The ill-fated boat that Jack Sparrow captained into the Port Royal docks has a name—the Jolly Mon. Only it wasn’t his boat, and he’s not it’s captain. Hence:
While production of Dead Man’s Chest was still ongoing in early 2006, Pirates screenwriter Terry Rossio helped to edit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Visual Guide, a reference book released to coincide with the second film.
Rossio took the opportunity to add small details to the guide, including the name Jolly Mon for the fishing dory that Jack slowly leads to a watery grave in the beginning of the first film.
The name is a reference to the 1985 Jimmy Buffett song of the same name, an island-style pop song complete with light steel drums and even a pirate reference in its lyrics. It’s a pretty clever nod, but thanks be to the heathen gods that they didn’t name the boat Margaritaville.
It’s almost as if this little boat was determined not to be outshone by that scene-stealing piece of pompous driftwood, the Black Pearl, because its backstory continues.
In the DVD writer’s commentary for Curse of the Black Pearl, Rossio ponders whether audiences made the connection that the boat Jack Sparrow says he “borrowed without permission” from Anamaria (Zoe Saldana) was intended by the writers to be the very same Jolly Mon from Sparrow’s introduction scene.
Some of you no doubt already made this connection, while the writers of the film had to spell it out for those of use who’ve had too much rum…
The wee ship also makes an appearance via archive footage in the 2011 Pirates short film Tales of the Code: Wedlocked, which was written by Rossio and Ted Elliott.
The 10-minute film is a prequel to Curse, featuring Giselle and Scarlett, the ladies who later slap Jack around. In the end it’s revealed that Scarlett removed several iron nails from the Jolly Mon‘s hull before Jack set out, explaining why the boat started taking on water in the first place.
Maybe someday, another Pirates short film will feature Jack going back to rescue the Jolly Mon from the bottom of the sea. To do this, he’ll need a crossbow, an hourglass, three goats, someone will have to learn to play the trumpet whilst Jack goes like this—
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