The Cemetery

cemetery daytime The Cemetery of Dishonorable Pirates, during the day. cemetery daytime2 A close-up of the Cemetery of Dishonorable Pirates. Many of the treasure hunt characters can be found in the cemetery. cemetery at night The Cemetery of Dishonorable Pirates at night. pirate cemetery sign The Cemetery Sign at night. It was designed and created by Julie. 71C8525 The Cemetery Plaque: a warning to all dishonorable pirates. This is The Curse for our pirate story and in the treasure hunt. It is also a nod to Chandra and her character Three-Legged Hannah. It was designed and created by Julie. (photo by Mark Klotz).
mr smee tombstone dusk Mr. Smee's tombstone. Most versions of Peter Pan don't have a first name for him, or a clear rank. I felt he was worthy of being First Mate, and he just sounded like an Archie to me. In some versions Captain Hook has lost his right hand, some his left - I made him left-hooked to make Smee a left-hand man. The last line is a reference to the POTC ride song " A Pirate's Life for Me". LeChuck tombstone night LeChuck's tombstone. This is a nod to the computer game Monkey Island. He does indeed die by root beer (check out the Monkey Island root beer labels made by Julie. Marlene and Bob donated the bottles). harvey blind pew dusk Harvey "Blind" Pew's tombstone at dusk. This is a nod to Blind Pew in Treasure Island. This is also a direct reference to John Cleese's Blind Pew in Yellowbeard. He dies when he is forced into a shack full of explosives by some pirates who then wedge this tombstone in to lock the door. That groundbreaker skeleton has been with us since the beginning and has always scared the kids a little. We didn't know what to call him until we placed him next to this tombstone in 2013. Now he's Harvey. BTW this is where you can find the cutlass in the treasure hunt. A blind man with a cutlass is perfect for the dishonorable pirates he symbolizes. dawg brown tombstone Dawg Brown's tombstone. This is a nod to Frank Langella's character in Cutthroat Island. dead men tell no tales sign "Dead Men Tell No Tales" is a nod to the POTC ride.
plants vs zombies Plants vs Zombies characters, created by Julie. This is a nod to one of our kids' favorite games and another photo op spot in our display. gibbet cage skeleton Billy Balony, our dishonorable pirate skeleton in a gibbet cage. bottles and mason jars The rum bottles scattered throughout the cemetery and the mason jars were donated by Marlene and Bob. pirate cemetery This was actually a mini set-up of the cemetery in our backyard for a press release photo. cemetery sign The Cemetery Sign. This is where you can find the skull and cross swords logo from POTC in the treasure hunt. The EST 2013 is a nod to the year we did this project.
tiki torch The tiki torch lighting up the cemetery sign. It was donated by Nat and Wes. LSJ's tombstone Long John Silver's tombstone and his pets, created by Julie. These are nods to Treasure Island, including Muppet Treasure Island and Treasure Planet. The quote is from John Silver's Return to Treasure Island. It used to say "Here Lies (ne'er a truthteller he be") but the spray-paint melted the side of the tombstone (Captain Flint the parrot does a nice job of covering it up). Davy Jones' tombstone Davy Jones' tombstone. This is obviously a reference to POTC, including the lyrics from "The Legend of Davy Jones". I just love that they created a character based on an expression that was used to refer to the bottom of the sea. Marco Largo LaGrande's tombstone Marco Largo LaGrande's tombstone during the day. This is a nod to the game Monkey Island 2 and is a direct reference to a tombstone the hero Guybrush Threepwood must find in the cemetery. Red Rackham's tombstone Red Rackham's tombstone. This is a nod to Tintin and the Secret of the Unicorn. The font for "Red Rackham" is Tintin font and the image and quote are from the comic book.
Pirate skeleton The Pirate Skeleton, designed and created by Diane. He's a nod to the supernatural pirates in all great pirate tales, including POTC. This is also where you can find the pirate boot for the treasure hunt, as well as a pirate hat and eye patch. working on the cemetery sign Julie creating the cemetery sign. tombstone in progress1 The small tombstones were all created by Julie. These were made by taking regular commercial foam tombstones... tombstone in progress2 ... flipping them over... tombstone in progress3 ... printing out templates and taping them to the tombstone...
tombstone in progress4 ... puncturing the outline of the letters and image with a sharp pencil through the template and into the foam... tombstone in progress5 ... then pressing in the foam with a black permanent marker. tombstone in progress6 The large tombstones were all created by Julie. These were made by taking regular commercial foam tombstones, flipping them over, and taping a cut-out stencil made from print-outs cut out by hand... tombstone in progress7 ... then spray-painting them. It did not work very well - the stencils didn't stick, the paint leaked through the stencils, and the spray-paint ate the Styrofoam. tombstone in progress8 If the stencil had worked, it would have looked really cool!
tombstone in progress9 But instead, it looked like this... pirate skeleton sketch Diane's initial sketch of the pirate skeleton. the skeletons hidden heart Benjamin found the hidden heart in the Pirate Skeleton. cemetery press release1 This was actually a mini set-up of the cemetery in our backyard for a press release photo. cemetery press release2 Diane next to her creation.
cemetery press release3 Diane and Emma setting up the mini display for our press release photos. cemetery press release4 The kids exploring the mini display for our press release photos. cemetery press release5 Just say "ARRR!" Hook and Smee tombstones Captain Hook and Mr. Smee tombstones. These are clearly a nod to Peter Pan. Hint: this is where you can find the hook in the treasure hunt! hook tombstone Captain Hook tombstone. Note the lyrics from "The Elegant Captain Hook" from the Disney animated film which I used as a "Crew Wanted" sign (Captain Hook is notorious for not being able to keep a crew). This is also one of the spots where you can find the phrase "Walk the Plank" in the treasure hunt.