FROM 2007
FRANCIS XAVIER "X" ATENCIO
talks about "Pirates of the Caribbean"

by Scott Wolf

Francis Xavier Atencio started out at Disney in animation but thanks to Walt Disney's keen perception of people's talents, he eventually ended up as a writer for some of Disney's most popular attractions.

Amongst his projects, X not only wrote the dialogue for the "Haunted Mansion" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", but he also wrote the lyrics for those attractions' popular songs including "Yo Ho (A Pirates Life For Me)."

X is a particular inspiration to me because of his positive outlook on life. I think he really lives by that old saying about when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. It is certainly evident in his professional life. He went to work for Disney as an artist but was asked to become a writer and today admits that he enjoyed writing more than being an artist.

I'm so pleased to share my interviews with you so you can learn about this wonderful man.

X Atencio: The first thing I did… Marc (Davis) and Claude (Coats) had worked out the model for the ride up on sawhorses so you could walk thru there and see what was going on as though you were going through on a boat.

So the first scene I decided on was the auction scene, and I’d gotten books and I got the "Treasure Island" film to get the feeling of the jargon, you know, and that was the first scene.

I wrote it up and sent it over to Walt and he said, “Fine, keep going, that’s good.” So I kept going.

SW: I didn’t realize that the scenes came first before you wrote them. You looked at the scenes and came up with a story for each?

XA: No, the story was there, I had to just give voice to these pirates.

SW: It’s amazing how you did it. I couldn’t just ramble off that pirate talk.

XA: “Avast there, Matey… Ye come seeking adventure in salty old pirates, ay?”
(Click here to hear this)

SW: I love that… how did you come to do the voice of the Jolly Roger
(that says that line)?

XA: After I had recorded the main scenes through there… I had Paul Frees and J.P. O’Malley and these were expensive talents... so for the down ramp we needed some kind of a warning on that, so that’s why I thought, “I’ll give it a try.” So I recorded that, my voice, and then further on down in the auction scene where the auctioneer says, “What be I offer for this winsome wench?” and my voice is up on the bridge, “Six bott-les of rum!”

SW: That’s you?! I know that one very well.

XA: Then (the auctioneer replies), “I’m not sponging for rum… it be gold I’m after!”

SW: He’s the one on the bridge holding the bottle that sometimes spills over?

XA: Yeah.

SW: I have a photo of me right next to him. I had no idea that you were that pirate, too. Did you do any other voices?

XA: Those were the only two I did (in Pirates).

SW: How did the "Yo Ho" song come to be?

XA: On the last meeting we had with Walt I suggested that maybe we oughta have a song in there. I don’t know why I did…. (I laugh) But I think a song would be kind of good. I thought for sure he’d say, “Get the Sherman brothers.” Because I had a lyric in mind and a melody I kind of half sang and half recited it to him. He said, “Fine, get George Bruns to do the music for you.” George Bruns was our Musical Director at that time. So he just gave me carte blanche on most of this stuff, he let me do what I wanted. I guess he had enough faith in what I was doing that if I said “a song,” why not a song?

SW: And your lyrics were never changed? George Bruns just put the music to it?

XA: Yeah, just put music to it.

SW: I used to work with someone who told me that your lyrics had the words rape and murder in it, and I knew the lyrics and assured him it didn’t. Do people ever talk to you and think it has those types of lyrics?

XA: Yeah, as a matter of fact Maureen (X’s wife) is a school nurse and she had a group of nurses up for lunch one day and one said the same thing, “Oh I never let my children hear that song talking about rape and stuff.” I went and got the lyrics and said, “Do you see that in these lyrics?” (She said) “Oh, I guess I just assumed that that’s probably the lyrics.”

SW: Isn’t that funny they assume that? It’s really a humorous song. They embezzle and pillage and plunder, but they say, "Aye, but we’re loved by our mommies and dads,” and “We’re really bad eggs.” You had to make a conscious effort to keep a balance between humor and realism didn’t you?

XA: Right. Exactly. And what I did is I got the thesaurus and went through it… all the things that could go with the main lyric I had and what the different ways of all, pillage and plunder, et cetera… so I exhausted that.

But, you know writing a song like that for a ride is so much different than when you have a fixed audience because you never know where you’re going to be in the ride as you’re talking about something in particular.

SW: And same with the dialogue, I guess, too, right?

XA: Yeah, so you have to make it generic in nature. One experience with that was doing the script for the submarine ride. They were talking about the mermaids. You know, the people in front of the boat would hear it but the back end they wouldn’t or vice versa so you had to make a statement that’s generic… that they’re going to see mermaids or whatever's further down.

SW: How do you feel about the changes they make to the attractions, like adding Johnny Depp to Pirates of the Caribbean?

XA: I went over to the studio to meet Johnny Depp and he was so gracious and he was as anxious to meet me as I was to meet him. He was real pleasant and he loved my lyric. He autographed one copy for me. But that was real keen. So when I saw the changes they made in the ride I thought, “Well it reflects the popularity of the film, so why not?” It didn’t change anything really.

SW: And Johnny Depp now sings your lyrics at the end of the ride.

XA: Yes.

SW: Isn't there a funny story about when Pirates was going to be done in Tokyo Disneyland and there was a problem with the translation of “Dead men tell no tales”?

XA: Yeah, we sent the scripts over there to be translated into Japanese. (The Japanese scripts would then be translated back to English to make sure it still made sense.)

I said, “Dead men tell no tales” and it came back, “There’s no mouth on a dead person.” I said, “That doesn’t work. That isn’t what I’m trying to say.” But it doesn’t translate, “Dead men tell no tales.” So I got a big laugh out of that.

More from X:
His start with Disney
His work in stop motion animation
Disney attractions he's worked on

See other interviews

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in the interviews are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mouse Clubhouse. Mouse Clubhouse accepts no legal liability or responsibility for any claims made or opinions expressed within.