Pirates!

Pirates! is a 2007 pirate brickfilm by Doug Vandegrift. It follows a good-natured pirate, John Todd, who ventures to rescue his daughter after he is betrayed by his own captain and crew. It was inspired by the Disneyland attraction Pirates of the Carribean. It was originally intended to be a Masterpieces of Brickfilming entry, and later became an entry to the Friendships and Rivalries Contest on Brickfilms.com, in which it won second place.

Plot
After sailing the oceans with the devious Captain Blackheart for years, John Todd, a good-natured pirate decides to retire, so he can be with his daughter, Ruby, since she doesn't know that he's a pirate. However, after a skirmish between him and another crew member over Anna, John's wife, Blackheart kicks John out of the crew, stuffs him in a cell, kills Anna, and kidnaps Ruby. After being rescued from his cell, John visits Anna's grave, and decides to rescue Ruby from Blackheart.

During his journey, John comes across an Imperial ship, but the soldiers don't believe that he was betrayed, and the British Admiral locks him up. John manages to escape and continues his journey, with the soldiers secretly following him.

Meanwhile at Blackheart's hideout, Blackheart attempts to persuade Ruby into becoming a pirate, which doesn't work. Later on, Ruby meets another good-natured pirate, Diego, John's best friend, who promises to help her escape.

John manages to arrive at Blackheart's hideout, where he and Diego secretly meet up to plan out the rescue. Blackheart attempts to persuade Ruby again, but is interrupted by Diego, who suggests that he should talk to her, which Blackheart agrees to. In reality, Diego brings Ruby to John, but they get spotted. So, John and Ruby have to hide in the bushes. Blackheart realizes what Diego had done, but wonders why he didn't kill John. Diego explains that John is still his friend no matter what, but is executed by Blackheart. Angered by Diego's death, John challenges Blackheart to a sword fight, which is suddenly stopped when they see the Imperial ship coming. Blackheart shoots John, and grabs Ruby. Unbeknownst to Blackheart, a wounded John wakes up to see Ruby being taken away, and goes after them once more.

The soldiers and Blackheart's crew begin to fight, but the soldiers have no choice, but to stop firing when they see Ruby. John comes in and rescues Ruby, while the soldiers invade Blackheart's ship and capture the crew. John gets stabbed by Blackheart, just before Blackheart could kill him, the Admiral kills Blackheart, saving him, but his wound gets worse. Ruby realizes who John is, and he confesses to her about his secret, before succumbing to his wounds and dying in front of Ruby. The Admiral confesses to Ruby that he is her grandfather, and that Anna is his daughter, and John is his son-in-law. Ruby pulls out a flower that John took from Anna's grave, and departs for home with the Admiral.

Cast

 * Doug Vandegrift Sr. as Captain Blackheart, Admiral
 * Doug Vandegrift as John Todd, Diego
 * Meredith Lyman as Anna Todd
 * Stephanie Todd as Ruby Todd

Crew

 * Doug Vandegrift - Writer, Director, Music writer, Animator, Editor
 * Joseph Frank - Music arranger and composer

Award nominations

 * colspan="1" rowspan="1"|2007
 * colspan="1" rowspan="1"|Bricks in Motion Awards
 * Best Sound Design
 * Nominated
 * Best Sound Design
 * Nominated