The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is a 2000 Disney animated feature film and direct-to-video sequel to the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. Directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith, the story takes place over a decade after the original film, and focuses on Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody, a human princess who longs to swim in the ocean despite her parents' law that the sea is forbidden to her. This sequel stars the voices of Jodi Benson as Ariel, Tara Charendoff as Melody and Pat Carroll as Morgana, the film's new villain. It is the last film in the chronology of Walt Disney's version of The Little Mermaid. It's followed by a prequel, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, a 2008 direct-to-video animated feature.
The film receive negative reviews from critics and is considered to be the one of the worst films of all time.
Plot[]
Sometime after the events of the original film, Eric and Ariel have becomes parents to a newborn daughter, Melody. They decide celebrate her birth on a ship at sea. Ariel's father King Triton presents Melody with a magic locket. The party is interrupted by Morgana, the younger sister of the deceased Ursula, who threatens to cause Melody harm, using her as leverage to get Triton's trident. Ariel and Eric work together to foil Morgana's plan.
Fearing Morgana and remembering Ursula, Ariel decides to withhold all knowledge of the sea world from Melody to keep her safe. The locket is tossed into the ocean, and a massive wall is built to separate the royal castle from the sea.
Twelve years later, Melody remains unaware of her mother’s mermaid heritage and is forbidden from ever going into the sea. However, she has been sneaking out the castle regularly to swim and one day finds her locket. Seeing her name on the locket, Melody confronts her mother and, frustrated with her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody takes a boat and sails away from home. Her parents soon learn that she is gone, and Triton uses his magic to transform Ariel back into a mermaid to search for Melody.
Melody succeeds in stealing the trident, and returns to Morgana, but before Melody can hand the trident over to Morgana, Ariel arrives and pleads for Melody not to listen to Morgana. Melody refuses to listen, having been angered by Ariel's decision to lie to her, and gives Morgana the trident. With the trident in her power, Morgana reveals her true intentions. Morgana reveals to Melody that she stole from her grandfather, then grabs her and throws her and Flounder against the wall, trapping her in a cave by sealing the entrance with a thick layer of ice and informing her that her time as a mermaid has just about expired. Soon afterward, Morgana's spell on Melody wears off, causing her to revert into a human and nearly drown. Tip and Dash manage to free her and drag her to the shore.
Morgana uses the trident's magic to lord over the ocean, rising to the surface to gloat. Scuttle, Triton, Sebastian, and Eric arrive, and a battle ensues against Morgana and her minions. Melody manages to grab the trident and throw it back to Triton by climbing up the cliff on which Morgana is standing and sneaking up on her. Triton uses his trident to encase Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater.
Melody reunites with her family, and Triton offers his granddaughter the option of becoming a mermaid permanently. Instead, she uses the trident to disintegrate the wall separating her home from the sea, reuniting the humans and the merpeople. Melody giggles.
Voice cast[]
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- Tara Charendoff as Melody
- Jodi Benson as Ariel
- Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
- Pat Carroll as Morgana
- Buddy Hackett as Scuttle
- Rob Paulsen as Eric
- Kenneth Mars as King Triton
- Cam Clarke as Flounder
- Max Casella as Tip
- Stephen Furst as Dash
- Clancy Brown as Undertow
- Rene Auberjonois as Chef Louis
- Kay E. Kuter as Grimsby
- Edie McClurg as Carlotta
- Frank Welker as Max
- Justin Schulte as Handsome Boy
- Blake Ewing as Boy #1
- Emily Hart as Mergirl #1
- Marcus Toji as Merboy #2
Release[]
The film was released direct-to-DVD on September 19, 2000.[1] On November 6, 2006, the film was released in a bundle together with the original film in the Region 2 release.[2]The original DVD release was later discontinued and a special edition DVD with a deleted song, "Gonna Get My Wish," and a new game was released on December 16, 2008.[3]A package called The Little Mermaid Trilogy, which includes all three Little Mermaid films, was released on the same day.[4] This film, along with The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, were released in 2-Movie collection on DVD and Blu-ray on November 19, 2013.
Reception[]
The film received mixed to negative reviews from film critics. The film holds a 33% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Soundtrack[]
| Songs from The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea & More! | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | September 19, 2000 |
| Recorded | 2000 |
| Length | 25:21 |
| Label | Walt Disney Records |
| Producer | Bambi Moe, Don Mizell, Eric Silver, Leonard Jones, Shepard Stern |
The film's official soundtrack was released on September 19, 2000.[5] The soundtrack was released internationally on October 31, 2000 in a special edition double pack with the original film's soundtrack.[6] Two limited edition two tracked CD samples were released as a promotion for the soundtrack in 2000.[7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording artist(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Down to the Sea" | Michael Silversher, Patty Silversher | Jodi Benson, Rob Paulsen, Clancy Brown, Kay E. Kuter, Samuel E. Wright and Chorus | 3:29 | |
| 2. | "Tip and Dash" | Silversher, Silversher | Max Casella, Stephen Furst, Tara Charendoff | 1:59 | |
| 3. | "Iko Iko" (*) | Barbara Ann Hawkins, Jessie Thomas, Joan Johnson, Maralyn Jones, Joe Jones, Rose Lee Hawkins, Sharon Jones | Samuel E. Wright | 3:49 | |
| 4. | "Octopus's Garden" (*) | Richard Starkey | Samuel E. Wright | 2:47 | |
| 5. | "For a Moment" | Silversher, Silversher | Jodi Benson, Tara Charendoff | 2:28 | |
| 6. | "Give a Little Love" (*) | Albert Hammond, Diane Warren | Samuel E. Wright | 3:57 | |
| 7. | "Hot, Hot, Hot" | Alphonsus Cassell | Samuel E. Wright | 5:08 | |
| 8. | "Here on the Land and Sea" (Finale) | Silversher, Silversher | Jodi Benson, Tara Charendoff, Samuel E. Wright | 1:44 | |
| Total length: | 25:21 |
| [show]Limited edition two track CD 1[7] |
|---|
| [show]Limited edition two track CD 2[7] |
|---|
- Note: *These tracks were originally recorded for the album Sebastian: Party Gras!.
The film's ending credits play a new version of Part of Your World from the original movie. It is performed by country singer Chely Wright. Another version of that song was performed by Ann Marie Boskovich. That version of the song was played in international dubbings of the film.[citation needed]