Tia Dalma
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Tia Dalma | |
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Hoodoo and Voodoo practitioner |
Tia Dalma is a fictional character from
Tia Dalma is a prominent character in Disney media, appearing prominently in printed media and crossover video games. The character continues to hold a likable reception, with Naomie Harris receiving positive reviews from critics for her performance as Tia Dalma.
Characteristics
The character was introduced as the mystic Tia Dalma, though later revealed to be the mortal guise of Calypso, the sea goddess that sailors both loved and feared. As Tia Dalma, she is a voodoo priestess with black teeth and blue lips, and she has her hair in
Tia Dalma is portrayed as an ally to Jack Sparrow, trading with him, aiding in his rescue, and occasionally flirting. It is implied they shared a romantic history.[2]
As the series progresses, it is revealed that as Calypso, she became romantically involved with Davy Jones, and their mutual betrayal is what led to both of their transformations. Calypso had charged Davy Jones with ferrying souls of the dead, promising to meet with him again in ten years. However, when the time came, she was nowhere to be found. In retaliation, Davy Jones revealed to the First Brethren Court of pirates how to imprison her in mortal form, and carved his own heart out, creating the Dead Man's Chest. While still hiding herself as Tia Dalma, she recounts the story to Sparrow, describing Calypso as "harsh, changing and untameable as the sea".
Appearances
Films
Dead Man's Chest
When the events of Dead Man's Chest begin, Jack Sparrow returns to see Tia Dalma after many years, in need of her assistance. Pursued across the Caribbean by Davy Jones's Kraken, he plans to find the Dead Man's Chest. This chest contains Jones's heart, and offers the only means to kill him. A series of trades takes place, leaving Jack with the location of the Flying Dutchman and a jar of dirt to protect him from Jones, while Tia Dalma gains possession of the undead monkey belonging to the late Captain Barbossa.
Jack's crew returns to Tia Dalma's shack after Jack is dragged to Davy Jones's Locker by the Kraken. Tia Dalma has apparently foreseen this eventuality, and informs the mourning crew that there is a chance to save Jack. She reveals that she has resurrected Barbossa, who will help lead the rescue mission.
At World's End
Tia Dalma makes a major and pivotal appearance in the film. She joins Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, and the rest of the Black Pearl's crew as they travel to
Later, it is revealed that Tia Dalma is Calypso, bound into human form. Her true motives for resurrecting Barbossa and Jack are unveiled when it is learned that both are Pirate Lords of the
As the battle between the East India Trading Company and the pirates looms, Barbossa and Ragetti release Calypso from her human form. Before Calypso is fully freed, Will tells her that it was Davy Jones who betrayed her by revealing to the first Brethren Court how to bind her into her human form. Bound by ropes, she grows to nearly sixty feet high, towering over the crew. Barbossa asks that she fulfill their agreement and use her powers to aid the pirates. Calypso breaks free, transforming into thousands of crabs that engulf the ship and flee into the sea. Her fury then creates a violent maelstrom that becomes the battlefield between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman. Instead of aiding a particular side, her wrath is directed both at the pirate lords for imprisoning her and at Davy Jones for his betrayal. But as Will Turner lies run through by Davy Jones's sword, he stabs Jones's heart with Jack Sparrow's help, and Jones, now fatally wounded, falls from the Dutchman's deck into the maelstrom, crying out one final word: "Calypso!".
Other appearances
Video games
Tia Dalma has made numerous appearances in Disney-related video games, prominently as a crossover character. In her video game appearances, she is primarily voiced by Julianna Buescher. Tia Dalma appears in the video game adaptation of At World's End and in the Lego-themed video game Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game. In 2013, the character also appeared in Disney Infinity as a non-playable character who assists the Pirates of the Caribbean characters.[3]
She later made playable appearances in
In 2018, a character skin for Tia Dalma was released for a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed world for Minecraft.[7] In 2021, Tia Dalma made an appearance in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life alongside several other Pirates of the Caribbean characters.[8]
Tia Dalma appears in the
Printed media
Tia Dalma Dalma appears in Pirati dei Caraibi Magazine, and in several book and graphic novel adaptations of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
In
Merchandise
Tia Dalma has appeared as part of several Pirates of the Caribbean-themed merchandise, including toy dolls, Lego minifigures, attire, and action figures. She also appears as a Disney Crossy Road figure.[9]
Reception
Tia Dalma has received a positive reception since her first appearance in Dead Man's Chest, with most of the praise targeted towards Naomie Harris' performance. Cathal Gunning for Screen Rant cited her as one of the more "important" and "fascinating characters", but criticized her underdeveloped arc, writing: "The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise featured an intriguing character in Naomi Harris' Tia Dalma, but who was the sorceress, what were her powers, and how powerful was she? Despite her disappearing at the end of the first trilogy, she was easily one of the most formidable characters in the entire franchise."[10]
Naomie Harris, who was interviewed in 2007 by Roger Moore for the Orlando Sentinel, commented on her own portrayal, describing Tia Dalma as a "larger-than-life character, and you aren't bound by the constraints of reality with her."[11]
Character analysis
Tia Dalma has been compared to Mami Wata from Jamaican folklore, a mysterious and seductive spirit linked to the sea.[1] As a highly sexualized exotic female character, she was said to represent the romanticized colonial era perception of the Caribbean, and her relationships with the pirates to mirror the power dynamics of colonial conquest. However, as noted by critics, Tia Dalma has the upper hand in these power dynamics due to her "dominion over masculine energies", and the pirates' attempts to gain control over her by entrapping her in a human body are eventually futile.[1] Heike Steinhoff compares her to the goddess Calypso, though her power is circumscribed by her being kept inside her hut, and she notes that her character borrows from "'racial' and ethnic stereotypes which connect African and South-American descent to elements of nature and supernatural powers".[12] Critics also compared her character to Yoda from Star Wars due to the fact that both characters are swamp-dwelling eccentric sages with peculiar speech patterns.[13]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 9780820356105.
- ^ June 2006 - blackfilm.com - Pirates of the Caribbean: Interview with Noamie Harris
- ^ "Tia Dalma - Disney Infinity Wiki Guide". IGN. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ^ Brown, Mark (11 January 2021). "How to unlock EVERY secret and mystery character in Disney Crossy Road". www.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ^ "Update 1.1.1 Patch Notes". Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ^ "Update 22: Pirates of the Caribbean Part 2, Peter Pan Part 2 | Livestream". YouTube. July 5, 2018.
- ^ Pirates of the Caribbean Mash-up, retrieved 2022-04-09
- ^ "Every Pirates of the Caribbean Character In Sea of Thieves' New Trailer". ScreenRant. 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ^ "Tia Dalma - Disney Crossy Road Figures". www.coleka.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ^ "Pirates of the Caribbean: Tia Dalma's Powers and Backstory Explained". ScreenRant. 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ^ "The actress behind Tia Dalma's black teeth". Orlando Sentinel. 26 May 2007. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ISBN 9783643111005.
- ^ Carroll, Larry (25 May 2007). "Star Wars: At World's End? Pirates' Flicks Look A Lot Like Another Trilogy". MTV.