The first thing I learned in my research of this scruffy fellow in the film was that two dogs played him. Twister played the jailhouse dog who carried the keys in the first movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl. In the second film, Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest, Chopper played the rascal who tagged along with two pirate escapees.
An article in American Humane, Animal Stars says ..
Twister, another terrier mix, was adopted from the Castaic Animal Shelter in 1995 by trainer Boone Narr from Boone’s Animals for Hollywood. Twister has appeared in the film Paulie and commercials for Western Union, Southwest Airlines, and Shell.
An article called 'On to the Caribbean" at Mooviees.com which is about Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest has this to say about our little fellow.
The Prison Dog, a beloved character both in the original Pirates of the Caribbean attraction and the first film, is now played by Chopper, a friendly and unbelievably smart eight-year-old terrier mix. Twister, who portrayed the role in “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” is now enjoying a well-deserved retirement after years of film and television work. However, like many stars, Chopper needed time in the makeup trailer to correctly align the color of his coat with Twister’s. “Chopper has an air-conditioned little trailer that he stays in, and sometimes he allows me to go inside,” says Boone Narr ruefully. “Then, on his day off, he expects me to run around and take care of him. Usually, I’m at his bark and call. He’s got me well trained.”
Mooviees.com says....
Also making the journey to the Caribbean was a veritable menagerie trained and accompanied by Boone Narr and Mark Harden from Animals for Hollywood, which included two capuchin monkeys, two macaws, a dozen goats, three pigs, two white horses, two carriage horses, three dozen chickens, six cows and 14 ravens. In the first “Pirates” film, some of the on-screen creatures—including the Prison Dog, Jack the Monkey and Cotton’s parrot—had their moment of stardom, which was about to be repeated. The silent Cotton’s parrot is actually portrayed by two macaws, spicy and spirited avian creatures appropriately named Chip and Salsa. “One’s a good flyer, the other’s a good sitter,” notes David Bailie, who portrays the tongueless pirate. “God, if you heard him squawk! You have no idea what that squawk is like at a two-inch range. Your head just rings.
For those animal lovers out their intersted in the other critters on the film you can rest assured they were well taken care of. In an another article I read in American Humane they describe the extent they went to protect the animals. Rosie, the donkey, did not really pull the wheel around in the blacksmith shop.and this was said about the branding iron....
In one part of this fight sequence, Jack picks up a hot poker and it appears as if he pokes the donkey to get it to move. Rosie started off with her head down and the actor stood next to the donkey with a hot poker, but was careful not to get too close to the animal with it. A crewmember sprayed the poker with vegetable oil right before filming began so that the poker would smoke. Another crewmember stood near the donkeys’ rear end and blew off a puff of smoke as the actor neared with the poker. A trainer standing off camera, cued the donkey to move quickly. To get Rosie to look startled, one trainer held the animal while another shook a jar of pennies. Each piece of action was filmed separately and seamlessly combined during post production.
I also found it very interesting reading how they did the scenes with Captain Barbossa's little monkey. Here are a couple excerpts from American Humane article...
Captain Barbossa’s Monkey
Two Capuchin monkeys alternated in the part of Captain Barbossa’s pet who rode upon his shoulder throughout much of the film. Tara is a 10-year-old female monkey and Levi is an 8-year-old male.
After Capt. Barbossa and his pirates kidnap Elizabeth, they take her in a longboat to the treasure cave. One trainer hid in the boat along with the monkey and the actors and safety divers waited in the water.
As the battle ensues aboard the Black Pearl, the monkey is perched upon the captain’s shoulder as he walks around. Men are fighting with fists, swords and guns amidst blasts and smoke all over the ship. A fake monkey was made by Animal Makers and was substituted for the real monkey during these scenes
Jack sees the monkey with the medallion and begins to follow it as they both go across the mast of one ship to the other ship. A trainer released the monkey to give it a head start before the actor began to follow. The monkey ran to another trainer who was waiting with a treat and a hug. There were safety divers in the water below. The mast was actually a log which was secured in place by crew members before filming began.
After the credits begin to roll, there is a brief scene where the monkey is shown swimming in the water and up to the treasure chest. The water was very shallow and a special wooden platform was built and placed under the water.
The monkey was cued by the trainer to crawl on the under water platform to the treasure chest where another trainer was waiting nearby. This made it appear as if the monkey was swimming, but it was really crawling across the water, again with the help of some movie magic.
Cotton’s Parrot
Three Blue and Gold Macaws were used for the part of Cotton’s bird. Salsa and Chip had their wings clipped and were used to riding on the actor’s shoulder. Ranger was the bird that got to spread its wings and take flight.
I was sure no animals were harmed in the film but after reading these articles, I really felt they were well taken care of and it makes me feel much better watching the films.
For those of you not already aware there is a special treat after the credits of each film so be sure and stay to watch.