Redd also known as The Redhead is a character from Pirates of the Caribbean, voiced by Grey DeLisle.
History[]
Biography[]
Redd was an Irish pirate who served aboard The Wicked Wench during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early 18th century under Captain Barbossa. Redd participated in the attack on the isle of Isla Tesoro where she assisted a fellow pirate in auctioning off the stolen goods of townsfolk, despite undermining his attempts to sell off inventory in of trying to have him sell off rum instead.
When the crew successfully stole the isle's cursed treasure, Redd seemingly lived in luxury and had a portrait of herself enjoying plunder made then hung over the bar-counter in the crew's lair. Redd's later fate when the crew was cursed and killed by the treasure is unknown, though she may have survived and been seen years later in New Orleans looking for Captain Jack Sparrow.
Development history[]
Redd's appearance was designed by animator Marc Davis, seemingly inspired by historic Irish pirate Anne Bonny who alongside her lover Mary Read was considered to be one of the, "Pirate Queens of the Caribbean", at one point considered to appear in the ride. The design was later repurposed for a character in a controversial scene where the auctioneer was selling women to the crew as enslaved brides as a, "Comedic" take on human sex-trafficking directed at children/general audiences. The scene's main gag was the captured Redhead flirtatiously encouraging the crew to objectify her as the Auctioneer struggled to sell off a short overweight woman crudely named, "Tiny", whom the crew did not want because of her weight despite Tiny acting like she wanted to be purchased. It should also be noted that while the Golden Age of Piracy was no doubt prone to misogyny and sexual crimes, human-trafficking of woman as brides is not known to be notably affiliated with the period or sub-genera and was seemingly created for the attraction.
Due to the scene's misogyny, adult content matter and body-shaming, it was removed in a 2017 refurbishment with the Redhead being given the name of, "Redd" and a pirate identity similar to the historic Anne Bonny. This iteration of the Redhead was voiced by actress Grey DeLisle, probably best known for her roles as Daphne from Scooby-Doo, Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the Batman: Arkham video-games. The scene was changed to a somewhat confused joke about the auctioneer failing to sell, hens, while Redd would intervene and encourage him to sell rum instead. Redd was also made into a meet 'n' greet character in conjunction with this refurbishment.
Appearances[]
The Beak and Barrel[]
Redd is said to be close friends and/or arch-rivals with the tavern's proprietor, Captain Merry Goldwyn. An illustration of Redd seems to appear on the posting for the Tortuga Tavern. A bell hanging in the tavern is described as coming from Redd's first ship and being gifted to Goldwyn.[1]
Meet 'n' Greets[]
Redd is a meet 'n' greet character at New Orleans Square.
Pirates of the Caribbean[]
Redd appears in the auction scene, having lines in the American parks while being silent in Paris. A portrait of her called, "Things to Come" also appears in the pirate's lair.
Trivia[]
- Redd is the inspiration behind Scarlet in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
- Due to being a female theme-park character who appeared as a mute figure since opening-day then was later given more lines and backstory, Redd is somewhat similar to Constance Hatchaway from the Haunted Mansion.
- In Paris, Redd has flintlocks strapped to her chest similarly to the historic Blackbeard.
- Originally, fans speculated that Redd's face mold, specifically in the Magic Kingdom version was recycled from Jane from The Great Movie Ride, which had closed around a year before the new auction scene was installed. However, thanks to information from an ex-WDW tour guide who had connections to an Imagineer who worked on the reimagined Auction scene, it was actually confirmed that Redd's face is actually a recycled, albeit recycled mold from Sarah from Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. The same anonymous tour guide also added that the frame Redd uses was recycled from the George W. Bush animatronic from The Hall of Presidents, which explains why he's now sitting down as supposed to standing post-2017.[2]
Gallery[]
