The Pirates! Band of Misfits

'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (released in North America, Australia and New Zealand as The Pirates! Band of Misfits') is a 2012 British-American 3D stop-motion animated swashbuckler comedy film produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation as their second and final collaborative project. It was directed byPeter Lord.

The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures and was released on 28 March 2012 in the United Kingdom, and on 27 April 2012 in the United States. The Pirates! features the voices of Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton,David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek, Lenny Henry and Brian Blessed.

The film is loosely based on ''The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, the first book from Gideon Defoe's The Pirates!'' series. It follows The Pirate Captain and his crew of amateur pirates in their attempt to win the Pirate of the Year competition.

The Pirates! is the fifth feature film by Aardman Animations, and its first stop-motion animated feature since Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005, and Aardman's first stop-motion clay animated film released in 3D and shot in 2.35:1 widescreen. The film received positive reviews, while it was a modest box office success, earning $123 million against the budget of $55 million.

The film was nominated for the 2013 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (lost to Disney·Pixar's Brave).

Plot
In 1837, the Pirate Captain, inexpert in the ways of pirates, leads a close-knit, rag-tag group of amateur pirates who are trying to make a name for themselves on the high seas. To prove himself and his crew, the Pirate Captain enters the Pirate of the Year competition, the winner being whoever can plunder the most. After several failed attempts to plunder mundane ships, they come across the Beagle and capture its passenger Charles Darwin. Darwin recognises the crew's pet Polly as the last living dodo, and recommends they enter it in the Scientist of the Year competition at theRoyal Society of London for a valuable prize. Secretly, Darwin plans on stealing Polly himself with the help of his trained chimpanzee, Mr. Bobo, as to impress his love interest Queen Victoria.

The pirates disguise themselves as scientists to enter the competition, and the dodo display wins the top prize, which turns out to be minuscule trinkets and a meeting with the Queen. The Pirate Captain hides Polly before the meeting. There, the Queen requests that the Pirate Captain donate Polly for her petting zoo. The Pirate Captain refuses and accidentally reveals his true self, but Darwin steps in to spare the Captain's life, secretly telling the Queen that only the Captain knows where Polly is kept. The Queen pardons the Pirate Captain and orders Darwin to find Polly by any means necessary. Darwin takes the Pirate Captain to a tavern and coaxes out of him that Polly is stashed in his beard. Darwin and Mr. Bobo steal the bird, leading to a chase into theTower of London where the Queen is waiting. She dismisses Darwin, and instead offers the Pirate Captain enough money to ensure his win as Pirate of the Year in exchange for Polly. He accepts the offer and returns to his crew, assuring them Polly is still safe in his beard.

At the Pirate of the Year ceremony, the Pirate Captain wins the grand prize from the Pirate King. But rival pirate Black Bellamy makes the Queen's pardon known to all and explains that if the Pirate Captain has been pardoned, then he is no longer a pirate and, as such, cannot be Pirate of the Year. The Captain is stripped of the prize, treasure, pirate attire, and his pirating licence and is banished from Blood Island by the Pirate King, and admits his loss of Polly to his crew, who abandon him. The Captain returns to London, intent on rescuing Polly. He reunites with Darwin, learning that the Queen is a member of an exclusive society of world leaders that feast on endangered creatures, and that Polly is likely on her flagship, the QV1, to be served at the next meal. The Pirate Captain and Darwin work together to steal an airship to travel to the QV1. Mr. Bobo, meanwhile, goes to find the rest of the Captain's crew to enlist their help.

Aboard the QV1, the Queen locates the Pirate Captain and Darwin and attempts to kill both of them, but together they best her. In the battle, they accidentally mix the ship's store of baking soda with vinegar, causing a violent reaction that rends the ship in two. The Pirate Captain rescues Polly and they escape safely, leaving behind a furious Queen. With his reputation among pirates restored because of the large bounty now on his head, the Pirate Captain is reinstated as a Pirate, and he and his crew continue to explore the high seas in search of adventure.

In a few post-credits scenes, they leave Darwin on the Galapagos Islands, Mr. Bobo joins the Pirate Captain's crew, the Queen is left at the mercy of some of the rare animals she had planned on eating, Black Bellamy is stripped of his trophy by the Pirate King because of the Pirate Captain's new infamy, and the crew present the Pirate Captain with their own homemade Pirate of the Year trophy.

Voice Cast

 * Hugh Grant as Pirate Captain
 * Martin Freeman as the Pirate with a Scarf/Number Two
 * Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria
 * David Tennant as Charles Darwin
 * Jeremy Piven as Black Bellamy
 * Salma Hayek as Cutlass Liz
 * Lenny Henry as Peg-Leg Hastings
 * Brian Blessed as Pirate King
 * Russell Tovey as Albino Pirate (United Kingdom)
 * Anton Yelchin as Albino Pirate (United States)
 * Brendan Gleeson as Pirate with Gout
 * Ashley Jensen as Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate
 * Ben Whitehead as Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens (United Kingdom)
 * Al Roker as Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens (United States)
 * Mike Cooper as Admiral Collingwood
 * David Schneider as Scarlett Morgan
 * Mitchell Mullen as Gameshow Host