The year is 1837. In London, an admiral named Cuthbert Collingwood goes to Queen Victoria to share that the Royal Navy has defeated a few nations. However, there are some pirates that they are still trying to deal with. Queen Victoria absolutely hates pirates. She wants them dead.

The scene then switches to the group of pirates, who are led by a leader just known as the Pirate Captain. They are having some fun. Then they are excited to have ham for dinner.

At some point, they all go to a tropical island and into a bar. The Pirate Captain is desperate to win the Pirate of the Year award. The winner is determined based on who can steal the most treasure.

A few other competitors come in, too. A little embarrassed, the Pirate Captain feeds his dodo bird, Polly (whom he thinks is a parrot) his form for the competition. However, Polly spits it out and the competitors see it. They consider it crazy.

Once off that island, the Pirate Captain does everything he can to get treasure. He invades different ships he sees. But none of them have gold. The Pirate Captain almost gives up. But he decides to give it another chance.

He enters another boat—only to find Charles Darwin, who is working on his animal studies. Of course, he doesn’t have gold, either.

He is, however, intrigued to see Polly as the last living dodo. He wants to enter her in a competition. But the Pirate Captain won’t allow that… until he learns that the winner gets a reward. Then he changes his mind.

The pirates go to London, despite how Queen Victoria would kill any pirate that steps foot in England. Charles Darwin lets them stay at his house with his pet chimpanzee, Mr. Bobo. Once again, he tries to take Polly, and while the Pirate Captain is sleeping. Yet that leads to chaos.

The Pirate Captain decides to enter Polly himself. But when he and the others get to the place where the competition is being held, they discover that it’s only for scientists. Charles Darwin decides to take Polly with him on his own. But the Pirate Captain stops him again. He and the other pirates disguise themselves as scientists.

The Pirate Captain presents Polly and is praised for it at the end. Later, Queen Victoria comes and asks to place Polly in her royal petting zoo. While refusing, the Pirate Captain accidentally reveals that he is a pirate and not a scientist. He gets arrested, but then Queen Victoria pardons him.

Some time later, the Pirate Captain goes to the Tower of London and meets Queen Victoria again. She offers a good amount of her gold in exchange for Polly. Still dying to win the Pirate of the Year Award, the Pirate Captain gives Polly to her.

Not long after, there is a pirate show happening. The Pirate King then comes onto the stage and announces a winner for the Pirate of the Year Award. He chooses the Pirate Captain.

However, one of the guys there reveals that the Pirate Captain was pardoned by Queen Victoria. This makes him ineligible for the award. Not only that, he is stripped of his pirate outfit and even his privilege of being called a pirate.

The former Pirate Captain even gets dumped by his friends. He decides to knit and sell baby clothes. But he doesn’t get anywhere with that.

Can he fix things and still achieve his goals?

There were many aspects of this film that I enjoyed. One of them was the humor. I laughed several times throughout the movie. After all, it was made by Aardman, who also produced the Wallace & Gromit films. The animation design was also similar to that of Wallace & Gromit, although it was not done with clay.

One creative detail I admired was how Mr. Bobo would use paper signs to communicate. He was smart and loyal to Charles Darwin.

I also admired the Pirate Captain’s bond with Polly. It was very sweet. He also hid her at certain times in creative ways.

All the pirates that were on the Pirate Captain’s side were likable, including his assistant, whom he called Number 2 for some reason. They had some good times together. I also enjoyed disliking Queen Victoria. She was unkind and harsh.

The pacing was quick, too. Not one scene in this movie dragged.

That being said, there were some open ends that I wish were resolved. However, they were minor, and not enough to ruin the story.

Like with any good film, this one had a good number of twists and turns. See the movie to find out what they are.

Overall, I enjoyed The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! It was a fun movie with a unique and exciting premise that had lots of humor.

I give this film 4.5 out of 5 stars.