Jolly Mon

The Jolly Mon was a small fishing dory originally owned by Anamaria's smuggling family, until it was commandeered by Captain Jack Sparrow. Jack would use the boat in some of his adventures, including towards Shipwreck Cove, where he was to wed Scarlett and Giselle. After Scarlett took four nails out of the Jolly Mon, the boat gradually sank as Jack Sparrow arrived to the Port Royal harbor. Jack made an unusual yet graceful entrance, in which he steps onto the wooden dock from the masthead of the purloined fishing trawler. Jack made port just in time, despite bailing as fast as he can, as his craft sank silently beneath him.

History

Early use

It is unknown when the Jolly Mon was built, but it is known that was one of five boats owned by Anamaria's family, who used it for smuggling. Anamaria would also use the dory as a fishing boat. Anamaria used the Jolly Mon on her first solo mission, which lead to her encountering Captain Jack Sparrow.^[8] Jack Sparrow stole the dory from her. He would later claim he had intended to bring it back to its rightful owner, but he would never managed this.^[4]

Jack's boat

Little is known what Jack Sparrow did with the Jolly Mon, other than that the pirate captain separately became acquainted with two wenches, Giselle and Scarlett, who became familiar with the boat. The Jolly Mon later made port in Shipwreck City, where Scarlett and Giselle were convinced, separately, that they would be married to Sparrow in a wedding. However, it was a plan of Sparrow's to sell the wenches as he sailed away on his boat to find another better ship to commandeer. But before Jack left Shipwreck City, Scarlett would have taken four nails off of the Jolly Mon, in case he had cold feet of her supposed wedding.^[1]

Arrival to Port Royal

Ten years after losing the Black Pearl to Hector Barbossa, Captain Jack Sparrow sailed the Jolly Mon into Port Royal. Throughout the voyage, Jack would spend some time trying to get water out of the boat. By the time Jack arrived at Port Royal, the Jolly Mon was beginning to sink beneath the wave. Jack made an unusual yet graceful entrance to the Port Royal harbor; he steps onto the wooden dock from the masthead of the purloined fishing trawler.^[5][6] He made port just in time, despite bailing as fast as he can, his craft sinks silently beneath him, reaching the docks before the boat was completely sunk, leaving only the top of its single mast above water.^[2][3][4]

Behind the scenes

The Jolly Mon first appeared in Irene Trimble's junior novelization for the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.^[2][4] Although the Jolly Mon was identified by name in Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's early screenplay draft,^[9] the name would appear in later media in 2006-2007, including Elizabeth Rudnick's junior novelization,^[3] Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide,^[5] and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide.^[6][7] Archived footage of the boat appeared in the short film Tales of the Code: Wedlocked.^[1]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft for The Curse of the Black Pearl, the Jolly Mon is safely tied up at Port Royal and later used by Jack Sparrow and Will Turner to board the HMS Dauntless. It was also later named in a line of dialogue by AnaMaria.^[9] Although it was unclear in the film, Elliott and Rossio confirmed on the audio commentary, included in the DVD/Blu-ray releases, that the boat used by Jack Sparrow at the start of the film and the one he stole from Anamaria are one and the same.^[10]

According to Terry Rossio's "Tales from the Set" posts on Wordplay, the Jolly Mon was a reference to Jimmy Buffett, who wrote a children's book of the same name, a tribute to the song of the same name. When helping to edit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, Rossio was able to add small details, including the name.^[11]

In Prop Culture, it was revealed that Disney gave the mast and crow's nest of the Jolly Mon to Jane Russell, a local bar owner in St. Vincent who was an extra in The Curse of the Black Pearl. When Dan Lanigan saw the mast landlocked in Jane's bar, he asked why she put it in concrete. Russell answered because she heard someone talking about stealing it.^[12]

The Jolly Mon also appears in the "Pirates of the Cursed Seas" constructible card game, but its design is very different.^{[citation needed]}

The scene of Jack Sparrow arriving to Port Royal standing on the sinking Jolly Mon's mast was perfected by the historic ship rigging expert Courtney Andersen.^[13]

Appearances

The Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Jolly Mon.

• Tales of the Code: Wedlocked
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006 junior novelization)
  • Fluch der Karibik
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (comic)
• Smoke on the Water (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide (First identified as Jolly Mon)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide
• Pirates of the Caribbean PocketModel game
• Prop Culture

Notes and references