When Norrington arrests Jack in ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ he holds the compass and it points directly at Jack because that’s what Norrington wants most
Jack Sparrow’s compass is pretty special. Instead of pointing north, it points in the direction of whatever the user most wants.
It’s notable, then, that when Commodore James Norrington arrests Jack and takes his compass, it points straight at Jack. This is likely because he’s got Elizabeth safe by his side, and the one thing he wants more than anything is to see Jack behind bars.
Orlando Bloom’s Elvish tattoo from ‘Lord of the Rings’ can be seen in the blacksmith fight scene with Johnny Depp
Orlando Bloom shot to fame with his role as Legolas in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” series. The cast of the fellowship in those movies all got tattoos to commemorate their time on the films, with Bloom getting his done in Elvish.
That tattoo is clearly visible in this scene where Bloom’s Will Turner duels Jack Sparrow.
Will Turner uses the lobster trap he steps in to tie up the rudder of a ship so they can’t be followed when he escapes with Jack
At first, Will Turner stepping into a lobster trap while he and Jack make their escape seems like a throwaway gag. But in a surprisingly easy-to-miss detail, he actually uses this lobster trap to tie up the rudder of the ship they climb onto in order to prevent it from chasing them when they commandeer another ship.
Mickey Mouse can be seen on the moon in ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’
Hidden Mickeys are a classic Easter egg in most Disney movies by now, and “Pirates” features several of them. This one can be seen on the moon in “The Curse of the Black Pearl.”
Barbossa drinking wine as a skeleton is a reference to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ride
The sequence where Elizabeth finds out that Barbossa and his crew turn into skeletons under the moonlight is a delightfully spooky one, and it ends with the captain of the Black Pearl downing a bottle of wine.
Naturally, the wine trickles down his ribs and onto the deck. This is actually taken from the “Pirates” ride at Disneyworld, where an animatronic skeleton can be seen doing the same thing.
The fan Ragetti holds changes its appearance in the moonlight just like he does
While the crew obviously change in the moonlight, it’s not so noticeable that their clothes and accessories change, too.
Ragetti holds a pretty-looking and intact fan close to his face in this scene. But once Pintel throttles him and the moonlight hits them both, the fan clearly turns into a torn, ruined version of its former self — much like the pirates themselves.
Barbossa dropping the apple is a reference to ‘Citizen Kane’
While references to Disney’s ride will be expected, nods to high-brow cinema may not be. The final shot of Barbossa features him falling to the floor and an apple rolling out of his grip.
This is almost a shot-for-shot replica of a sequence in “Citizen Kane,” when a character dies and a snow globe tumbles out of their hand.
The scab on Jack Sparrow’s face gets progressively worse throughout ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’
A scab is visible on Jack’s face for pretty much the entire saga of movies. It starts off barely noticeable but, slowly, throughout the first movie and its sequels, it gets more and more obvious.
This is actually an in-joke between Johhny Depp and the film’s makeup department, who theorize that this scab is actually because Jack has syphilis.
A crew member can be seen at the end of ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’
Crew members popping up in the background is a common movie-mistake and even “The Curse of the Black Pearl” with its period setting and Disney budget falls foul of this.
In the final scene of the movie, which sees Jack take the helm of the Black Pearl as captain once again, a crew member can be seen in the background seemingly gazing off into the distance. But it’s not a member of the Black Pearl crew, it’s a member of the film crew.
In ‘Dead Man’s Chest,’ a tribesman on the cannibal island is wearing a governor’s wig
“Dead Man’s Chest” sees the world of “Pirates” expand even further, and Will, Jack, and company end up on a cannibal island near the beginning.
The cannibals worship certain people as gods, who they believe will be released from the restraints of their human form if they eat them. That’s what they try to do to Jack, but it looks like they’ve done it to other people before, too.
This tribesman is wearing a wig that looks suspiciously like Governor Swann’s. Perhaps an unsuspecting governor was a victim of the island, and this tribesman fancied keeping a souvenir?
Tia Dalma’s Swamp is a complete redo of the bayou scene in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ride
Tia Dalma and her swamp home are strange, mystical additions to an already fantastical world. But the swamp is actually a direct copy of the bayou scene that features prominently
In Tia Dalma’s home, Jack picks up and inspects a black hat with feathers — this is actually Barbossa’s hat
While they are in Tia Dalma’s house, the crew spot all manner of weird and wonderful things, but one particular item that Jack inspects has more meaning than most.
He picks up a familiar-looking black hat with feather plumage. This is actually Barbossa’s hat. Given that we now know Barbossa returns at the behest of Tia Dalma at the end of “Dead Man’s Chest,” this is actually an easily-missed clue to the captain’s return.
Barbossa’s boots can be seen in Tia Dalma’s home, too
Jack pays Tia for her services with Jack the monkey, who scurries off into a back room and sits at the end of the bed.
On the bed is a pair of boots, meaning that it’s not just Barbossa’s hat that is present in Tia Dalma’s home long before anyone knew. It’s Barbossa himself.
Elizabeth Swann uses fire to write the word ‘Tortuga’ in ‘Dead Man’s Chest,’ and it’s written in the classic Disney font
Elizabeth takes more action herself in this sequel, and that involves fooling a bunch of superstitious pirates into sailing to Tortuga. She does this by pretending to be a spirit aboard the ship, and lights up the word Tortuga in flame upon the deck.
If you look closely, the font that Tortuga seems to be written in is actually the same font as the classic Disney logo.
Norrington uses his old commodore wig to clean the deck in ‘Dead Man’s Chest’
Norrington has one of the best character arcs in the whole of the “Pirates” saga, and his lowest point comes in “Dead Man’s Chest.”
After being picked up on Tortuga drunk and down on his luck, he joins Jack’s crew. Here, he’s put to work straight away and is made to mop the deck. But while other pirates use cloths, Norrington uses his old commodore wig.
It’s pretty tragic. He’s using the literal remnants of his destroyed old life to clean the deck in his new life as a pirate.
In ‘Dead Man’s Chest,’ we see that Davy Jones and Tia Dalma both have the same heart-shaped locket
We learn that Tia Dalma and Davy Jones have a connection in “At World’s End,” but this is heavily teased in “Dead Man’s Chest.”
Both of them have lockets that look pretty much the same — signalling a link between the two characters long before we explicitly knew about it.
The locks on Davy Jones’ chest match the lockets
These lockets also match up with Davy Jones’ chest. All three items are crab-themed, it seems. It’s not surprising that Jones’ chest would bear a resemblance to the man himself, who has a crab claw in place of an arm, but it’s neat to see the design continuity across the movies.
‘A Pirates Life For Me’ and ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ are directly from the Disneyworld ride, and can be heard in the blackout scene
Another ride reference — this one in the third “Pirates” movie, “At World’s End.”
Just after Barbossa and the crew fall off of the edge of the waterfall, and therefore the world, the screen goes black for a few seconds and we can hear the classic “Pirates Life For Me” song as well as the phrase “dead men tell no tales” play over the black screen.
These are both from Disney’s iconic ride, and they actually pop up throughout the movies. Jack and Elizabeth sing “Pirates Life For Me” together while stranded on the island in “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” while Cotton’s parrot says, “dead men tell no tales” when they look for Isla de Muerta in the same movie.
One of the Jack Sparrows in Davy Jones’ locker has Mickey Mouse and sea turtles tattoos
Jack Sparrow goes a bit loopy when he’s in Davy Jones’ locker, and this is visualized by his hallucinations of multiple other Jacks.
One of them is shirtless and sports several tattoos, two of which are on his back. If you look closely, they are actually hidden easter eggs themselves.
One of them is a Mickey Mouse tattoo, while the other is a tattoo of a sea turtle. Sea turtles are notable in “Pirates” movies thanks to Jack’s famous story of him apparently escaping an island by riding sea turtles strapped to his feet.
The shrunken head that is apparently Jack’s mom can be seen on Jack’s waist later on in ‘At World’s End’
Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow was partly inspired by legendary rocker Keith Richards, who actually went on to play Jack’s dad in “At World’s End.”
In their scene at the pirate council, Jack asks his dad how his mother is. His dad holds up a shrunken head in reply.
Later on in the movie, when Jack, Barbossa, and Elizabeth confront Will, Davy, and Cutler Beckett on an island, we can see that Jack is actually carrying his mother around on his waist.
Barbossa saying ‘it be too late to alter course now’ is a line from the ride
Barbossa plays a prominent role in “At World’s End,” particularly during the climax of the movie when the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman battle across a maelstrom.
As the ships continue to collide, Barbossa yells “it be too late to alter course now!” This is a line taken directly from an animatronic pirate heard in the Disney ride.
Davy Jones stabs Will Turner with the sword that Will made for Norrington in the first movie
Davy Jones stabs Will in the chest just before Jack can plunge his broken sword into Jones’ heart. But the sword that Jones uses is actually the same sword that Will made for Norrington in the first movie and presented to Governor Swann in the first scene he ever featured in.
The sword was held by Cutler Beckett in “Dead Man’s Chest” for a while, until he gave it back to Norrington when the former Commodore was re-promoted to Admiral.
Then, after helping Elizabeth escape in “At World’s End,” Norrington stabbed Davy Jones with the sword before dying himself (Will’s dad Bootstrap killed Norrington).
Jones, who can’t be killed that simply, noted what a nice sword it was and kept it for himself. This led to a full-circle moment when Jones thrust the sword into its maker’s chest.
At the end of ‘At World’s End,’ a red sparrow can be seen on Jack Sparrow’s pirate flag
At the end of “At World’s End,” Jack is deserted by Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl. He is left to ferry himself across the seas in his own little dingy, but at least he takes the time to personalize his boat.
He raises a skull and crossed-bones pirates flag, but there’s also a red sparrow stitched into the fabric, too.
A hidden Mickey can be seen on Sao Feng’s charts in ‘At World’s End’
While Jack is indeed left behind by Barbossa, he at least gets his own back when it is revealed he stole the center of Sao Feng’s charts from the captain.
We see Jack unravel them aboard his dingy and plot his way to his next adventure (tracking down the Fountain of Youth). In the corner of the charts is another hidden Mickey.
The skeleton in the bed seen in ‘On Stranger Tides’ is from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ride
While the fourth and fifth installments of the “Pirates” franchise were much maligned by critics and audiences alike, there are still some neat details in the movies.
In the fourth film, “On Stranger Tides,” we see a skeleton in a bed with a crown on its head aboard the Santiago when Jack and Barbossa try to retrieve the mystical chalices for the Fountain of Youth. This image is taken directly from the Disney ride.