- "He keeps each ship as a prize. You help me, and I promise you your pick. Though I think I know the one you will choose."
"The Black Pearl in a bottle? Why is the Black Pearl in a bottle?" - ―Angelica and Jack Sparrow on Blackbeard's ships in bottles
The ships in bottles were captured sailing ships enclosed in individual glass bottles by the infamous Blackbeard, the pirate captain who studied Voodoo to his own ends, using his supernatural powers as a Brujos. In this state, the shrunken ship would sail on a shrunken, churning ocean. Some would look like they're frozen in time at the moment of capture, whether it was in battle, in a snowstorm in the Arctic, or in a storm at sea. Blackbeard kept an armada of conquered ships in bottles as a prize, part of a collection found in a cabinet in the captain's quarters aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. Near the end of the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Joshamee Gibbs was sent by Jack Sparrow to retrieve his beloved and now-shrunken Black Pearl, eventually restored to her former glory, only to have stolen the rest of the fleet of ships in bottles in a gunny sack.
History[]
Through unknown circumstances, the pirate captain known as Blackbeard studied Voodoo to his own ends, using his supernatural powers as a Brujos, which included magicking full-sized sailing ships into individual glass bottles.[4] In this state, the shrunken ship would sail on a shrunken, churning ocean. Some would look like they're frozen in time at the moment of capture, whether it was in battle, in a snowstorm in the Arctic, or in a storm at sea.[5] Although the exact methods in which the ships in bottles were created are unknown, it was known that Blackbeard would attack ships with the Sword of Triton, bringing the rigging to life and turning the ship against the crew, and then magicked the vessel into a bottle for good measure.[4] Among his many victories in battle, Blackbeard was known to have captured one ship of the line.[6] He kept each ship in a bottle as a prize, adding them to a collection inside a cabinet found in the captain's quarters of the Queen Anne's Revenge.[2]
Several years prior to the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Blackbeard attacked then magicking the Black Pearl into a bottle for good measure, along with the armada of other conquered ships. While Hector Barbossa believed the Pearl to be sunk, Jack Sparrow was shown the current state of the Black Pearl by Angelica, after the latter shanghaied the former aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. Sparrow sent his loyal first mate Joshamee Gibbs to retrieve his beloved Pearl, and the two tried figuring how to get the ship out of the bottle. Feeling it would be a shame to leave an entire fleet behind, Gibbs stole the rest of the ships in bottles in a gunny sack.[2] About one year later, Jack Sparrow continued carrying the Black Pearl in a bottle until the ship was restored to its former glory by Hector Barbossa, who used Blackbeard's sword to stab the shrunken ship's bottle, in which the glass bottle cracked upon being struck by its steel blade, thereby gradually restoring the Pearl to her original size.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
- "Initially, we just thought that the ships would be affected by the light in the room that they're in. But then this idea came to have the ships look like they're frozen in time at the moment of capture: in battle or in a snowstorm in the Arctic or in a storm at sea. The art department made several bottles with real model ships inside. For the wider shots, we replaced our key ones of those and essentially added movement to some of the others. And then as we got closer, they became fully CG. We even played with macro photography on some shots."
- ―Ben Snow
- The ships in bottles would first appear in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,[2] later making appearances in the Magic Kingdom attraction A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas and the fifth film Dead Men Tell No Tales.[3]
- The name "Ships in Bottles" is based on the caption "Various Ships in Bottles from Blackbeard's collection" from a D23 display for On Stranger Tides.[7]
- The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and the film's Disney Second Screen feature shows an illustration of the shrunken-but-still-sailing Black Pearl. An additional image provides a behind-the-scenes note detailing how the bottled Black Pearl was meticulously built under the supervision of U.S. property master Kirk Corwin, and was later animated by Charles Gibson's visual effects department for maximum effect.[8]
- For the effect of shrinking ships in bottles in On Stranger Tides, this involved Industrial Light & Magic setting up simulations in San Francisco by Chris Foreman and then working with Mohen Leo and the Singapore team, who executed most of the shots. ILM's visual effects supervisor Ben Snow explained that the ships would initially be affected by the light in the room that they're in, but then an idea came to have the ships "look like they're frozen in time at the moment of capture: in battle or in a snowstorm in the Arctic or in a storm at sea." The art department made several bottles with real model ships inside, and for the wider shots they replaced the key ones of those and added movement to some of the others. The ships in bottles eventually became fully CG, having played with macro photography on some shots.[5]
- Speculation of the Black Pearl being a ship in a bottle arose while filming On Stranger Tides was underway in July 2010. It was made ever since they saw Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow) holding a bottle on set of On Stranger Tides.[9] This was shown to be true as revealed upon one TV spot at the earliest,[10] and the film's theatrical release at the latest.[2]
- Despite Jack and Gibbs having a sack-full all of Blackbeard's ship in bottles from aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge in On Stranger Tides,[2] only the Black Pearl in a bottle would be seen in Dead Men Tell No Tales.[3]
- In Terry Rossio's 2012 early screenplay draft for Dead Men Tell no Tales, a dialogue exchange between Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa served as one of our few 'connective tissue' references to On Stranger Tides, during which Jack wanted the Black Pearl in a bottle, which Barbossa didn't know about.[11] It would also be revealed that Barbossa's leg was taken with the Pearl and is still inside the bottle. The Black Pearl being released from the bottle would also not be shown, and that Jack would know that the Pearl was free from seeing Cotton's Parrot. Jack's hallucination of Scrum playing the trumpet with goats around was meant as an homage to Jack's speech to Gibbs at the end of On Stranger Tides, where he said the way to free the Black Pearl from the bottle would involve an hourglass, three goats, a crossbow, and one of them must learn to play the trumpet.[12]
- In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early Dead Men Tell No Tales script draft Jack Sparrow spent years searching for a way to free the Black Pearl from the bottle. Following the mutiny on the Dying Gull the bottle was retrieved by Hector Barbossa. The bottle shattered when the pirates found the Trident of Poseidon and the ship grew to the size of a model, only to grow to its full size when the island sunk beneath the waves.[13]
- These ships in bottle were apparently inspired by the real-world impossible bottle containing a model ship.
Appearances[]
- A Pirate's Adventure: Treasures of the Seven Seas
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (First appearance)
- The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources[]
- The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- Disney Second Screen: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
External links[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ As evidenced by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel, the events of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales are set in 1751. In the movie Barbossa says the Black Pearl was shrunk by Blackbeard "five winters ago". Ergo, Blackbeard knew about how to shrink a full-sized conquered ship into a bottle before then.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wordplayer.com: Critical analysis - SCRIPTS Message Board - Wordplayer.com, posted by Terry Rossio (March 26, 2013)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Splash of Mermaids for Fourth 'Pirates' | Animation World Network - Archived
- ↑ Bottled ships
- ↑ Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit costume and prop showcase at Disney's D23 Expo on August 19, 2011
- ↑ The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- ↑ KeepToTheCode - View topic - News POTC 4- DISCUSSION ONLY- SPOILERS! KEEPER - Archived
- ↑ On Stranger Tides - "Every Treasure" TV Spot
- ↑ Terry Rossio on Jack and Barbossa con each other and Black Pearl fate
- ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES by Terry Rossio
- ↑ Dead Men Tell No Tales script by Jeff Nathanson, second draft, 5/6/2013