Film

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

Name: The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family, Comedy
Released: 2012
Cast: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven

Swashbuckler
Light-hearted

A stop-motion comedy about incompetent Victorian-era pirates competing for a trophy, stuffed full of gags, celebrity voices, and the peculiar charm of Aardman's craft. It's anarchic and daft, pitched at adults as much as children, with enough visual jokes to reward a second watch. For anyone who loves mischief and silly wordplay.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love deadpan British silliness and handmade stop-motion where the jokes arrive faster than the plot, the kind of slapstick that rewards a rewatch.

Skip it if you need a tight, relentless story, since this one wanders through its episodes and leans on gags more than momentum, and its cheerful absurdity may feel thin.

What it asks of you: It runs a brisk 88 minutes and wants your full attention for the visual jokes, asking you to enjoy silliness at a sprint rather than settle into anything heavy.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Shaun the Sheep Movie2015

Aardman's silent-comedy masterclass: inventive, wordless, and endlessly imaginative with physical humor and detail. Every frame rewards attention, and the joy translates across all ages without talking down to anyone.

But Almost no dialogue means it relies entirely on visual storytelling—if you need plot exposition spelled out, you'll miss things. Some may find the pacing slow.

Fantastic Mr. Fox2009

Wes Anderson's stop-motion love letter to roguish charm and tactical brilliance. Fast, funny, deeply weird in the best way, with a voice cast that commits to every absurd moment. Pure crafted delight.

But Anderson's mannered style divides people sharply. If you find his symmetry and whimsy affected, this won't change your mind—it doubles down on both.

The Lego Movie2014

Anarchic, reference-dense animation that prioritizes jokes-per-minute over coherence. It's silly, irreverent, fast-moving, and genuinely clever about its own ridiculousness. Impossible not to smile.

But The relentless comedy and editing can feel exhausting. Some sequences blur into visual noise, and the plot takes a backseat to the next gag.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Secret of Kells2009

Both are love letters to craft and visual detail—Pirates in stop-motion absurdity, Kells in hand-drawn lyricism. Both privilege cleverness and beauty over conventional plot momentum.

Irish hand-drawn animation that feels like no other film—gorgeously stylized, mythically rich, and built on genuine passion rather than formula. A visual feast about art, adventure, and wonder that lands with unexpected emotional weight.

But The flat, geometric art style is deliberately artificial; viewers expecting realistic animation will find it jarring. Quiet and contemplative stretches interrupt the adventure.

Coraline2009

Darkly imaginative stop-motion that balances genuine creepiness with whimsy, anchored by a brave protagonist and rich visual storytelling. Proves animation can be genuinely unsettling without losing heart.

But The uncanny imagery may disturb younger viewers more than expected. It's slower and moodier than Pirates, which some will find less fun.

Flushed Away2006

Aardman's rat-adventure romp: colorful, silly, propulsive, and packed with British voice talent doing their thing. It's lighter and more straightforward than Pirates, but equally game for absurdity.

But Sometimes leans too hard on slapstick without much wit behind it. The pacing can feel rushed, leaving jokes unearned.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted2012

A high-energy heist romp with circus animals, lavish animation, and jokes that work on multiple levels. It's colorful, chaotic, and surprisingly inventive in its set pieces.

But The third film in a series can feel repetitive if you've seen the others. The humor sometimes substitutes noise and movement for actual wit.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted poster

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs2009

Wildly imaginative CGI comedy about an inventor's flying-food machine wreaking beautiful chaos. It's sincere about its oddball protagonist while never taking itself seriously. Pure creative joy.

But The plot mechanics are paper-thin and predictable. It relies on spectacle and pacing to carry you over narrative gaps, which won't work for everyone.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs poster

How to Train Your Dragon2010

A gorgeously animated adventure with genuine emotion, sharp humor, and a protagonist you actually root for. It earns its sentiment without ever becoming saccharine or preachy.

But Slower and more earnest than Pirates' anarchic pace. If you're after relentless jokes, you'll find stretches of actual storytelling in the way.

Mary and Max2009

Both feature oddball characters and Aardman-adjacent stop-motion craft, but Kells uses humor as seasoning for something larger. Mary and Max uses humor as a Trojan horse for grief—the inverse of Pirates' relationship to joke-density.

A stop-motion film about an Australian girl and an overweight Jewish man in New York becoming pen pals. Hilarious, devastating, weird, and deeply human—Australian animator Adam Elliot's masterpiece about loneliness and connection.

But It swings wildly between comedy and heartbreak; tonal whiplash can feel jarring. The subject matter (obesity, mental illness, death) makes it far darker than its premise suggests.

Big Fish2003

Both revel in tall tales and visual invention, but Pirates is content to stay anarchic. Big Fish uses the same vocabulary of adventure and oddity to excavate father-son love—the same toolbox, entirely different emotional purpose.

Tim Burton's film about a son uncovering his father's mythology through tall tales—visually baroque, narratively inventive, and genuinely moving beneath the whimsy. A meditation on storytelling itself, told through fantastic adventure.

But Burton's aesthetic is a familiar touchstone; if you're tired of his visual signatures, this won't escape them. Some find the sentimentality cloying after the playfulness wears off.