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Disneyland Adding New ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Meet and Greet Character

A longtime Pirates of the Caribbean icon comes to life at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, […]

A longtime Pirates of the Caribbean icon comes to life at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, with the debut of an all-new meet and greet character.

Redd, a “fierce and independent” nomadic pirate, will step straight out of the ride this summer as the fiery redhead trades in the auction block for a stroll around Disneyland Park’s New Orleans Square.

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“Pirates call me ‘Rrr’ for short,’ the brassy buccaneer tells Disney Parks, who debuted the first look at the upcoming character encounter. “I been ’round the world, but the sea is always home.”

The animatronic-turned-meetable character has long served as part of Walt Disney’s original 1967 attraction, which underwent a significant refurbishment to alter the iconic auction scene that saw scoundrels sell off reluctant “wenches.”

The scene, which famously saw pirates bark “we wants the redhead,” will do away with the bride auction entirely. The Redhead will now operate as a pirate herself, rifle in hand, helping the Auctioneer gather valuables from the townspeople to auction to pirates instead of brides.

Pirates of the Caribbean Disney Parks
(Photo: Disney Parks)

Responding to criticisms of the “sexist” scene, Disneyland Resort spokeswoman Suzi Brown said, “We believe the time is right to turn the page to a new story in this scene, consistent with the humorous, adventurous spirit of the attraction.”

“Our team thought long and hard about how to best update this scene,” Kathy Magnum, senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering, said in a statement announcing the changes last summer (via the OCR).

“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.”

In 2006, the attraction was altered to include characters from Disney’s multi-billion live-action Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, including animatronic versions of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and Captain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush). In 2011, the attraction was modified again to include Blackbeard (Ian McShane) as seen in that year’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

The new auction scene debuted at the Walt Disney World version of the ride on March 19, the Redhead now voiced by well-known voice actress Grey DeLisle.

Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean closed temporarily this month to implement the changes. The attraction is expected to re-open after its refurbishment sometime this summer.