The Pirate Movie is a 1982 Australian musical romantic comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol.

The film performed far below expectations in its initial release with low critic reviews,[4][5] but has maintained higher ratings among audiences.

[6] Mabel Stanley is an introverted and bookish teenage girl from the United States in a seaside community in Australia as an exchange student.

She attends a local pirate festival featuring a swordplay demonstration led by a young curly-haired instructor and fellow American, who then invites her for a ride on his boat.

She is duped by her exchange family sisters, Edith, Kate and Isabel, into missing the launch, so she rents a small sailboat to give chase.

Mabel wants Frederic to gain favour with her father so they can marry, so she plots to recover the family treasure stolen years earlier by the pirates.

The ship nurse, Ruth, convinces them to stop fighting, reminding the Pirate King of Frederic's apprenticeship contract.

[8] The producers then turned to 20th Century Fox studio, which not only agreed to distribute the film but also provided two lead actors for the project.

Kristy McNichol, renowned for her role in the TV drama Family, had transitioned to a film career and was eager for another big-screen opportunity.

McNichol said that she was bored by it,[9] and Atkins believed he was cast primarily due to his resemblance to his Broadway counterpart, Rex Smith.

[14] As the production gathered momentum, Ted Hamilton enlisted Trevor Farrant,[15] a collaborator from previous projects, to craft the screenplay.

Primary locations included the Polly Woodside at the South Melbourne wharf, the Farm and Mansion at Werribee Park, and the Loch Ard on the Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell, from November 1981 to January 1982.

"Pumping and Blowin'" was originally supposed to include a sequence with Mabel's sisters frolicking underwater,[31] but this footage was scrapped and replaced with animation by Yellow Submarine veteran Maggie Geddes.

[32] Despite Hamilton's objections, Fox ended up shaving 20 minutes out of the movie, which he claimed had "emasculated" the film and ruined a lot of the jokes.

[35] The musical numbers, primarily inspired by Gilbert & Sullivan, were written by Terry Britten, Kit Hain, Sue Shifrin and Brian Robertson.

[45] In most countries, the soundtrack was released as a double album containing the complete versions of all the songs, along with highlights from Peter Sullivan's orchestral score.

[46] Despite the variations in track listings, the album's packaging remained virtually identical worldwide, except for Germany, where it showcased alternate poster artwork on the front cover.

On television, Atkins took the spotlight as he hosted "The Swashbucklers," a syndicated TV special that delved into the history of pirate films.

[72] Although there were no full-frontal images included in that spread,[73] it was an era when male nudity was very taboo,[74] creating a disconnect with the family audience that Fox was targeting for the film's marketing.

[77][78] Fox didn't allow the press to pre-screen the film, with executive Vice-President Irv Ivers explaining, "You can look at movies and you can tell if they're going to be killed by critics.

Just as Ivers foresaw, when the reviews finally surfaced, "The Pirate Movie" was brutally criticised, with numerous headlines invoking pirate-themed puns, including piracy,[80][81] shipwrecks,[82] walking the plank,[83][84][85][86][87] and other stereotypical terminology.

"[93] The Sunday Pennsylvanian's Mary Lou Kelsey was surrounded by a young crowd that made her "feel like you need a walker," and complained that the audience was "laughing hysterically at the most infantile jokes you have ever heard.

"[94] Among the few positive reviews, Martha Steimel of The Witchita Falls Records News gushed that it was a "wonderfully funny," "rollicking frolic,"[95] remarking that "the fun of the pirate movie is that we know all along it's a dream."

The Orlando Sentinel's Sumner Rand called it "a lighthearted, colorful summertime romp," concluding, "Unless you're a Gilbert & Sullivan purist, you should be entertained.

"[97] The Louisville Courier Journal's Owen Hardy remarked that "despite its problems, 'The Pirate Movie' at times displays an infectious inanity," and that "the cast sings with gusto.

"[99] Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide rated the film as a BOMB and stated: "Not only trashes the original, but also fails on its own paltry terms.

[100] TV Guide stated "Pop tunes are mixed in with some of the original G&S songs in a pirate period setting that grates on the nerves, as does the inane toilet humor that substitutes for wit.

[102] The most creative review came from the Argus Leader's Marshall Fine, who set his poetic opus to the rhythm of "The Major-General's Song," ultimately stating, "In short, 'The Pirate Movie' should crawl back into the sewer.