Talk:The Curse of Monkey Island

In Memory of Bret Barret
Does anyone know why the game is dedicated to Bret Barret? All I know he was one of the programmers for the first two games. Did he pass away at some point? It would be helpful if the guy at least had his own page at Wikipedia. (Hannu Mäkinen)


 * If it's dedicated to his memory, I think it's safe to say that he's dead. 81.111.32.123 16:13, 19 June 2006 (UTC)


 * He died in a motorcycle accident a year or so before the game was made. Lando242 00:27, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

"Beat It"
I've removed the following from the Trivia section:


 * If while Guybrush (You) is tarred and feathered and you walk into the Barbery Coast, the barbers will shout phrases saying to get out. One of the phrases yelled by Van Helgen was "Beat It", possibly making a reference to Eddie Van Halen's guitar performance in Michael Jackson's song, "Beat It".

Unless this has actually been alluded to by one of the writers or something, it's a huge stretch. "Beat it" is a common phrase and is what one would expect the pirates to have said anyway, and just because someone with a similar name happens to have played the guitar part in a Michael Jackson song with that title doesn't make it a reference. It's pure speculation at best, and downright absurdity at worst. I see that this is duplicated on Edward Van Helgen -- I'm leaving that one there because it's slightly more relevant on that page, and it is kind of interesting. But it doesn't need to be here.

--Chrismith 00:56, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Novelization
Removed reference to an apparent novelization until someone gives source indicating it exists.--TheHande 19:23, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Incorrect "downtime" between Monkey Island 2 and 3?
Near the end of the game in the Carnival of the Damned, you win a prize by prooving that Guybrush is 20 years old. In Monkey Island 2 when you get the Library card, one of the options when asked for your age is "Nintee- Er... Twenty-One" implying that he was 19 years old. So there couldn't have been a 5 year gap. 143.239.130.8 10:12, 18 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The whole 5 year-thing is a reference is an out of game thing referring to the time gap between the two games (in real life). This has been mentioned on Guybrush's own page, but I still can't tell where in the game does it actually state that there was a five year gap in the game. I'm gonna take it up on the GB page. -TheHande 13:59, 25 August 2006 (UTC)


 * After getting no replies I've corrected this issue, both here and on Guybrush's page. -TheHande 09:37, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Literature Reference
(originally absent header inserted by docpi 22:08, 3 August 2007 (UTC))

The trivia section is incorrect - Monkey Island is not based on the Pirates of the Caribbean. It's based on the book ''On Strange Waters'". Ron Gilbert has said this a number of times.
 * (Please sign your posts on talk pages.) It is actually based on "On Stranger Tides". And it is also based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Ron Gilbert has also stated this numerous times. See, e.g. here--Wormsie 11:36, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, it's based primarily on On Stranger Tides, while he used Pirates of the Caribbean for the atmosphere. See Ron Gilbert's most recent post on this subject here. 81.58.34.171 11:54, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * That's what I meant.--Wormsie 07:21, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Star Wars Reference by Voodoo Lady
At one point in the first discussion round with the Voodoo Lady in the zombie ship in the swamp on Plunder Island, she states to have sensed "A great disturbance in the force," or similar. She then proceeds to explain that it was of hatred and despise (or similar) by Elaine.

This is close enough to clearly parodize Obi Wan Kenobi's sensing of the destruction of Princess Leia's home Planet Alderaan and the annihilation of her people, the inhabitants of the planet, in Star Wars IV - A New Hope Since I am currently playing the (pretty good) German translation of the game, I am unable to provide more accurate information.

Would someone please check this, get the verbatim quote and insert this significant reference, please? Thank you.

docpi 22:08, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

Vats with Dye of Color Red No. 2
(Where does a significant pop culture reference end and merely common culture reference humor begin? Where do you draw the line? The discussion on this is hereby officially opened.)

This is another culture reference which however only works in the US. Food coloring is mostly numbered in the United States as regulated by the FD&C while in Europe, an E-number coding scheme applies. For your reference, there is also a comprehensive list of food coloring designations.

The German translators missed this minor and obscure reference to the color of the vats between the lemonade stand and the restaurant in the city on Plunder Island.

Oh, it appears that (Citrus) Red No. 2 (cf. the third section The Red Scare of the article in this external link) is actually a food coloring dangerous to your health (actually intended only for marking oranges which are unfit for processing or human consumption). How appropriate for pirates, especially for those selling lemonade nearby.

docpi 22:08, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

No more trivia, please
Please, please, pretty please, would you be so kind as not add any more trivia items. Instead try to incorporate them to the main body of the article directly. Remmeber, we are all striving for feature articles here (in theory), and its good Wikipedia practice not to have a trivia section.--Wormsie 10:49, 4 August 2007 (UTC)


 * docpi replies on 10:46, 5 August 2007 (UTC):


 * Well, I cannot add the trivia to the main article because I do not have the original English version of the game that I could quote verbatim from. I am currently playing the German version and spot the references in the translation (which BTW failed bitterly to catch the JFK assassination reference).
 * Hence, I am not going to incorporate incomplete trivia to the main article and ask someone else with access to the original version to do it in my stead. Makes sense, eh?


 * P.S. I have spotted more Star Wars and other references while playing the game some more which however are all featured in spoken dialogue. So I must still mention them here and hope that someone carries them over as you wish.

Verb coin
I removed the line about the verb coin interface: Full Throttle was the first SCUMM game to use the verb coin interface. 81.58.34.171 11:55, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Unsourced section
According to WP:WAF: "All included information needs to be attributable to reliable sources, and all sources (including the primary sources) need to be appropriately cited in the article (...)" FightingStreet (talk) 15:44, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Where does it say that plot needs to be sourced. If it was to reach GA, it would probably need some primary sources. The Prince (talk) 15:48, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * "All included information". That's pretty straightforward. FightingStreet (talk) 15:56, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I've cited the game itself as a primary source. As I said in my edit summary, if secondary sources are desired then magazine reviews outlining the plot would be sufficient, also on the back of the game box there's a very brief plot outline. Bill (talk 16:06, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Primary sources are fine for plot summaries, although for GA or FA status the section would have to have inline citations. FightingStreet (talk) 16:08, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Trailblazer of MP3 technology
I remember this game was one-of the first, if not THE first game to extensively use MP3 audio. The codec was relatively new to consumers at the time, almost unknown. This should go into the article when a reference is found. - Roidroid (talk) 13:25, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I wasn't aware of that. The resource files were all stored in archives with a proprietary format.  If it's true though, the people at the ScummVM forum may be able to find a reference for you. CountingPine (talk) 02:36, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
 * No, it was certainly not MP3. If I recall correctly, it was a proprietary variant of ADPCM stored in .bun ("bundle") files. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.175.219.209 (talk) 00:16, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Retrospective article
--M ASEM (t) 12:56, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

PC Gamer preview
I would be very grateful to a person who can tell me the page numbers and the name of the author of this PC Gamer article about CMI. Electroguv (talk) 18:36, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Gary Whitta. "No More Monkeying Around". PC Gamer, Vol. 4 No. 7 (July 1997), pp. 74–88. Note that the page you linked to is not a 100% accurate transcript of the article (missing a word here and there etc.). –Jopo (talk) 06:32, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot. You can't even imagine how greatly you have assisted me. Electroguv (talk) 09:39, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

Reference material
Here's what I've found: More later. JimmyBlackwing (talk) 02:42, 26 August 2015 (UTC)
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20000301192210/http://monkey.meristation.com/
 * https://archive.org/details/MicromanaTerceraEpocaSpanishIssue36/page/n81
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20010616222953/http://www.thescummbar.com/features/billtiller/
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20000413142649/http://www.gamesmania.com/english/editorial/interviews/mi3/mi3a.htm
 * https://archive.org/details/PC-Player-German-Magazine-1998-01/page/n65
 * https://archive.org/stream/PC.Games.N074.1998.11-fl0n#page/n25
 * CGW feature
 * Computer Games Magazine review
 * Next Gen review
 * Designer Diary
 * GameSpot preview
 * GameSpot award
 * GameSpot award 2
 * CGM award
 * PC Mag review
 * Announcement date
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20000420085704/http://pc.ign.com:80/news/5633.html
 * http://web.archive.org/web/20050206144740/http://www.cdmag.com:80/articles/002/117/adventure.html
 * - https://i.imgur.com/lc4lHIQ.jpg, https://i.imgur.com/diLR5D9.jpg, https://i.imgur.com/D9M4iVW.jpg, https://i.imgur.com/LCc1OFQ.jpg
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20010215074923/http://lechuck.escapemi.com:80/jona.html
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20010215074923/http://lechuck.escapemi.com:80/jona.html

Why was "Hollywood Monsters" in the "See Also" section?
I couldn't find any connection between the two. "Curse of Monkey Island" is mentioned in the Hollywood Monsters page, but only as an arbitrary "comparable" game.

I've gone ahead and removed it.

References to other works
Guybrush Threepwood engages in a banjo duel with a pirate known as Edward Van Helgen, which ends with Van Helgen playing very fast and demonstratively. This scene refers to a famous scene in the movie Deliverance. Van Helgen's character alludes to Edward Van Halen, known for fast guitar playing.

The name of the fourth chapter, The Bartender, the Thieves, His Aunt, and Her Lover, alludes to the title of the movie The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.

The shape of skull island alludes to Rabbit–duck illusion.

Unsure if this would fit in the article. David.Monniaux (talk) 22:19, 7 January 2024 (UTC)