The Pirates of Dark Water (Seasons 1–2)

The Pirates of Dark Water (1991) is a Hanna-Barbera animated series you can watch online on iFILM. Set on the ocean world of Mer — a planet where the land drowned long ago and humanity clings to scattered islands and ships — it follows seventeen-year-old Ren as he discovers his royal lineage and a grim task: find the Thirteen Treasures of Rule before the Dark Water, a carnivorous black substance spreading through the seas, finishes swallowing the world.

Ren's crew is eclectic. Ioz (Hector Elizondo) is a pirate in it purely for the gold. Tula (Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in The Little Mermaid) is an eco-mage with secrets of her own. Niddler, a monkey-bird with a sweet tooth, is the conscience nobody asked for. Hunting them all is Bloth (Brock Peters), a pirate warlord whose flagship is large enough to swallow a village whole.

For a Saturday-morning cartoon from 1991, it's surprisingly serialized — no convenient reset between episodes, no easy wins. The show ran 21 episodes before cancellation, and people who grew up with it still haven't forgiven that ending. Stream The Pirates of Dark Water (1991) online on iFILM.