Cotton’s Parrot

**Cotton’s Parrot** is a character from *Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl* (2003).

## History

### Film

Cotton's Parrot was a bird in the early-half of the 18th century who came under the ownership of a man named Mr. Cotton. Cotton was a mute due to having had his tongue cut out causing him to train the bird to speak for him, although nobody but Cotton himself knew how. In the 1720s, Cotton and the bird were in the pirate haven of Tortuga when they joined the crew of pirate Captain Jack Sparrow and his accomplices Joshamee Gibbs and William Turner.

Sparrow's crew aimed to use a stolen British Navy ship called the HMS Interceptor to find the supernatural island of Isla de Muerta which was port to the evil Captain Barbossa and crew of the Black Pearl. Cotton and the parrot were amongst the crew-mates captured by the Pearl's crew and were kept in the vessel's brig. When Jack and Will Turner lifted the curse of Isla de Muerta and stripped the Black Pearl's crew of their powers, Cotton and the parrot were amongst the pirates to claim the Black Pearl as their new ship with Jack as their captain.

### Disney parks

Cotton's Parrot was the pet macaw of pirate Mr. Cotton who served aboard the Black Pearl under one Captain Jack Sparrow. The parrot accompanied Jack to the Spanish isle of Isla Tesoro and its town of *Puerto Dorado* to steal the island's legendary but cursed treasure. These plans were complicated however by how Jack's rival Captain Barbossa also sought after the treasure aboard his vessel *The Wicked Wench*.

The Wicked Wench laid waste to Puerto Dorado though Jack and Cotton's Parrot managed to find the treasure first, hidden within the treasury of the Castillo del Morro fortress. As the Wench's crew set the town aflame, Jack and the bird drank rum and sang while surrounded by the treasure. Through unknown means, the two lost the treasure to the Wicked Wench's crew who hid it away within the haunted Dead Man's Cove.

Years later, Jack managed to track down the treasure and was once again accompanied by Cotton's Parrot in doing so. He robbed the now cursed and undead Wicked Wench's crew of their gold before fleeing, presumably successfully. In either the 19th century or early 20th century, Cotton's parrot found its way to the city of New Orleans, Louisiana where for unknown reasons it inhabited the *Royal Street Gallery*. This gallery had its own connections to piracy as it was allocated next to the Blue Bayou, a bayou which held the undead remains of one Captain X and potential connections to pirate Jean Lafitte.

## Appearances and allusions

### Pirates of the Caribbean

Cotton's Parrot appears in different versions of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, albeit with no reference to Cotton himself. Cotton's Parrot was incorporated during the 2006 refurbishment aimed at bringing over elements from the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

#### Disneyland

Cotton's Parrot first appears within the interior queue for the attraction, within the Royal Street Gallery of New Orleans Square. The bird sits atop a shovel in a sand-bar next to the gallery's canals alongside wooden chests, a Jolly Roger, and a map of Isla Tesoro. The bird relays quotes from the attraction and sings, "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me".

Later in the attraction, Cotton's Parrot appears alongside Jack Sparrow in the treasure room of the Castillo del Morro. Jack converses with the parrot while drinking rum and enjoying the cursed treasure he's claimed from Puerto Dorado and attempting to rob from the Wicked Wench.

#### Disneyland Paris

Cotton's Parrot reprises its role from Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean albeit within Dead Man's Cove rather than Puerto Dorado. In this version, the parrot sits atop the head of one of the cursed skeletal pirates of the Wicked Wench on a massive heap of stolen gold. Once again, the bird sings Yo Ho with Jack Sparrow as they enjoy their bounty.

#### Magic Kingdom

In this version of the attraction, Cotton's Parrot only appears in the treasure room scene alongside Jack Sparrow.

### Tortuga Tavern

The name, "Cotton's Parrot" is written in a book in tavern-keep Arabella Smith's possession, listing members of the Black Pearl's crew.

## Trivia

* Cotton's Parrot is an allusion to the stereotype of pirates keeping pet parrots, a trope originating from Long John Silver's pet parrot, "Captain Flint" in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel *Treasure Island*.
	+ Parrots appeared in the original attraction such as the Barker Bird outside of Castillo del Morro, Dirty Foot's pet parrot, and the skeleton parrot owned by the captain of the Wicked Wench.
* Cotton's Parrot's audio-animatronic is used in World Showcase's Mexico Pavilion to represent a caged parrot.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/tag/open-seasonally/