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Released by: Warner Archive
Released on: 8/31/2010
Director: Various
Cast: George Newbern, Frank Welker, Jodi Bensen, Tim Curry
Year: 1991 - 1993
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The Series:
The Pirates Of Dark Water began its three year broadcast life as a mini-series when it aired in five parts on the Fox Kids Channel in 1991. It proved popular enough that the powers that be deemed it wise to spin the show off into its own series, and the series did fairly well, lasting until 1993 when it was taken off the air. Produced by Hanna-Barbera, the series followed a group of outsider types made up of a former prince named Ren, a monkey-bird creature named Niddler, a white witch named Tula, a redheaded brawler named Zoolie, a wizard named Teron and, in the second season, a pirate named Ioz. They lived in a world named Mer where they cruised around in a ship called The Swift. What brought them all together? Treasure, of course. While these characters all came from different places and different backgrounds, they share a love of treasure that binds them together and makes them allies.
Of course, there wouldn't be much of a show if there wasn't any conflict - just watching cartoon characters cruise around in a boat finding treasure with ease would get old fast. That's where the bad guys come in, lead by a hulking pirate named Bluth who has a past history with Ren. On Bluth's side are a few other scoundrel types, mainly the cunning Mantus, a short, tough pirate named Konk, two dopey brothers named the Luggs, an evil creature named The Dark Dweller who was responsible for scattering the various treasures around Mer in the first place and his man-servant, Morpho. Oh, and there's a pirate guy named Joat who has a metal claw hand and who used to own The Swift and, as such, has it in for Ren. These heavy hitters have a boat of their own, called, appropriately enough, The Maelstrom, which is actually made out of the dead bodies of various creatures to give it that extra evil touch.
With the two factions firmly established, the series plays around with various battles and ongoing feuds between the primary characters. While this in and of itself doesn't set the show apart from countless other cartoons, the design work employed by the animation team does. The character design used in the show is quite unique, blending elements of traditional action and adventure style animation like that scene in a show like Johnny Quest with what looks more like influences culled from underground comics of the sixties and seventies by artists like Vaughn Bode. This doesn't apply just to the characters but to the backgrounds as well, and there are times where you can't help but think of Ralph Bakshi's Wizards and if maybe that film didn't have an influence on this show as well. The planet of Mer, which is geographically bizarre, offers the animation team plenty of opportunity to strut their stuff and show off some really impressive locations and creative design work.
Despite the influence of more adult oriented material and the decidedly dark nature of some of the characters, the series was still a kid's show after all. It is maybe a bit more violent and anarchic in nature than more traditional kids fare but it still plays things fairly safe. Thankfully the creative design work and enjoyable and action oriented plots make it easy to look past that. Throw in some interesting voice actors like Tim Curry, George Newbern and Brock Peters and this is a series that is worth revisiting. The show was cancelled very abruptly, however, and it just sort of ends rather than coming to a truly satisfactory conclusion. This set from Warner Archives includes all twenty-one episodes that were broadcast, spread across four DVDs which, like all Warner Archive titles, are basically burned on demand and essentially made to order.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The series was shown on television in the early nineties so a fullframe aspect ratio makes sense of the presentation here. As far as the video quality goes, these transfers were taken from existing materials and so they don't look as razor sharp or crystal clear as you might want. They're perfectly watchable, despite the fact that they are interlaced, and color reproduction is decent enough, but don't expect this stuff to look as good as some of the transfers on top tier Hanna-Barbera titles (you know, those ones that were actually restored and all).
The no frills Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound mix is in English with no alternate language dubs, subtitles or closed captions provided. The audio is clean and clear and you won't have any problems understanding the dialogue. The levels fluctuate a bit here and there and there are a few spots where the effects are a bit loud, but these are minor complaints. Generally the audio sounds just fine.
Aside from a static menu screen, this disc is completely barebones.
The Final Word:
A really creative and enjoyable series, The Pirates Of Dark Water may not receive the best release in the history of animation (particularly when compared with other Hanna-Barbera properties) but the quality is okay - not great, mind you, but okay. Fans of the show will have to make due, though it really would have been nice to see some supplemental materials included here.