Arrrgh, maties! A new pirate adventure  from the creators of “Wallace and Grommit” offers up a surprisingly witty and snicker-worthy story, made possible by its quirky characters and captivating visuals.

In “The Pirates! Band of Misfits,” the Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant), is charmingly inept in his quest to plunder gold, and he strives to attain the Pirate of the Year award to earn respect.

One boat he and his crew of scalawags attempt to plunder “booty” from is — with an endearing nod to history — The HMS Beagle, where Charles Darwin (David Tennant) makes an appearance. Darwin realizes that the pirates’ parrot, Polly, is not actually a parrot, but a dodo bird thought to be extinct. Darwin longs to get his hands on the bird, throwing the two into a thief’s predicament.

With a star British cast of voice actors, also including the fierce Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria and Jeremy Piven as Black Bellamy, this cute claymation flick serves up spunky characters who are full of vocal energy.

The film is, of course, kid-friendly, but even older viewers may find something to chuckle about. Though it’s certainly no “Wallace and Grommit,” this flick’s cute, swashbuckling humor definitely strikes gold.

“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” was directed by Peter Lor and Jeff Newitt and written by Gideon Defoe.