In a post about the upcoming changes to Disneyland Paris’s Pirates of the Caribbean, Kathy Mangum revealed that the iconic wench auction scene is being replaced at both Disneyland’s and the Walt Disney World’s version of the classic attraction.
Instead of auctioning women, the auctioneer will be selling items such as chickens, guns, and paintings. A new role is teased for the “red head,” but it is unknown if the classic “We want the red head!” line will remain.
“Our team thought long and hard about how to best update this scene,” said Kathy Mangum, senior vice president, Atlantic Region Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering. “Given the redhead has long been a fan favorite, we wanted to keep her as a pivotal part of the story, so we made her a plundering pirate! We think this keeps to the original vision of the attraction as envisioned by Marc Davis, X Atencio and the other Disney legends who first brought this classic to life.”
“To me, the Imagineers are simply reflecting what Walt started the day Disneyland opened – making changes that create exciting new experiences for our guests,” said Marty Sklar, former creative executive for Walt Disney Imagineering. “I can’t think of a single attraction that has not been enhanced and improved, some over and over again. Change is a ‘tradition’ at Disneyland that today’s Imagineers practice – they learned it from their mentors, many of them Walt’s original team of storytellers and designers – the Disney Legends.”
These changes will occur during scheduled refurbishments in 2018. The updated version of the attraction at Disneyland Paris will open July 24, 2017