From a Swashbuckler Movie for Adults to Children Novel: Adaptation Study on Pirates of the Caribbean at World’s End

Abstract

Threats to people have existed from ancient times until now. Even children can be affected, either directly or through things like war or scary news. Luckily, education today is much better than in the past and gives children more ways to learn and understand the world. This study looks at the adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End from a movie into a children's novel written by T. T. Sutherland. It uses qualitative research to answer two main questions: How is the transformation of a swashbuckler movie Pirates of the Caribbean At Worlds End into children novel and why does the adapter adapt the movie swashbuckler into children novel. The study uses Linda Hutcheon’s adaptation theory (2013) to help understand the changes. In the movie, the story is very serious and includes tragic war scenes. The East India Company captures pirates' families to find out where the pirate leaders are. The film shows violence, control, and mass killing. But in the children's novel, the focus is different. It highlights bravery and working together. The pirates learn that they must unite to face danger. Since the war scenes in the movie are too violent for children, Sutherland changes the story in the novel to make it safer and easier for kids to read. The analysis shows that both versions share themes like teamwork and courage. However, the big difference is in how war and killing are shown. The movie shows them in detail, while the novel does not. From these findings, we can say that Sutherland’s main reason for adapting the movie into a children's novel was educational. She wanted to give children access to the story while removing violent parts, helping them learn about values like courage and unity in a safe way.