Overview
The Plastic Pearl is a pirate ship like no other. Built from plastic, furnished with plastic, and home to a rowdy bunch of plastic-loving pirates led by Captain Clingfilm and his parrot, Polly Styrene.
They sail the salty seas on the lookout for more plastic to plunder. And there is plenty of it around. Every ship they pillage brings yet more plastic for them to make their own: plastic jewellery, watches, handbags and toys, not to mention bottles and bottles of lovely fresh water.
But, beneath the very waves on which they sail, the sea creatures are suffering. As more and more discarded items enter their ocean, the creatures realise that something has got to be done. Can they convey their message in time? Will the pirates understand them, let alone care? And will Captain Clingfilm really be able to give up his treasured microbeads in his daily shower?
Synopsis
As Captain Clingfilm, his parrot Polly Styrene, and the crew of the Plastic Pearl set sail for another adventure, they consider the pirate code, the rules which they all follow (for the most part!) at sea (THE PIRATE CODE).
However, these are no ordinary pirates! For these pirates have no interest in gold. Instead, they scour the seas looking for plastic: colourful, versatile, useful, durable and in all shapes and sizes. And it can be found everywhere! (WE LOVE PLASTIC)
Indeed, it really can be found everywhere, as – beneath the sea – some of the creatures are finding to their cost. Some are wearing it, some are hampered by it, and the turtles and some of the fish have even eaten it.
Meanwhile, the pirates have raided a cruise ship, The Pompous Puffin, and helped themselves to all the available plastic: oversized jewellery, sunglasses, bottles, bags, buckets, toys, rubber ducks, dinghies, lilos, even some armbands. You name it, they take it (CELEBRATING). Except that they don’t need all of it, so they casually toss half of it into the sea.
Underwater, Dr Olga Octopus is tending to her patients, all of whom are affected in some way by the plastic within their sea (PLASTIC SOUP). And things are about to get worse as the plastic thrown overboard by the pirates leads the hospital into an emergency evacuation.
Blissfully unaware of the chaos beneath the waves, Captain Clingfilm is enjoying his daily shower (OH, I LOVE MY MICROBEADS). Gunner Grim and Barnacle Bill, ambitious pirates with a ruthless streak, stir up opposition to the captain’s hygiene habits which are breaking the pirate code, and before you can say “loofah”, the Captain and his first mate, Percy Patch, find themselves walking the plank and crashing into the briny.
Elsewhere, the sea creatures are getting desperate and even attempt to communicate with the pirates. All they get is yet more plastic thrown at them until Polly Styrene, the Captain’s parrot, sends the pirates back to work (THE REAL BOSS IS ME).
Not far away, on a desert island, Captain Clingfilm and Percy Patch bemoan their luck and send out an SOS in a plastic bottle, only to watch with shock and horror as the bottle vanishes into a sea of plastic.
Increasingly desperate, the sea creatures ask some seabirds to communicate their plight to Polly Styrene, hoping that she can help them (WE NEED YOU POLLY). The seabirds relay the concerns to Polly who then relays them to the pirates, but Gunner Grim is having none of it and Polly is forced to flee the ship.
Back on the desert island, Captain Clingfilm and Percy Patch are overjoyed to see a ship in the distance. As it heads nearer, they see that it is their own ship, The Plastic Pearl. But then it gets stuck … in the sea of plastic.
Polly arrives at the island and tells the captain of the condition of the sea creatures. The captain has witnessed it with his own eyes and needs no persuading. Into the water they go, fighting their way through the plastic until they climb, drenched but determined, back onto the deck. The pirates welcome them back with open arms and listen as they hear what the plastic is doing to the ocean and its creatures. The pirates are persuaded, all except Gunner Grim and Barnacle Bill, who are given their marching orders … off the plank.
Recognising the error of their ways, the pirates vow to use plastics in a much more responsible way in the future, and to set about cleaning up the mess they have made of their wonderful sea (OFF TO SEA).
