Ye Be Warned, Says I

The “Pirates” movies marked a departure for Walt Disney Studio branded films. Apparently producer Jerry Bruckheimer wanted edgier fare that wasn’t toned down for audiences of all ages. When "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was released in 1988, and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was released in 1993, Disney decided it was best to release those films under their Touchstone Pictures label. It was thought that the adult undertone of each movie, or scary images in the latter, wouldn't be appropriate for most children. "Roger Rabbit" is still fairly risqué, to a degree, though "Nightmare" is perfectly okay for my child. Times have changed at Disney.

 From the beginning, the "Pirates" films from 2003 and 2006 have been filled with dark and scary images, as well as violence. It can be argued that the original concept of the 1967 attraction featured a lot of political incorrectness. It did. There are pirates firing canons at each other, swashbuckling and scary imagery on the attraction. When I was little, I can remember being scared of the talking skeleton before the boat drops into the abyss. Times and maturity changed me. Many years later, I was upset with Disney caving into political correctness by altering some of the attraction’s elements. Who were these moral citizens that Disney was supposedly catering to anyway? There would be no more pirates chasing lasses. Instead, they’d be chasing lasses carrying trays of food. Exchange lust for gluttony. They were pirates, for heaven’s sake! They were supposed to be scoundrels.

The charm of the “Pirates” attraction was that even though there were touches of violence and mayhem, the ride was suitable for most children. There are no beheadings, blood, or gore on the attraction. Nobody gets shot, even though guns are being fired at them. It's pretend. The “Pirates” movies, though, are very violent and, at times, sexually suggestive. I guess Disney has come a long way from the day’s of “The Shaggy Dog” (1959) and it's a small world.

The rating of the “Pirates” films is PG-13 and there is an additional warning on the rating to advise parents. You may recall that the PG-13 was created after there was an outcry over the extreme violence in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984). It's become, over the years, a safe "R" rating for many films. I'm positive that if "At World's End" was released prior to 1984, it would've been rated R.

Maybe the parental side comes out of me too often. Good thing I didn’t let my daughter watch the film, though she’s seen parts of the first one (i.e. non-violent and scary). I was taken aback with the violence in “At World’s End.” One of the scenes that caught me off-guard included a woman being shot in the head. In another, there is a scene that is surprisingly frank in sexuality. Believe me, I don’t find the idea of violence and sexuality in a pirate film wrong. I’m not a crusader for cleaning up films and television (though I’m finding myself changing the channel more often when my kid’s in the room, but that’s for another time). However, for a Disney-branded film, these elements could’ve been toned down, or the films could've been released under the Touchstone Pictures banner. But Jerry Bruckheimer has a lot of pull at Disney, and his risk of producing the "Pirates" movies as such has been very profitable. 

I watched “At World’s End” before I considered letting my daughter watch it. I'm glad I did. I did what I felt was a responsible thing to do as a parent. I would’ve felt terrible for letting her watch it, only to have her shocked and scared at what happened on the screen. I'm sure when she gets older, the rating and movies like this won't be a factor anymore. For the time being, she's not allowed to watch it.

Some PG-13 movies are relatively harmless for children under the age of 13. “At World’s End” isn’t harmless, and if you have sensitive children, be aware that it might not be appropriate for them.