We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of the adventurous characters of The Pirates of Dark Water. They now lay in Davy Jones' locker, their plates filled with Minga Melons and their hearts full of peace for "When we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came.”
Plot
Have you ever watched a Pirate movie and thought to yourself
"This would be so much better with aliens and day-glo clothes?” No? Just
me then. Luckily for people like me, who have a deep yearning to see Pirates in
cut-off neon shirts, The Pirates of Dark Water was invented. The Pirates of Dark
Water is a quirky cartoon about pirates and heroes on the alien planet of Mer.
Countries on this planet have fun names like Octopon and Pandawa. Both the
heroes and villains in this story must deal with an evil substance known as "Dark
Water" which threatens to consume the world and destroy all life. We don't really know what "Dark Water" is except for the fact that it's 'bad' and looks like an oil spill. The story revolves around
orphaned prince Ren as he and his unlikely crew search for the Thirteen
Treasures of Rule which are the only things that can stop the Dark Water. His
crew is made up of Tula who is an Ecomancer (earth mage), Niddler who is a
monkey-bird, and Ioz who is a greedy and mysognystic pirate.
They are pursued by the bad-boy Bloth and his crew of blodthirsty pirates. The
show lasted for two colorful seasons.
Characters
Ren: Blond, blue-eyed, and incredibly tanned. Ren plays the
role of an orphaned prince raised in obscurity who must save the world. Raised
in a lighthouse most of his life his father suddenly appears and soon dies
after revealing to Ren his true identity and his destiny of saving Octopon. With
his father's broken sword and magic compass he sets off to save the world. Most
of the time he seems to be the only thing holding his self-serving crew
together and he seems to grow into being a leader pretty fast. Voiced by George
Newbern who played the fiance and husband in the "Father of the
Bride" movies.
Tula: Obviously she was going to be my favorite character in
the show. When she first joins Ren's crew she seems to be a simple barmaid but you
can tell that she has some ulterior motives. However, you find out that all the seemingly bad things she
has done was in the name of saving her people. She seems to be the half-way
point between Loz's selfishness and Ren's selflessness. Voiced by Jodi Benson
who has a long list of voice work for Disney, most frequently being the voice
for Ariel.
Ioz: Anybody else get a really
sexist vibe from this guy? Really Ioz is just a pirate who’s out to make a
quick buck and somehow ends up being influenced by Ren's good nature. But just
like Niddler who can't resist a Minga Melon, Ioz is can't help trying to get
his hands on some treasure. He seems selfish, sexist, and pretty unsympathetic
but more often than not he somehow ends up doing the right thing. In season one
he is voiced by Hector Elizondo.
Niddler: I love Niddler! He is
basically the Scooby-Doo of this group, Minga Melons are his scooby snack. He
is much cooler than the Monkey Birds from the Wizard of Oz. Yes he is always on
the prowl for some juicy melons, but there is more to him than meets the eye.
Strangely enough he kind of becomes a Monkey-bird civil rights activist and a
tool to work and episode about slavery into the show. His flying often comes in
handy and although he is a bit of a coward he always seems to come through for
his friends. He is the cautious type and not too trusting of people after his
past of being abused and enslaved. Niddler provides some comedic relief to the
show. To be honest I really identify with his ravenous and cautious
personality. I would have made an excellent Monkey-bird. Niddler is voiced by
Frank Welker.
Other Characters
Bloth: Aboard his ship called the
Maelstrom, this villain seeks the Thirteen Treasures of Rule in order to
control the Dark Water and thus all of Mer. Bloth is personally responsible for
the death of Ren's father, King Primus, and the destruction of Octopon. I
personally just call him "Mr. Grumpy Bossy Pants". Voiced by Brock
Peters.
Konk: I’m a big Tim Curry fan (how
could I not adore a man who made such an awesome transvestite in Rocky Horror
Picture Show?) and I was super excited when I found out he did the voice of
Konk. Konk is pretty much the whipping boy. Prancing about on his peg leg he
always manages to weasel his way into Bloth's plans.
Favorite Episodes
Episode 3: Break-up
This is the episode where we get more background on Niddler.
Within this episode we see the trials and tribulations of the Monkey-birds who
are enslaved. Niddler becomes courageous for his race and a slave revolt ensues.
We also get to see Ioz and Tula be a bit gallant in this episode when they
think Ren is dead and yet vow to continue his quest in his honor.
Episode 6: Andorus
This episode focuses on Tula and goes even further into explaining
her treacherous actions. We get to see Tula be strong and daring and also
develop her skills as an ecomancer.
Episode 7:
Dating in Mer isn't easy, you run the risk of your ex turning
into some crazy dark sorceress. Episode 7 is a really creepy dating episode.
Moral of the story: If you see a cougar, you better run.
Episode 9: Panacea
I just really like that weird little half-fish creature. I
get happy for him when he is set free. Weird episode but it is amusing and fun
to watch.
Episode 10:
Poor unappreciated Niddler thinks he is finally getting the
life that he deserves. This is just a fun episode of Niddler being Niddler.
Episode 17:
The episode where Ren and Bloth are forced to be teammates in
a game of life or death. They really can't trust each other but they can't
afford not to work together.
What I like about this show is that
the characters aren't simple, the plot is classic but has a twist, and the look
is trippy. Undoubtedly I'm a sucker for all things bright and colorful, so I
was bound to like this show. I just always thought that it was something cool
and weird and really different than anything else I was watching at the time.
It is a shame it got cancled but at least we all got two seasons of day-glo
swashbuckling adventures. I like to think that they did find Thirteen Treasures
of Rule, destroyed the Dark Water,
and are now all relaxing on some remote tropical island with an all you
can eat Minga Melon buffet.
GUEST BLOGGER INFO
Contributing writer: Rainbow S. Coan
Rainbow
Coan is a Sci-fi and fantasy movie/T.V enthusiast and all around nerd.
Her hobbies include playing StarCraft II (mainly as Terran), reading
Sci-fi & fantasy books, and playing games on Xbox. She has a Zombie
Apocalypse survival plan and identifies strongly with Hobbits. Her
favorite game of all time is King's Quest 6.
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