ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shiver me timbers! Thar be changes ter one of yer favorite Disney rides, Pirates of the Caribbean, 'n' sum lily-livered fans are ready ter mutiny over 'em.
Tha' scalawag, Captain Jack Sparrow, who's bin prancin' roun' on movie screens, ha' joined the pillagin' and pilferin' pirates, along with tha' scurvy bilge rat Barbossa an' tha' dreaded Davy Jones.
Disney gave the 39-year-old Disneyland attraction and the 32-year-old Disney World attraction face-lifts by inserting animatronic figures based on the movie characters of Sparrow, the fey pirate captain portrayed by Johnny Depp; and his nemesis Barbossa, portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003). A ghostly new villain from the new movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," Davy Jones, makes an ominous appearance near the start of the ride.
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Disney also spent the past three months cleaning up the existing characters, adding new bling to the ride's treasure room, piping in some of the movies' music and sprucing up the story line, lighting and sound.
Disneyland reopened the ride in Anaheim two days after the star-studded premiere of "Dead Man's Chest" at the park, and almost immediately drew a big crowd.
But some of Disneyland's biggest fans decried the changes as the equivalent of defacing a great artwork.
"What next?" wrote one fan on a Pirates chat room. "A makeover for the Mona Lisa? A new nose on the Great Sphinx? Arms and a dress on Venus de Milo?"
John McClintock, a Disney spokesman, said the company's "imagineers" tried to strike a "happy medium" between younger fans of the movie and older fans of the ride.
"Suddenly, there was this enormously popular movie, and we were finding a whole new generation coming in and asking, 'If that is Pirates of the Caribbean, where is Jack Sparrow?'" McClintock said.
Younger fans helped boost the gross income for the first "Pirates" movie to $653.9 million worldwide, while older fans have helped turn the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction into one of the most-ridden rides in the world, according to Disney.
Jeff Baham, a Silicon Valley graphic designer who hosts the www.tellnotales.com Web site dedicated to the ride, said Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the fans' most beloved attractions because of its history.
He said most of the aficionados who have posted messages on his Web site or contacted him since the ride reopened have raved about the changes. "Everyone who has seen the ride and been on it loved it," he said.
Psst! Avast there!
What ride aficionados can expect:
● Guests still board open boats at Lafitte's Landing in the park's New Orleans Square. They travel along a 1,838-foot canal, passing through a darkened lagoon illuminated by fireflies and into a tunnel. A talking skull and crossbones warns of the "plundering pirates" ahead and declares: "Dead men tell no tales." The boat plunges down a waterfall, through a mysterious grotto and into a fierce battle between a pirate galleon and the Spanish village's fort.
● The story line has been tweaked. Now, instead of pirates merely sacking a Spanish fortress in search of treasure, the pirates are out to find Captain Jack Sparrow. The movie character, who has taken off on his own to seek the treasure, appears three times along the ride's route.
● Movie characters Barbossa (Sparrow's nemesis) and Davy Jones also make appearances — Barbossa as captain of the pirate ship Wicked Wench and Davy Jones as an apparition in a new waterfall effect.
● The treasure-cache scene has been replaced with more than 400,000 glittery gold coins and set pieces, plus the Aztec treasure chest and other props from "Curse of the Black Pearl."
● The original analog audio tracks have been digitally remastered, and music from the "Pirates" movies has been edited into selected scenes.
● More than 200 speakers have been replaced with ones delivering crisper sound.
● Lighting and sound effects in the battle scene have been beefed up to heighten the sense of drama.
● A controversial scene changed a decade ago in a bow to political correctness has been changed again: Now, instead of pirates chasing "wenches," the "wenches" are chasing the pirates.
History of the ride
● Pirates of the Caribbean was the last Disneyland ride personally designed by Walt Disney, who died about three months before it opened on March 18, 1967.
● The attraction was loosely inspired by Hollywood films, including Disney's "Treasure Island." "The Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were inspired by the ride.
● Real human skulls and skeletons were used as props during the early days, before the advent of plastics that could be molded into lifelike forms.
● The New Orleans Square section of Disneyland cost $18 million to build — about $3 million more than the cost of the Louisiana Purchase. About $8 million of that went to create the Pirates ride.
● The line for Pirates can handle about 3,400 riders per hour.
