(at around 2h) The scene when Jack Sparrow calls Davy Jones "fish face", and sings to them "I got a jar of dirt", was unscripted and improvised by Johnny Depp, most of the reactions of the rest of the characters are real.
Johnny Depp's frequent collaborator, Tim Burton, contributed some of the conceptual designs of several crew members aboard the Flying Dutchman.
Gore Verbinski initially rejected casting director Denise Chamian's suggestion to cast Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma, saying that she was too young for the role. Chamian insisted he give her a screen test. Finally, Harris's mother came with her for the audition, also serving as her dialect coach, since Dalma speaks in a partial Jamaican accent.
Gore Verbinski originally wanted Davy Jones to be Dutch, as he is the Captain of the "Dutchman". Bill Nighy, however responded, "I don't do Dutch. So I decided on Scottish."
The Kraken was difficult to animate, as it had no real-life reference, until animation director Hal T. Hickel instructed the crew to watch King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), which had a real octopus crawling over miniatures.