To answer this question, I want to unpack The Curse of the Black Pearl and the third film, At World’s End in order to examine how Disney portrays the history of the Caribbean in terms of piracy and what that means for Black Atlantic studies. So what does a comedy/action pirate franchise have to do with the Black Atlantic? The franchise, in fact, includes books, action figures, video games, and other merchandise (as do many Disney properties) that tie into the film series. Disney made two more sequels starring the original cast and a fourth film (a potential fifth movie is scheduled but not yet green-lit).
Johnny Depp, critically acclaimed for his performance of Captain Jack Sparrow, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. The first film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, became a runaway hit in 2003, surprising many who believed the pirate genre was dead. Deeps > Contemporary Film and the Black Atlantic > History > Disneyfied Histories: Disney’s Intentional Inaccuracy, Historical Films, and The Black Atlantic > Pirates of the Caribbean: The (Almost) Slaveless Caribbean, Race, and the Black Atlanticĭisney’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise began as a theme park ride.
