‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Ride to Replace ‘Wench Auction’ With Something Way Less Uncomfortable to Watch
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland and Disney World is a fun time: Jack Sparrow is there, planning another one of his escapades amongst scenes that are half new and half a collection of greatest hits from the movies. One of these original scenes, the “Wench Auction” will no longer be a part of the ride, Disney Parks announced today. Instead, it will be replaced with something way less uncomfortable and, hopefully, more entertaining.
The scene in question will be changed to something way more woke, keeping most of the stock characters in play, but in different roles. According to Variety:
When the ride closes for routine maintenance in 2018, the scene will be altered to depict villagers lined up to give up their valuables, and the “Auction, Take a wench for a bride” sign will be redone to read “Auction, surrender yer loot.” Walt Disney World’s version of the ride will also be subject to the same modifications.
A tall, red-haired woman currently present in the ride as a prize will remain but be recast as a pirate herself, holding a rifle and wearing a feathered hat as she oversees the surrendering of booty. Presumably, the “We wants the redhead” voiceover will also be removed.
Variety also notes that this isn’t the first time the ride has changed its depiction of women. Years ago, one scene involving a bunch of pirates chasing a group of women was altered to show the women carrying trays of food, so it looks like the pirates are chasing after the food, rather than the women. And this also isn’t the first time the Pirates franchise has struggled with weddings either: The latest film, Dead Men Tell No Tales, involves a scene in which Jack Sparrow is almost forced to marry a woman by a group of thugs on a beach, played for humor for no other reason apart from the fact that the woman is ugly. At least we’ll always have Captain Barbossa officiating Will and Elizabeth’s marriage on the deck of a sinking ship surrounded by bloodthirsty fish-men.