Darkwing Duck

Darkwing Duck - September 1991 to September 1993

Darkwing Duck was an Emmy-nominated American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991-1995 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured an eponymous superhero anthropomorphic duck with the alter ego of Drake Mallard (voiced by Jim Cummings).

The success of DuckTales led to a spin-off series, Darkwing Duck, one year after the show had ended. Darkwing Duck was inspired by two episodes of DuckTales, entitled Double-O-Duck and The Masked Mallard. The original concept had Launchpad McQuack as the star.

While the show establishes its own conventions, it is largely regarded as an affectionate satire on superhero mythos and lore, some obvious, some subtle, and others quite witty. Darkwing's costume, gas gun, and flashy introductions are all direct references to pulp heroes such as the Crimson Avenger, The Shadow, and The Green Hornet. The fictional city of St. Canard, Darkwing's rogues gallery, and the relative darkness of Darkwing as compared to other Disney heroes reflect Batman (or perhaps Zorro or The Shadow) influences. As well, the episode Tiff of the Titans, with the mysterious Darkwing and the straight-arrow Gizmoduck, played on the famous relationship between Batman and Superman. At one point in the episode, Darkwing asks, "Who needs super powers when you have a super mind?" while Gizmoduck remarks that he thinks Darkwing's crime-fighting style is "disreputable, disturbed, and possibly devious." In addition, there are Marvel Universe references such as the secret intelligence organization, S.H.U.S.H., a parody of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D., and the episode Aduckyphobia shows Darkwing being bitten by a mutated spider and growing six arms. A few James Bond parodies exist as well, such as the villain Steelbeak, whose beak makes him similar to the Bond villain Jaws, and his personality and trappings are similar to Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Pirates of Dark Water

Pirates of Dark Water - February 1991 to May 1993

When Ren, a young lighthouse keeper, rescues a stranger foundering in the rocks near his home, he learns the man was his father, the former king of Octopon. Ren is given a magic crystal Compass that guides him to the Thirteen Treasures of Rule. Unfortunately, the evil pirate captain Bloth is also aware of the Treasures and is relentless in pursuing Ren to get them. On his side, Ren soon acquires companions like Ioz the pirate, Tula the Ecomancer, and Niddler the fussy monkey-bird. His quest becomes all the more urgent when Ren learns that the Dark Water, a carnivorous black liquid that consumes anything it snares, threatens to envelop and destroy his world, and only the Treasures he seeks can stop it.