Pintel and Ragetti

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Ragetti and Pintel were two of Barbossa's pirates in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and served under Jack Sparrow in its sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. They are used as comic relief characters in the films. Both were under the Aztec curse, and as such were immortal for the majority of the first movie. Ragetti and Pintel are played by Mackenzie Crook and Lee Arenberg respectively, though the two were both voiced by Greg Ellis in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. Their roles in the film series have been compared with those of R2-D2 and C-3PO in Star Wars and with those of Mr. Wint & Mr. Kidd in Diamonds Are Forever.

[edit] Biography

The two pirates served aboard the Black Pearl under Captain Jack Sparrow and later Captain Barbossa. They are first seen in The Curse of The Black Pearl when they invade the governor's house and take Elizabeth Swann prisoner. For the remainder of the film, their characters serve to provide comic relief during some of the movie's more intense scenes and give information about the storyline. Once the curse is broken and the pirates defeated, they are captured and it was confirmed that they were jailed by a certain Disney adventure comic.

Although there is no official backstory for these pirates, actor Lee Arenberg maintains that Ragetti is Pintel's nephew — the son of a prostitute who is probably Pintel's sister.

A running gag throughout the movie involves characters surrendering themselves to Ragetti and Pintel while invoking the right of "parley." Under the Pirates' Code, parley guarantees a prisoner will be escorted unharmed to the captain in order to conduct negotiations. At one point, Pintel snarls at his captives, "If any of you so much as thinks of the word 'parley', I'll have your guts for garters!" Ironically, after they are captured, Pintel attempts to invoke parley himself..

There are also frequent gags about Ragetti's false wooden eye, which is often knocked out of its socket and has him frantically searching for it. There are also funny bits about the two sharing feelings of closeness. Whenever they do, they become embarrassed or angry, and the moment quickly passes.

In the sequel, they've escaped from jail and are searching for the Black Pearl. Ragetti has become somewhat religious, telling Pintel, "Since we're not immortal no more, we gotta take care of our immortal souls." Although they were attempting to steal the Pearl, Jack Sparrow magnanimously, if unintentionally, allows them to rejoin his crew, and they accept employment rather graciously. However, being profiteers, they attempt to claim the Dead Man's Chest for themselves while Sparrow, Will, and Norrignton are dueling over it. At the end, they swear to help retrieve Jack Sparrow from the World's End— ironic considering they supported and participated in Barbossa's mutiny against Jack and marooning him on the island.

The comic duo (especially Ragetti) can unexpectedly engage in erudite and intelligent discussions. When Tia Dalma says that something vexed Davy Jones so much that he abandoned land for an eternal life at sea, Ragetti speculates it was because of, "The dichotomy of good and evil," to which Pintel and Gibbs both give him astonished looks. The two also engage in a lengthy discussion over the proper pronunciation of "Kraken," with Pintel saying he believes the correct pronunciation is "kray-ken" while most say "krack-en." As Ragetti explains that the derivation of the word is from original Scandinavian, Pintel points out they aren't Scandinavian. To which Ragetti retorts, "It's a mythological creature, I can calls it what I wants!" Ragetti also displays a knack for knowing things he should have no clue about, such as why Jack, Will Turner, and Norrington each wants the heart of Davy Jones.

According to the Pirates of the Caribbean Visual Guide, prior to serving as cannoneers aboard the Black Pearl, Ragetti and Pintel spent two years as naval soldiers, press-ganged into service for the British Royal Navy before escaping the bad food and abusive treatment. It was probably due to the their rigorous naval training and (implied) combat experience that Pintel and Ragetti are such surprisingly skilled warriors. In the first film, they kill many Royal Marines and in its sequel fight Flying Dutchman crew, although they abandon Elizabeth Swann, leaving her to fend them off alone as they attempt to escape with the Dead Man's Chest. Even when cornered by Jones' men, they still fight with incredible efficiency using only the chest, an oar and a net as weapons.

The two pirates are not without compassion or humanity. When the Kraken attacks the Black Pearl in Pirates 2, Ragetti saves Elizabeth from its deadly tentacle. Both shed genuine tears of respect and grief over Jack's apparent demise, with Ragetti saying, "Never another like Captain Jack," while Pintel states, "He was gentleman of fortune, he was." They both join in the pledge to resurrect their captain.

[edit] Trivia

• Several scenes that feature them became reoccurring jokes/motifs in the series with the release of the sequel. For example:
  • In the first movie, during a scene where Ragetti and Pintel are manning a cannon, Ragetti's wood eye was hit by a fork (which is being used as a replacement for a cannonball by the Interceptor's crew), Ragetti and Pintel look at the fork and then slowly look out the cannon gunport at the Interceptor. This scene is repeated in the second movie (with the exact same camera angles), as Ragetti and Pintel look out at the Kraken's tentacle, which is pressed against the Pearl.
  • The scene where Ragetti looks frantically for his wooden eye (the first movie it is during the fight against Norrington's fleet, and in the second it is as they are attempting to steal the Pearl) is repeated with the same camera angles.
  • In the first movie, when Ragetti and Pintel find Elizabeth, Pintel says "'ello Poppet." This scene is repeated in the second movie when both turn on Elizabeth for the treasure, Pintel once again, repeats that same line.
• It was mentioned in the essential guide to "Pirates of the Caribbean" that Ragetti's green jacket was stolen from a French nobleman and Pintel's trousers are soaked with urine to keep water away.

[edit] Other media

• Ragetti and Pintel appear as playable "Chamber Card" characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean Trading Card Game, acting together as one composite character. This further suggests that they are excellent fighters, capable of equally matching powerful characters such as Captain Jack Sparrow or Davy Jones.
• In 2006, the duo were part of an ad campaign for VISA credit cards, in which they try multiple ways to "get treasure" from out of a VISA card.
• Ragetti was mentioned in an M&M's commercial where he plays himself, suggesting to the Yellow M&M that he use the other hand to eat the white M&M's (as his right one was a hook), but it is a peg leg.
• Ragetti and Pintel appear as boss characters in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow for the Playstation 2 and PC platforms; both are voiced by Greg Ellis.
• In an interview with Empire magazine (Australia) Mackenzie Crook says "You sort of discover that Lee (Arenberg) and I are there for more than just comic relief in the third movie. It turns out that we do have a purpose in the grand scheme of things"

Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
Films	Curse of the Black Pearl | Dead Man's Chest | At Worlds End
Music	Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) | Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack | Curse of the Black Pearl soundtrack | Dead Man's Chest soundtrack | Pirates Remixed
Video games	Pirates of the Caribbean | The Legend of Jack Sparrow | Dead Man's Chest | Pirates of the Caribbean Online | Pirates of the Caribbean Multiplayer Mobile
Locations	Port Royal | Isla de Muerta | Tortuga | Pelegosto | Isla Cruces
Primary characters	Captain Jack Sparrow | Will Turner | Elizabeth Swann | Hector Barbossa | Davy Jones | James Norrington | "Bootstrap Bill" Turner
Other characters and creatures	Weatherby Swann | Joshamee Gibbs | Anamaria | Pintel and Ragetti | Cutler Beckett | Tia Dalma | Jack the monkey | Kraken | Minor characters
Ships	The Black Pearl | The Flying Dutchman | The Dauntless | The Interceptor | The Empress
Other	Theme park attraction | Timeline of films | East India Trading Company