The Pirates: Band of Misfits (2012)

I originally bought this because it was created by the same people as one of my all time favorites, Chicken Run. I was not disappointed with the humour in this film and the characters, like in Chicken Run, were diverse and interesting.

Charles Darwin (voiced by my second favorite Doctor, David Tennant) was portrayed as the person he is in real life, however the writers made him a desperate loner, often sulking over his loneliness in his work notes and diary entries. He is also portrayed as a bit of a trickster, as he tries to trick the pirate captain into giving up his pet Dodo.

The Pirate Captain is the least likely character you would expect could be a leader. He takes advice from his first make 'Number Two' (I feel a Muppet Movie number coming on) only when it suits him, having accepted his words of encouragement when he was considering retiring from pirating, but not listening to him when Number Two suspected Charles of trying to steal the Dodo. Number Two however is very humble, not at all put down by what he is called (not that the Captain means any harm) and sticks through the captain through most of their adventure, only walking away when the Captains selfishness was shown.

While the factors of what happened to persecuted pirates was not tampered with, the idea of pirates being executed was made more humorous and child friendly, particularly in one moment where the Pirate Captain is sailing into London Port and meets an old friend of his in the gallows, who then proceeds to have a friendly chat as the Pirate Captain continued to sail past.

Finally the concept of trusted leaders doing unspeakable things outside the view of their subjects is brought up in this film as Queen Victoria hosts an annual world leaders get together on a flagship where they each bring a rare or endangered animal to eat. This concept was strange, but did open the writers to a delightful pun when Queen Victoria commented that her dish was "Not rare enough". This also ties with the Pirate Captains almost incomprehensible decision to sell the crews beloved pet for gold, so that he could contribute to his own reputation.  

Given all this I would recommend buying this film, it's a fun watch and I especially think it carries a good message of loyalty to your friends, your crew and your pets.