Fire in the hole!" after Jack the Monkey lit a firework to blow up a firework factory.[citation needed]
Behind the scenes
- "Nobody knows the parrot's name, neither, so we just call it 'Cotton's parrot.' "
- ―Joshamee Gibbs to Jack Sparrow (first screenplay draft)
- Cotton's Parrot was portrayed by blue-and-gold Macaws Chip and Salsa on screen in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and its sequels, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. One of the parrots appeared in the short film Tales of the Code: Wedlocked, but which one is currently unknown. Christopher S. Capp provided the parrot's voice in all three films and the At World's End video game. James Arnold Taylor voiced the parrot in The Legend of Jack Sparrow.
- When Jack came in a longboat to the shores from the Black Pearl in Davy Jones' Locker, while everyone was running over to him, Cotton's Parrot said, "Hide the Rum!".
Appearances
- Tales of the Code: Wedlocked
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
- The Accidental Pirate!
- Revenge of the Pirates!
- The Capture of Jack Sparrow!
- Going Overboard!
- The Eye of Dispair!
- The Sails of Doom!
- The Black Skull!
- The Star of the Sea
- The Eyes Have It!
- The Return of Jack Sparrow
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources
Note and references
- ↑ Tales of the Code: Wedlocked
- ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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