April 27, 2012
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (released internationally as The Pirates! Band of Misfits) is a 2012 3D stop-motion animated swashbuckler comedy filmproduced by the British studio Aardman Animations and the American studios Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation as their second and final collaborative project; it is Aardman's first stop-motion film since Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), and Sony Pictures Entertainment's first stop-motion film. Directed by Peter Lord, written by Gideon Defoe, based on DeFoe's 2004 novel The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (the first book from The Pirates! series), and features the voices of Hugh Grant, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, and Jeremy Piven. It follows a crew of amateur pirates in their attempt to win the Pirate of the Year competition.
The Pirates! was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing and was released on 28 March 2012 in the United Kingdom, and on 27 April 2012 in the United States. The film received generally positive reviews, and was a modest box office success, earning $123 million against a budget as high as $55 million. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Pixar's Brave. It was the second film from Sony Pictures Animation to be nominated after Surf's Up.
Storyline[]
In London, 1837, Queen Victoria is told by her servants that England rules the entire ocean, with the exception of pirates, whom she despises (simply because they shouldn't be around anymore). Meanwhile, The Pirate Captain leads an unorthodox group of amateur pirates who are trying to make a name for themselves on the high seas. To prove his worth, The Captain enters the annual Pirate of the Year competition, with the winner being whoever can plunder the most treasure. After several failed attempts to plunder mundane ships, they come across the HMS Beagle and capture its lone passenger, Charles Darwin, who recognizes the crew's pet "parrot", Polly, as the last living dodo bird. Darwin recommends that they enter Polly in the Scientist of the Year competition at the Royal Society of London, and The Captain accepts, believing that winning the competition can help him win the Pirate of the Year award, despite his assistant, The Pirate with the scarf, advising him not to. Allowing The Pirate Captain and his crew to stay at his house for the night, Darwin plans to steal Polly for himself in order to impress Queen Victoria, whom he's smitten with. He has his trained chimpanzee Mr. Bobo steal Polly, but the plan fails.
The next day, the pirates disguise themselves as scientists to enter the competition, and the dodo display wins the top prize, which turns out to be a meeting with the Queen. The Queen requests that Polly be put in her petting zoo, but the Captain refuses and accidentally reveals his true identity. The Captain is about to be executed when Darwin reminds the Queen that Polly has been hidden and only the Captain knows where. The Queen pardons the Captain of his crimes and orders Darwin to find Polly by any means necessary. Darwin and Mr. Bobo take the Captain to a tavern, get him intoxicated, and steal Polly, but The Captain chases them into the Tower of London, where the Queen is waiting. She dismisses Darwin and Mr. Bobo and offers The Captain enough treasure to ensure his win for Pirate of the Year in exchange for Polly. The Captain accepts the offer and returns to his crew, assuring them Polly is still safe.
At the Pirate of the Year ceremony, the Captain is announced as the winner, but rival pirate Black Bellamy finds a newspaper revealing the Queen's pardon and explains that if pardoned, one is no longer a pirate. The Captain is stripped of his treasure and pirate attire and admits to his crew that he sold Polly to the Queen for the treasure, prompting them to abandon him. The Captain returns to London and reunites with Darwin, who has discovered that the Queen is part of a society of world leaders that dine on endangeredcreatures, and Polly is to be served at their next banquet. The Captain and Darwin work together to steal an airship and find the Queen's flagship, the QV1, while Mr. Bobo sets off to retrieve the Captain's crew members.
Aboard the QV1, the Captain and Darwin find Polly before she's cooked and eaten, but the Queen finds them and attempts to kill both of them. Mr. Bobo and the crew come to their aid, but while fighting the Queen, they accidentally mix the ship's stash of baking soda with vinegar, causing a violent reaction that explodes and breaks the ship in two. The Queen tries to escape with Polly in the airship that the Captain and Darwin came on. Polly causes her to rip a hole in the airship and drop Polly, and the Captain catches her before she falls into the ship's propeller. The Captain, along with Darwin, Mr. Bobo and the rest of his crew, escape safely, leaving the furious Queen behind on her deflating airship. Due to their actions, the Captain is targeted with the highest bounty known to pirates, with 100,000 Doubloons placed by the Queen, restoring his pirate reputation as well as marking him as the most dangerous pirate alive. Darwin stays on an island to study more exotic animals, and The Pirate Captain continues his exploits with his crew, now joined by Mr. Bobo.
Also See[]
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) (Trailers)
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) (TV Spots)
Sound Effects Used[]
- Auvidis Tempo, Cris D'Un Bébé
- Cartoon Network Cartoon Fall Sound/Hollywoodedge, Sky Rocket Loud High TE021701 (Heard when a Moai falls over the pirates in a bathtub; some barrels vinegar fall in front of Queen Victoria.)
- H-B SNAP, CARTOON - POP AND BIG SNAP WITH BOING
- Hollywoodedge, Bang Whonk CRT032404
- Hollywoodedge, Belch 7 Long Disgusti PE138601 (low pitched)
- Hollywoodedge, Cats Fighting Loud Sc PE917007/Hollywoodedge, Cats Two Angry YowlsD PE022601 (4th yowl; heard in a high pitch.)
- Hollywoodedge, Dolphin Chirps Vocal PE024601/Hollywoodedge, Dolphins Chirping TE015902
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Trumpeting PE024801 (2nd trumpet; heard in the Royal Zoo.)
- Hollywoodedge, Head Bonk Wbell Drum CRT031901
- Hollywoodedge, Honk With Cymbal Crash CRT033005
- Hollywoodedge, Rapid Wooden Twang CRT017003
- Hollywoodedge, Short Bass Honk WCow CRT032406
- Hollywoodedge, Short HighpitchedS CRT020903
- Hollywoodedge, Single Piece Wood Fal PE113801
- Hollywoodedge, Zebra Brays Multiple AT049701 (Heard in the Royal Zoo.)
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, TAWNY OWL - TAWNY OWL, STRIX ALUCO, BIRD, DIGIFFECTS
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, ROOSTER - MORNING CALL, ANIMAL 01
- Sound Ideas, BLINK, CARTOON - XYLO EYE BLINKS
- Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - BIG, LONG BOING
- Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - GONG BOING
- Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - GOOD SPRONG 02
- Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - HOYT'S BOING (Heard along with Hollywoodedge, Head Bonk Wbell Drum CRT031901.)
- Sound Ideas, BOING, CARTOON - THIN WOOD BOING
- Sound Ideas, BOINK, CARTOON - BOINK 03 (Heard once followed by Sound Ideas, STRETCH, CARTOON - RUBBER STRETCH, LONG and H-B SNAP, CARTOON - POP AND BIG SNAP WITH BOING.)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, BIRD - HEAD BONK BIRDS CHIRPING
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, BOING - JEW'S HARP BOING, MEDIUM
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, POP - LITTLE POP
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, WHISTLE - FLUTTER WHISTLE: LONG SPINNING WHISTLE
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, WHIZZ - FAST WHIZZ BY
- Sound Ideas, DONKEY - C.U. BRAY, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, GUN, RICOCHET - SHORT THIN RICOCHET, BULLET 02
- Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - COCONUT HIT 02
- Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - HOLLOW METALLIC HEAD KONK AND HORN
- Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - KABONG
- Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - SHARP HEAD HIT WITH METAL PAN
- Sound Ideas, HORN, CARTOON - OLD BULB HORN
- Sound Ideas, HYENA - HYENA LAUGHING, ANIMAL (Heard in the Royal Zoo.)
- Sound Ideas, PICK, CARTOON - FIDDLE PICK AND RISE, HIGH 02
- Sound Ideas, POP, CARTOON - SQUISH POP
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 03
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 04
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 05
- Sound Ideas, RUN, CARTOON - BLOP GALLOP, LONG/SHORT
- Sound Ideas, SKID, CARTOON - BENT SKID
- Sound Ideas, SPLAT, CARTOON - PAINT FIGHT GLOP 02
- Sound Ideas, SQUAWK, CARTOON - BIG HORN SQUAWK
- Sound Ideas, SQUISH, CARTOON - LITTLE SQUISH
- Sound Ideas, STRETCH, CARTOON - RUBBER STRETCH, LONG
- Sound Ideas, SWOOSH, CARTOON - FAST AIR BY 01
- Sound Ideas, TEETH, CARTOON - SCOOBY'S TEETH CHATTER, LONG/SHORT
- Sound Ideas, TWANG, CARTOON - BOWANG
- Sound Ideas, TWANG, CARTOON - HOYT'S BOW TWANG
- Sound Ideas, TWANG, CARTOON - METALLIC RULER VIBRATE
- WB CARTOON, BOING - WACKY JEWS HARP BOING
- WB CARTOON, HIT - BIG HEAD HIT