Alleged changes to Pirates?

I found this article on Disney and More involving Pirates of the Caribbean. It is primarily about the Paris version getting overhauled to include Capt. Jack Sparrow, but it does contain this blurb about something similar happening to other versions out there, which you can read here: <!--Can't find substitution for tag [blog.Disneyandmore]-->.

Basically, the article claims that the auction scene in Paris' Pirates ride will be replaced due to political correctness. And if the changes work out, the article adds, they are likely to happen at the other parks, too, including the U.S.

That would be quite sad if the auction were scrapped, certainly in California. It is without doubt one of the most iconic scenes in the ride. I would hate for it to be altered due to further political correctness.

 

We'll have a better idea about the truth of it next month.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens. If they try to update the attraction to current moral standards, it seems like a slippery slope; pirates by their very nature aren't exactly family friendly, and trying to come up with an "acceptable" solution will only lead to something that will seem awkwardly dated in a few year.

It also raises questions about where to draw the line in other attractions: should they remove the gallows humor from Haunted Mansion? take a less stereotyped approach in it's a small world? show more nuance among the "natives" in the Jungle Cruise? Once we start down this path, there's a lot of stuff throughout the parks that could potentially be in need of change

 

Roger Rabbit gives the weasels a refreshing water shower on a hot day. The queen is concerned about Sleeping Beauty's health and gives her a crisp apple. Captain Hook adopts Peter Pan.

Let's do this!!! (not seriously, 85)

 

Why would they change a scene they market the heck out of now?

 

Welp, it's happening:

You’ll even discover that a familiar character is playing a new role joining the pirates ranks and helping the local townspeople “unload” their valuables at the Mercado auction. In the U.S., this famous redhead will appear in a similar scene at the Magic Kingdom Park and Disneyland park in 2018 following a previously scheduled refurbishment.
New Pirates Set to Join the Crew of Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland Paris July 24


While I guess this avoids the unpleasantries associated with a human auction, I'm really not sure it makes any sense, either within the ride or with piracy in general. It sort of makes you wonder how the current TWDC is okay with having a marquee attraction and blockbuster film franchise based around a subject that combines pretty much every cultural taboo into one place. With the Jake and the Neverland Pirates TV show, they've watered down pirates to teach you lessons on how to be a good friend and share, so it only seems logical that the attraction will eventually morph into a similarly useless concept. This seems to be a step in that direction

 

Unpopular opinion from a big Disney fan (and Pirates is my favorite ride):

About bloody time.

Every time I'm on this ride this scene completely weirds me out. The whole "it was created in another time" argument so we should just be understanding is bananas. Confederate monuments were created in another time. Caricatures of Japanese during World War II were created in another time. Blackface was created in another time. There's a reason we don't keep this stuff around. It's bad enough that women are being auctioned off, but let's be clear on what the joke is: an obese woman is up for sale and there's also old women in line *sobbing* and the pirates are calling for the one attractive woman in the bunch. What a delightfully playful thing for any woman over 30 who doesn't look like a supermodel. It should've been changed long ago. This is a ride for families and children. If someone would like to create a super serious museum experience of how pirates treated women, complete with rape and murder, grand. But it's not my idea of a good time at the Happiest Place on Earth.

 

Do I have to remind you that pirates, by definition, aren't exactly nice guys?

I'm reminded of an old Brady Bunch episode, "Bobby's Hero," in which the youngest of the brothers, aided and abetted by old movies that had been not so much "edited for television" as butchered for television, had developed a case of hero worship -- for Jesse James. A talk with an old man whose father had been murdered by Jesse James gave Bobby a nightmare that cured his misplaced hero worship.

Yes, it's a fun ride, but the pirates are already too sanitized as it is (they behave rather like they learned their trade in a certain port city in Cornwall) They don't need to be sanitized any further.

 

I agree. The fact that the scene is being replaced rather than removed entirely softens the blow.

 

So I assume Disney plans on removing alleged woman beater Johnny Depp from the ride too?

 

POTC has been one of my favorite attractions since I was a kid. For 50 years, (built in 1967) as far as I know, nobody has publicly complained about this scene. It was built during, and survived, the heyday of the women's lib movement of the '60s-'70s. Have people become so fragile in today's society that they can't handle it?
I've read in articles how the scene sends the wrong message, especially to kids. Well, I remember going through the ride as a kid. Hell, I've taken my own kids on the ride, countless times. I remember the auction scene, ("Show 'em yer larboard side."). Drunken pirates, guns blazing, dunking an old guy in his well, a town on fire, and a skeleton captain surrounded by his treasure....It's all part of the story.
Walt said in his dedication that, "Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America..." POTC tells the story of world history. And, there are a lot of hard facts out there. I know the Disney way is to water down, homogenize, and give us a gentle image. They also like to cross-market their products. Yet, an important part of their product is allowing us to "remember the magic." They know as well as we all do that part of that magic is remembering Disneyland the way we have experienced it over a lifetime. That's part of what makes it magic. I can experience parts of it again and again, with my kids, and with my grandkids. I also know Disney has to keep up with the changing times, but there also has to be a balance with the past.
So, this change is completely unnecessary. They've already made changes to the ride. Move on and "improve" something else...like, perhaps, crowd control.
And, mark my words, if I see one more Johnny Depp appear on this ride, I'm never going on it again.

 

I didn't see complaints about pirates chasing women, yet that changed years ago. At the rate they're going, the pirate ship will fire t-shirt cannons at the fort, the mayor will bob for apples, and the shadow swordfight will be someone buying churros.

 

Just because something got a bye 50 years ago doesn't mean it should stay now.

The idea of auctioning off people of any gender for any reason is repugnant to us today and I don't see misty eyed memories as a reason to keep this scene. What's proposed seems like a good compromise to me and acknowledges the many female pirates that existed.

Apparently nostalgia trumps accuracy and equality.

 

Equality? if the company wanted to promote equality, then would not have earned four billion dollars making and selling pirates movies. you are for demolishing the whole ride, then, and demanding that disney donate 4 billion dollars to charity.

if the driving motive of everything in life is equality.

 

I don't look to Disney for accuracy. The railroad workers being killed in the Golden Dreams film was a bit much for me. It was fine for others here. I'm ok with the auction scene as-is. Not everyone feels the same. They're changing it, regardless.

 

Equality as in let's show women as murdering plundering pillaging criminals.

 

You know, come to think of it, it really isn't very progressive to be glorifying pirates at all. As noted in this thread, they were bad people. Why should Disney be making light of robbery? Or alcoholism? Or guns? And my gosh ... what kind of racists would portray our neighbors in the Caribbean in such an offensive, stereotypical light?

I think they should just get rid of the pirates entirely and redo the entire attraction as The Descendants Visit Endor. While it may not fit perfectly with the New Orleans Square theme, I'm sure they'll be ripping all that out anyway just as soon as they have another unexpectedly popular movie.

 

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

If you look on the Disney parks blog there are more negative comments about this than anything else. But what does that matter? The Pirates just had their golden anniversary and they're pulling this BS now? First all the movie references and now this? When will it end?!

We wants the wench sale!!!! Booooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Someone just had extra money sitting in their project budget and needed to get rid of it by quarter's end.

It's a pretty lazy change of just redressing the characters and give them different props and new dialog. If it really had to change it, why not doing some more dramatic and fun? Add some new female pirates to the mix with a completely new scene.

 

I think they should add Ariel to the cannonball scene.