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Kraken (Pirates of the Caribbean)

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This is for the fictionalized version of the sea monster in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, if you are looking for its basis, see "Kraken", and "Kraken in popular culture" for its other appearances in other films.

Template:Pirates of the Caribbean character The Kraken is a fictional sea monster in the Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy. The monster made its first appearance in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as an antagonist portrayed through Computer-generated imagery. Although a creation of Industrial Light & Magic for Dead Man's Chest and designed by the film's producers, the Kraken is heavily based on the mythological creature featured in nautical lore by same name.[1] Walt Disney Pictures also became the first studio to produce this mythological creature using CGI. The Kraken makes a final small, though symbolic, appearance in the final film in the trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[2]

In the films, the Kraken is a sea creature of monstrous proportions that is controlled by Davy Jones, supernatural ruler of the ocean realms. When given command by the heartless sailor, the gargantuan behemoth rises from the briny deep, and devours whatever it is told to devour, no exceptions. Armed with deadly tentacles and destructive power, the Kraken is used often by Jones to destroy ships that threaten, or simply annoy him. One of the Kraken's most powerful weapons is fear that can be used to keep a person at bay, eliminating the threat altogether. [3]

Film production

On set, there were many different pronunciation of the name, "Kraken". Character Pintel calls it what sounds like, "Krai-ken". It was Kevin McNally (who plays Mr. Gibbs) that was the first to pronounce it as, "Kra-ken", and so the pronunciation was adopted on set.

During the filming of the attacks, Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) divulged that "the Kraken, at the moment, is just Gore, the director, running around, going, 'I'm a tentacle. I'm a tentacle. Be afraid'." Gore Verbinski, who is learned in Computer animation, worked with Industrial Light & Magic to create the scenes for the film involving the Kraken; the way he wanted the scene to be using the same frames. When filming the attack on the Edinburg Trader, they used the ship as a set in shallow waters. Many more sailors were digitally added onboard the ship, and others were digitally replaced for complex shots. When the time came to film the Edinburg Trader being broken in half, two massive pipes were filled with 30,000 pounds of cement for a total of 60,000 pounds crushed down onto the set. To prepare for this event, most metal and the masts were removed; the metal would prevent the ship from satisfyingly breaking in half while the masts would prevent better camera close-ups. Furthermore, the interior middle of the ship was lined with cables of exposives to blast the wood apart in the air. After the shot, other men were filmed on another blue tilting set and digitally added on deck. John Knoll, Visual Effects Supervisor, confessed that it was extremely complex to add the Kraken's tentacles in between all the environmental effects of water and wood debris.

When the time came to film character Jack Sparrow in front of the Kraken's gaping maw, Johnny Depp's stand-in, Scott Sener, was used to experiment with what worked best with the slime at their disposal (which would represent the phlegm of the Kraken). The slime was spattered about him with jets of air. For the actual filming though, Depp was spattered with the slime and acted his part without any representation for the Kraken. It was afterwards digitally added in along with sound, tentacles, and other visual effects.

Background

Nothing is revealed in the films about the Kraken's origins. What is known is that after Davy Jones cut out his heart[4] and became the feared and mutated sea ruler, he presumably found the Kraken and came to command it.[5] Since that time, the Kraken was used by Jones to destroy ships that blocked his path or those that carried potential crew members for his supernatural ship, the Flying Dutchman.[6] It is also known that the Kraken was the last of its kind.

Appearances

Dead Man's Chest

Main article: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

The Kraken first appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, brought to life using the most advanced computer-generated imagery (CGI) from Industrial Light & Magic. Davy Jones, who seeks Jack Sparrow's soul to recoup a debt, dispatches Bootstrap Bill Turner to deliver Sparrow the Black Spot and announce that Jones' "terrible leviathan" is stalking him.[7] When a Turkish sailor retrieves Sparrow's lost hat from the sea, he unwittingly calls the Kraken.[8] A large green mass silently rushes toward the fishing boat; the monster violently yanks it underwater in mere seconds. After the Kraken attacks another ship, Will Turner boards the wreckage after Jack Sparrow deceives him into believing it is the Flying Dutchman; the surviving crew members have been left psychologically traumatized by the attack.[9]

File:Pirates04 Pirates2-kb365-23.jpg
The Kraken destroys the Edinburgh Trader

Davy Jones later summons the Kraken to destroy the Edinburgh Trader, a merchant ship that rescues Will Turner. The Kraken smashes the vessel in half with its massive tentacles, dragging it to its watery doom. Will survives, but while he is momentarily submerged underwater, he briefly glimpses the gargantuan monster.[10]

When the Flying Dutchman falls behind the Black Pearl during a chase, Jones calls upon the Kraken to finish it off. The Kraken glides its tentacles up the Pearl's hull. Based upon his previous experience aboard the Edinburgh Trader, Will quickly devises a strategic defense and orders the crew to fire the deck guns into the leviathon's tentacles, severely wounding them and forcing the Kraken to momentarily retreat.[11] Will then has kegs of gun powder, rum, and other combustibles loaded into a cargo net and hoisted aloft. When the Kraken returns, Sparrow shoots the barrels, blasting the monster's tentacles in the resulting explosion: the wounded Kraken again withdraws.[12]

Sparrow orders the crew to abandon ship.[13] Realizing that the Kraken is only hunting Sparrow, Elizabeth uses trickery to chain him to the mast, then escapes with the crew.[14] The Kraken makes its final assualt, dragging Sparrow and the Black Pearl to Davy Jones' Locker.[15]

At World's End

Main article: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

The Kraken is briefly seen in the film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, but it has been killed by Davy Jones under Lord Beckett's command. Beckett feared that Jones, being a loose cannon, might command the Kraken to attack the East India Trading Company armada. Jones, threatened with having his heart stabbed, did as commanded. The action profoundly affected him, however, as seen in his facial expression when Beckett reminds him about the killing. Jones even plays a sad tune on his pipe organ for his dead pet, and also for his lost love, Calypso.[16]

After Jack Sparrow is rescued from Davy Jones' Locker, he proclaims he wants to become the immortal "Captain Jack Sparow, the last pirate."[17] When Sparrow and Captain Barbossa go ashore for fresh water, they find the Kraken's dead carcass washed up on the island's beach.[18] Observing Jack's reaction as he surveys the dead monster, Barbossa tells him that being the last of anything means that eventually there will be none left at all, just like the Kraken. Jack finally realizes just how serious Lord Beckett's threat to exterminate all pirates actually is, and he agrees to attend the Brethren Court on Shipwreck Island with Barbossa. It is never revealed how Jones killed the Kraken.

Use and symbolism in the trilogy

The Kraken symbolized Davy Jones' power and influence over the seas. Jones is referred to as "the devil of the seas" (reflected by his horned hat), and the Kraken's tentacles were the devil's grasp.[19] At the conclusion of Dead Man's Chest, it is the Kraken that takes Jack Sparrow to Davy Jones Locker, thus leading to the events in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End[20]; note that Davy Jones never attempted to kill Sparrow by his own hand, which, being a skilled swordsman, he could easily have done, as seen in At World's End.[21] The Kraken's death in the third film symbolizes piracy being purged and how it does not fit into Beckett's world (industrialization and imperialism).[22] The Kraken was the last of its kind, doomed with no purpose other than serving Davy Jones. Its death forces Jack to realize that there is little nobility or purpose in becoming the last of his kind [pirate]. The sand's blackness further symbolizes how the Brethren Court will be faced with its own "extinction" should they fail to unite and take action against Cutler Beckett's threat.[23]

The short, but symbolic, scene with the dead Kraken shows that it is an important character in the series. Not only is it a physical monster, but it also represents being at "the world's end", both a literal and figurative place where the characters find themselves.

Attributes

Physical Characteristics

The Kraken was designed by the producers of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and then was brought to life by technicians at Industrial Light & Magic. Its body resembles a massive, cuttlefish-like cephalopod. In the book, Pirates of the Caribbean: A Visual Guide, a profile view of the Kraken is seen, with a ship for scale. The second edition, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, states the Kraken to be as long as ten of that ship.[24] The book also depicts the Kraken as a cephalopod-like beast, with a ring of tentacles at the base of its head and a long, sharp tail similar to a squid (this could be used to keep it at level with the ship underwater).[25] The fictional monster has also large round eyes with orange irises and black pupils.[26] Interestingly, the eyes seem to show pain, most likely from when Jones had to kill it, although it could also be the Kraken's default expression. The Kraken in this shot does not look as big as the given photo from the visual guide.

Its massive, sucker-lined tentacles are said by Mr. Gibbs to, "suction your face clean off."[27] The suction disks are powerful enough to pull down a ship from its underside and have even suctioned a human's face to the point of leaving it with skin folds, layer-over-layer in Dead Man's Chest.[28] The Kraken also uses these powerful suckers to silently pull itself along the rocks lying on the oceans' bottom.[29] After the Kraken's tentacles were severely damaged by cannon fire and an explosion during the assaults on Black Pearl, it resurfaced with its wounds appearing healed.[30] It is unclear if the Kraken has the ability to instantly regenerate itself or if it was using different tentacles. It's also notable that the Kraken has two forearms significantly larger than the others, like the hunting tentacles possessed by squids and cuttlefish. The beast employs these to crush ships.[31] The weight of the two tentacles can split a ship along its width; its force being so great.

When it revealed its mouth to character Jack Sparrow, it resembled a Sarlacc; the interior is lined with about six sets of spiked, razor-sharp teeth and its breath emits a reeking odor of, "a thousand rotting corpses."[32][33] Will Turner looks a bit sickened by this information.

Summoning the Kraken

Davy Jones, ruler of the seas, summons the Kraken to destroy vessels. On-board his ghostly ship, the Flying Dutchman is a massive hammer-like wheel with a carved Kraken on the top, the so-called Kraken's Hammer. To call the Kraken, the crew rotate the hammer clockwise, lifting it to its highest point. It then slams down, blasting shockwaves through the ocean, thus summoning the Kraken. One shockwave usually does the job unless the kraken further away. The Kraken hammer is seen again in At Worlds End, still aboard the Dutchman, though broken and unusable, it is still able to rotate, as shown during Sparrow and Jones' duel.[34]

The Kraken stalks anyone marked with the Black Spot.[35] The Black Spot is delivered to its victims by Flying Dutchman crewmen and can only be removed by its captain, Davy Jones.[36] According to the writers' commentary on the Dead Man's Chest DVD, those marked with the Black Spot are taken by the Kraken to Davy Jones' Locker, where they must experience their worst fear for eternity.

Methods of attack

The Kraken attacks by stealthily approaching a ship, slithering its tentacles up the hull's sides, and gripping tightly, yanks it underwater.[37][38] If the crew can fight back, the Kraken smashes the hull and masts with its tentacles, probing the decks and holds with its sensitive suckers seeking out its prey.[39][40] The desruction is catastrophic, and its two forearms are so powerful it can easily rip a ship apart in mere seconds.[41] Davy Jones uses some, but not all, these attacks to acquire new crewmen for the Flying Dutchman.[42] As he surveys one wrecked ship's survivors, he offers them an opportunity to delay their final judgment by joining his crew for 100 years. Those who refuse are killed and dumped over-board.[43]

Kraken attacks often leave the survivors, if any, psychologically damaged: traumatized and deranged.[44] In one case, a survivor is left without a face, it having been sucked off.

See also

References

  1. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, second disc, "Creating the Kraken"
  2. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.10
  3. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, page 72, "The Kraken"
  4. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.11
  5. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  6. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.12
  7. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.4
  8. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.4
  9. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.12
  10. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  11. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.25
  12. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.25
  13. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.26
  14. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.26
  15. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.26
  16. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.15
  17. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.10
  18. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.10
  19. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, second disc, "Meet Davy Jones"
  20. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.26
  21. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.21 thourgh 24
  22. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.10
  23. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.10
  24. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, page 72, "The Kraken"
  25. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, page 72, "The Kraken"
  26. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Ch.10
  27. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.11
  28. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.12
  29. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, page 72, "The Kraken"
  30. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.26
  31. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  32. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.26
  33. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.11
  34. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  35. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.4
  36. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.13
  37. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Complete Visual Guide, page 72, "The Kraken"
  38. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  39. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  40. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.25
  41. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.19
  42. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.13
  43. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.13
  44. ^ Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Ch.12. Pg 393
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