Eight years of fan debate haven't moved The Walt Disney Company an inch. A limited-edition doll announced for D23 Expo this week makes the Mouse's position on the Pirates of the Caribbean auction scene impossible to misread.
A Recap of the Change That Divided Disney Fans
In 2017 at Disneyland Paris and 2018 at Magic Kingdom Park and Disneyland Park, Walt Disney Imagineers overhauled what had become one of the most scrutinized scenes in any Disney attraction. The original auction sequence in Pirates of the Caribbean depicted men bidding to purchase women as brides, with guests often echoing the male animatronics' chant: “We wants the redhead!”
The updated version keeps the auction framework while gutting its original meaning. The female pirates are now selling stolen goods, including chickens. The “chick auction” nods to what came before while removing the depiction of women as purchasable property. The iconic redheaded figure was reimagined as Captain Redd, a commanding pirate who runs the auction rather than being sold in it.
The reaction to the change followed the predictable pattern of any significant update to a beloved Disney Parks attraction. Supporters argued that depicting women as objects for sale had no place in a family environment. Critics contended that the change sanitized the historical reality of piracy and unnecessarily altered a Disney Park icon that had been operating unchanged for decades.
The Doll That Ends the Conversation
Disney's answer to eight years of that ongoing argument arrived this week in the form of a limited-edition Captain Redd doll, announced ahead of D23 Expo in Anaheim. It is the second in a series of dolls inspired by Disney Parks attraction characters — the first celebrated the Werecat Lady from the Haunted Mansion — and its existence sends a message about where The Walt Disney Company stands on the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Designer J. Fuchs explained the creative approach in a Disney Parks Blog interview:
“Our doll is based on the updated version, so we have her posed out as she is in the ride, commanding the auction.”
The doll is modeled after the updated audio-animatronic and the Disneyland Park face character. Only 3,000 were made. They will debut at D23 Expo from August 14 through 16, then go on sale on the Disney Store online on August 17 at 8:00 a.m. PST.
Will you be picking up one of these limited-edition Captain Redd dolls? Let Disney Fanatic know in the comments!
