After having read the novel, The Pirate's Passage, Donald Sutherland called author William Gilkerson in Nova Scotia about buying the movie rights, saying: "I would like to buy this. Please. This is where I'm from. This is where my heart is. Let me do it."
Donald Sutherland, who voices Captain Charles Johnson, spent his teenage years in Nova Scotia where the story of Pirate's Passage is located. Sutherland, who is also co-writer and co-producer of the movie, moved to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia at age 12. He has said of the making of the movie: "It's a way to bring back Nova Scotia in my mind and my heart."
The movie is set in the fictional town of Grey Rocks in the year 1952. That particular year Sutherland worked his first part-time job as an announcer for local radio station CKBW in Bridgewater.
The movie is set in the fictional town of Grey Rocks in the year 1952. That particular year Sutherland worked his first part-time job as an announcer for local radio station CKBW in Bridgewater.