Redd

**Redd** is a character from Pirates of the Caribbean.

## History

Redd was a red-headed Irish pirate during the golden age of piracy in the 18th century. Redd would serve aboard the pirate ship *The Wicked Wench* under one Captain Hector Barbossa. Amongst the Wench's crew she became an enforcer for an officer known as, "The Auctioneer" though when intoxicated with rum she would be considerably rebellious and work to his detriment.

When the Wench raided the Spanish town of Puerto Dorado in Isla Tesoro, she assisted the Auctioneer in selling off stolen goods taken from the townsfolk. Following the successful pillage of the island and its treasure, Redd joined the crew in setting up a lair within Isla Tesoro's subterranean Dead Man's Cove while the island was turned to a pirate haven. Redd enjoyed the lap of luxury for a time but seemingly left before the treasure's curse had the chance to kill her as it did the rest of the crew.

Redd's fate after the curse of the Wicked Wench transpired is a mystery though she might have been spotted decades later in New Orleans searching for Captain Jack Sparrow whom was an enemy of the Wench in their search for Puerto Dorado's treasure.

### Alternate versions

#### Original ride

Up until 2017/1018 Redd was known simply as **the Redhead** and was depicted as a maiden of Puerto Dorado during the Wench's ransacking of the port. She was one of many women kidnapped by the Auctioneer for a bride auction where the women were to be sold into sexual slavery to members of the Wench's crew. Following this, the redhead was seemingly bought by one of the pirates and became a pirate herself where she lived in luxury, presumably in Dead Man's Cove until the Wench's curse.

#### Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)

In this film-series, Redd was paralleled with a character known as **Scarlett**. Scarlett was a prostitute on the island of Tortuga which in film continuity was a pirate-haven well into the 1720s. Jack Sparrow was a customer of Scarlett's who she had apparent affection for only to be cheated on by him with another prostitute named Giselle. Giselle and Scarlett were frequently shown together in the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, most often slapping Jack in the face for his crudities against them.

### Development history

The Redhead was designed by Marc Davis using concept art of historic Irish pirate Anne Bonny, an infamous pirate of the Caribbean who was best known as being one of the two, "Pirate Queens of the Caribbean". The other pirate queen having been Mary Read, Anne Bonny's lover, romantic-partner and chief-officer aboard their vessel *The William*. Ultimately portraying the redhead as a pirate was dropped by the imagineers in favour of showing her as a willing participant in a human-trafficking scene, a form of crime not even typically affiliated with the age of piracy of which the attraction is set in.

Due to the inappropriate nature of glamorizing sexual-crimes and the perpetuation of the myth that the woman (Redhead) was encouraging it and enjoyed it, this scene was frequently criticized. In 2017/2018 imagineers altered the tableau to feature the Redhead as an Anne Bonny inspired woman pirate, truer to her source-material.

## Appearances and allusions

### Pirates of the Caribbean

A portrait of Redd is hung over the bar-counter in the pirate's lair of Dead Man's Cove, showing her lounging while drinking wine along a coast. Redd is later directly encountered when guests travel back in time to witness the Wicked Wench's sacking of Isla Tesoro. Redd is seen enforcing the town's black-market auction while drinking rum and inciting a riot amongst auction-goers by having them defy the auctioneer's attempts to sell chickens in favour for rum. In Disneyland Paris' version of the ride she is silent and shoots at the crowd when they protest against the auctioneer.

### Live-appearances

* Redd is a meet & greet character in Disneyland's New Orleans Square where she is depicted searching for Jack Sparrow.

## Connections

### Haunted Mansion

In Disneyland Paris, Redd and the Auctioneer are shown selling a portrait of 19th century pirate and privateer Jean Lafitte. In the Haunted Mansion franchise, Lafitte is frequently referenced in non-canon materials such as the comics by SLG where he was an ally to the mansion's founder William Gracey. Also in the 2003 film continuity where he was an affiliate of Captain Ambrose Gracey who built the mansion, or the audio-book Nuptial Doom where the sea-captain who owned the mansion was a compatriot of Lafitte. These are based on how in an unused concept for the mansion, catacombs under the manor entered through Lafitte's tomb would lead to a pirate's lair on Tom Sawyer Island.

In Disneyland and Walt Disney World, this Lafitte portrait is replaced with one of an old woman as she appeared in her prime. Said portrait is very reminiscent of a portrait of Ms. April December, a character from the Haunted Mansion who has been featured in Pirates of the Caribbean shows in New Orleans Square.

### Trader Sam's

In both *Trader Sam's Grog Grotto* and *Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar*, the Wicked Wench appears as a miniature ship in a bottle. When the *Shipwreck on the Rocks* drink is ordered, the ship springs to life and mimics sinking into the ocean as, "skippers" act as pirates abandoning ship. This effect is recycled from the Adventurers Club although in said attraction the ship was not the Wicked Wench.

## Trivia

* In most versions of the ride, Redd is the only woman pirate seen serving aboard the Wicked Wench. In Disneyland Paris however there is another woman pirate who has an eyepatch and is seen engaging in a duel with a citizen of Puerto Dorado who attempts to keep the pirate away from a nearby damsel.
* There is a common rumour that Redd's animatronic (or its face) was recycled from the Great Movie Ride where it was used for the character of Jane Parker from Tarzan. While the figures' faces do bare a resemblance to one another, this is highly unlikely given that the Redd animatronic has large amounts of movement and fluidity while Jane's animatronic barely moved and likely wouldn't have a face compatible with Redd's machinery as a result.
* Unused concept art for Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure showed Redd as a skeleton referred to as the, "**Boss Pirate**" engaged in a game of poker with several other skeletal pirates including Jack Sparrow. In the final attraction these skeletons all belonged to members of the Brethren Court.

## References

1. ↑ https://dapsmagic.com/2018/06/redd-the-pirate-sails-into-new-orleans-square-in-search-of-captain-jack-sparrow-at-disneyland/
2. ↑ https://www.discoveringthemagickingdom.com/apps/blog/show/44620021-history-of-female-pirates-and-the-redhead
3. ↑ https://datelinedisneyland.smugmug.com/DisneylandResort/2015/081415-D23-Expo-Day-1/i-XwjpwjX/0/X3/DSC\_3831-X3.jpg