Jack the monkey
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The monkey, Jack, is a fictional Capuchin monkey in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. He was Captain Barbossa's pet and sailed with him aboard the Black Pearl. Like the rest of the crew, Jack was cursed so that he couldn't die, and turned skeletal in the moonlight. He was named, mockingly, after Pearl's former master, Captain Jack Sparrow.
[edit] History
Jack was Barbossa's pet in the first film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, and had been cursed with the rest of the crew. Although he can be an annoyance, he also helps his fellow undead shipmates by stealing back the Aztec coin, pointing to the way that Elizabeth and Will escaped, and generally sounding an alarm when there's a threat. Jack also attempts to prevent Elizabeth from freeing her captive friends from the Black Pearl's brig, but no longer fearing him, she apparently conks him on the head, and he falls overboard.
In an Easter egg after the film's final end-credits, Jack is shown swimming into the cave, stealing an Aztec coin, and becoming cursed again.
Sometime between the first and second films, the crew of The Black Pearl return to Isla de Muerta to claim Barbossa's treasure. Finding the island 'reclaimed by the sea,' Sparrow sets his sights on the Dead Man's Chest. However, Jack the monkey (who was cursed again and, hence, indestructible) finds his way aboard. The monkey becomes a nuisance to Sparrow and the crew, being difficult to catch and impossible to kill. Captain Jack often shoots the monkey, claiming it improves his aim and makes him (Sparrow) feel better: "Where is that monkey? I need to shoot something!"
The crew manages to capture Jack and use him to barter a deal with Tia Dalma. Sparrow gives a rather memorable demonstration of the monkey's immortality by shooting him and telling Tia, "Look! An undead monkey! Top that!" Tia Dalma accepts Jack (the monkey) as payment and releases him from the cage, much to the crew's chagrin. Exclaims Mr. Gibbs, "You don't know how long it took to catch 'im." Jack scampers into a back room where a man's boots are visible on a bed and becomes surprisingly well-behaved. This is a hint to the film's surprise twist ending.
When the resurrected Barbossa is revealed at the end, Jack, the monkey, is once again perched upon his master's shoulder.
The real monkey is actually a girl and her name is Tara.
[edit] Trivia
- Jack was played by Tara, a 10-year-old female monkey, and Levi, an 8-year-old male. The Skeletal monkey was added in post-production by Industrial Light and Magic.
- According to commentary and special features on the DVD, the monkeys were sometimes difficult to work with as they were easily distracted. ("I want to stuff the monkey!" Keira Knightley jokingly exclaimed in the commentary.) Reportedly actor Geoffrey Rush, who played Barbossa, would patiently wait for the monkey to look in the direction it was supposed to, then deliver his lines. In some occasions, a water gun was used to grab the monkey's attention by squirting it a few times. It is said in the commentary that Geoffrey Rush got hit a few times by accident.
- In the first movie Jack (the monkey) is seen smiling when Barbossa thanks him specifically after he returns the Aztec coin to him after Jack (Sparrow) chases him. In the special features on the DVD it is revealed that the monkey did this purely by chance and it was not planned out in any way.
- A similar incident in the first movie showed Barbossa and Jack the Monkey sharing similar confused looks while chasing The Interceptor in brief scene.
- The Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game has a Jack the Monkey card which explains that the reason he is still cursed is because he was the only member of the crew not to put his blood on the coins. Not only does this conflict with the ending of the movie, but would also be impossible, as it is proven during the movie that everyone who has taken part in the curse must give a blood sacrifice before the curse is lifted for everyone at once. The true reason for his immortality is shown in the scene after the end credits in the first film where he is shown stealing one of the pieces of gold from the Aztec chest after the curse has been lifted.
- Though Jack the monkey did not make an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II, some fans believe that the Heartless Illuminator behaves somewhat like Jack when Sora, Donald, and Goofy fight Barbossa.
