The Quest

The Quest
Production number	Fox Kids
Premiere date	February 25, 1991
Run time	22:14
Starring	George Newbern Jodi Benson Hector Elizondo Roddy McDowell Brock Peters Tim Curry Linda Gary Andre Stojka
Writer(s)	Lane Raichert Mark Young Kelly Ward
Director(s)	Don Lusk
Voice director(s)	Gordon Hunt
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Title card

"The Quest" is the first episode of the Dark Water miniseries, which later became the first episode of The Pirates of Dark Water season one. It aired on February 25, 1991 on Fox Kids. It was written by Lane Raichert, Mark Young, and Kelly Ward, directed by Don Lusk, and voice directed by Gordon Hunt.

A dying old man who claims to be Ren's father sets him on a quest to restore the kingdom of Octopon to its former glory by searching for thirteen hidden treasures scattered across Mer.

Detailed summary

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Memorable quotes

Tula: For adventure.
Ioz: For treasure.
Ren: For Octopon.
Niddler: For crying out loud, when are we going to eat?

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Primus	Unavailable
Ren	George Newbern
Jenna	Linda Gary
Bloth	Brock Peters
Brigmaster	Unavailable
Niddler	Roddy McDowell
Konk	Tim Curry
Constrictus	Unavaliable
Priest	Unavailable
Alomar	Unavailable
Tula	Jodi Benson
Ioz	Hector Elizondo
Joat	Andre Stojka

Locations

• Mer
  • Octopon
    • Jenna's residence
  • Abbey of Galdebar
  • Inn

Objects

• Ren's compass
• 1st treasure of Rule

Vehicles

• Primus's boat
• Maelstrom
• Wraith

Production

Filming

Roddy McDowell was replaced with Frank Welker for the series proper, who then recorded McDowell's lines for this episode, too.

The episode was copyrighted in 1991.

Music

The music was composed by Tom Chase and Steve Rucker. The director of music production was Bodie Chandler.

Crew credits

• Executive producers: David Kirschner, Paul Sabella, Mark Young
• Producer: John Dorman
• Additional dialogue: Jim Woodring
• Creative designer: Iwao Takamoto
• Supervising director: Ray Patterson
• Animation directors: Joanna Romersa, Allen Wilzbach, Joan Drake, Robert Alvarez, Shinich Yoshikawa, Masaru Tonokouchi, Kiyotaka Kantake, Katsuhisa Yamada, Takuya Noda
• Production designer: Floro Dery
• Storyboard artists: Jim Woodring, Adrian Gonzales, Tim Burgard, Alfredo Alcala, Keith Tucker, Gil Kane, Lane Raichert
• Animation casting director: Kris Zimmerman
• Talent coordinator: Jamie Thomason
• Graphic artists: Iraj Paran, Tom Wogatzke
• Graphics assistant: Parviz Parandoush
• Design supervisor: Scott Jeralds
• Character designer: Tim Burgard
• Design assistants: Barbara Krueger, Mario Williams, Dana Granger, Viki Kirch, Scott Hill, Eric Clark
• Layout supervisor: Takashi Saijo
• Animation supervisors: Frank Andrina, Shinich Yoshikawa, Takuya Noda
• Background supervisor: Al Gmuer
• Animators: Toshi Mizumura, Hiroaki Kawaguchi, Akira Watanabe, Yoshinori Kanamori, Romy Garcia, Marie Mascarina, Achiu So, Wincat Alcala, Jess Espanola, Luis Dimaranan
• Background key artists: Craig Robertson, Andrew Phillipson, Joe Ringgeli, James Hegedus, Eric Heschong
• Background key designers: Gerald Forton, Gil Kane, Carol Lundberg, Herb Hazelton, Lew Ott
• Xerographer: Star Wirth
• Ink and paint supervisor: Alison Leopold
• Color stylist: Karen Greslie
• Production coordinator: Vicki Casper
• Animation checking supervisor: Jan Adams
• Animation checker: Howard Schwartz
• Production assistants: Tori Pollock, Sandy Benenati, Shannon Fallis-Kane, Nancy Grimaldi, Olivia Knighton, Debby Lathrop, Margot McDonough, Rosalinda Moore
• Program administrator: Barbara Simon Dierks
• Supervising film editors: Terry W. Moore, Larry C. Cowan
• Editors: Gil Iverson, Tim Iverson, Michele Douglas
• Music editors: Cecil E. Broughton, Robert S. Birchard
• Sound editor: Sound Off Studios
• Sound directors: Alvy Dorman, Stan Wetzel
• Track readers: Jim Hearn, Kay Douglas, Carol Iverson, Kerry Iverson, Denise Whitfield
• Negative consultant: William DeBoer, Jr.
• Produced in association with: Fil-Cartoons, Tama Production Co.
• Production supervisors: Jerry Smith, Kunio Shimamura
• Executive in charge of production: Jayne Barbera

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: February 25, 1991 on Fox Kids; September 7, 1991 at 9:30 am on ABC
• United Kingdom and Ireland: September 4, 1991 at 6:15 pm on The Movie Channel (as the five-part The Saga Begins); April 7, 1992 at 4:35 pm on BBC 1

Marketing and promotion

Around the time of its second airing, Marvel Comics adapted this into the first issue of their limited series.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • December 19, 1991: Turner Home Entertainment releases The Pirates of Dark Water: The Saga Begins on VHS.
  • March 12, 1992: Image Entertainment releases The Pirates of Dark Water: The Saga Begins on Laserdisc.
  • August 31, 2010: Warner Archive Collection releases The Pirates of Dark Water: The Complete Series on DVD.
• In the United Kingdom and Ireland:
  • 1991: First Independent Films releases The Pirates of Dark Water: The Saga Begins on VHS.