Toon Closet Review: The Pirates of Dark Warter

Hey everyone and welcome back to Toon Closet this time we're going on an adventure on an alien world of Mer that's being devour by Dark Water. And only a long lost prince can stop it by finding the lost Thirteen Treasures of Rule. Yeah that was the opening credit narration of The Pirates of Dark Water which aired on February 25, 1991. Before the series premiered on ABC it was originally aired on Fox as a five part mini-series called Dark Water. However, chances were made by Hanna-Barbera and the series was rebroadcast on ABC later in 1991. The bulk of the series revolves around an evil substance known as Dark Water that's bend on consuming the planet. And it's up to a small group of adventurers with the help of the Thirteen Treasures of Rule to stop the Dark Water. In the first few episodes we're introduce to the series main characters. Ren an orphan who learns that he's a prince of once great kingdom of Octopon. Tula an ecomancer with the ability to control the elements and biological life, both sentient and non-sentient, as well as a natural affinity towards nature and animals. Ioz a rogue and pirate who joins up with Ren and Tula initially for the promise of treasure. And Niddler a monkey-bird who once belonged to Bloth (the series' antagonist), until he escaped by aiding Ren's own escape from the pirate lord. Although that each of the characters have their own agendas, their main goal is to find the Thirteen Treasures of Rule which processes mysterious powers of stopping the Dark Water. Aside from the Dark Water that the heroes must face there's also Bloth the evil Pirate Lord who pursues Ren and crew just to keep the Treasures for himself and was the one responsible for the destruction of Octopon.

The series lasted for two seasons with only 21 episodes and was abruptly canceled due to expensive production costs and failing to meet the airdates (according to Wikipedia). Resulting that the series was never completed and that Ren and crew found eight of the thirteen treasures.

My Final Verdict: Pirates of Dark Water is visually stunning, well scripted, and by far an entertaining cartoon series that came out from the 90s. This is a series for all ages to watch and enjoy it's just unfortunate that the series ended without any resolution. Pirates of Dark Water can be found on DVD through the Warner Bros. online store website.