Arielle, die Meerjungfrau

No Wonder this show is on Playhouse Disney it is educational. Ariel and her sister Arista never seem to get along. Triton must combat the bad guys with his magic trident to save his daughter. Sebastin is still the babysitter of Airel. Flounder is a coward. Ursula still has her two pet eels Flotsam and Jetsam. My grandmother and I used to watch videos of this series when I was 3 years old my sister used to watch this with me too. Sebastin is hilarious.

Being a fan of the Disney movie it was natural for me to see how Disney would do on translating it to a weekly TV series. And I was pretty happy with the results. Throughout it's three season life it managed to bring out more of the characters that I loved from the movie, while bringing new characters to enjoy.

In the series Ariel was maybe three or four years younger than in the movie and still headstrong about seeing the world above her. Flounder is still a yellow guppie scared of everything and best pals with Ariel. Sebastion is still the babysitter of Ariel but less stricter. (I don't recall him ever ratting out Ariel throughout the course) The rest of the cast are still pretty much the same too.

Of the new characters the best recurring ones have to be the Lobster Mobster and his sidekick the Shrimp. Two spoofs on Al Capone and one of his goons. They always showed up trying to take over things but in the end ended up doing more damage to themselves than to other. There was also Urchin, an orphan who through the Lobster Mobster eventually became another friend with Ariel, even hinting as a love interest in the future.

The show even threw in references to the movie, with an occasional visit from Ursula and even Erik the prince, who commented on one day meeting that mermaid he saw in that certain episode.

The show ended with an episode dedicated to Hans Christian Anderson, telling it through an animated Hans reading his classic story to a group of children, the story involving Ariel and Flounder and the entire gang. The last image was perhaps the best of the show, a painted image of Ariel lying on a rock by the sea, smiling, looking out at the distance.

I'm glad that Disney still shows this cartoon on their channel even after many years, and I still look forward to seeing each episode. I only hope that the new sequel will provide Disney with the motivation to continue once again with the series.

I watched this program quite a bit a few weeks back until they started playing repeats. I haven't seen them all but they are all very good. All I'm missing is the third season and the first episode which they unfortunately don't play down here yet. It seems just like shorter versions of the movie with different stories. It's very well done with most of the episodes with very original plots. There are some great new characters which is a pity that they weren't included in the movie. The series like the movie also features songs (although they aren't in every episode) which are very good and seem as if they are written by the same people. All the cast from the movie has returned to do the series except for Flounder but you would have never noticed if you hadn't read this. In the series you find out a lot of question that was never answered in the movie like things about Ariel's mother, there are other kingdoms besides Atlantica & other creatures that live down there. The animation, backgrounds and voice acting is just as amazing as in the movie. The series is also very educational like another review said. I'm sixteen and going on seventeen in a few more days and I've learnt a few things from this series. That something I hadn't expected. The series also guest stars Tim Curry who is best known for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It also has Nancy Cartwright who is best known as Bart in The Simpsons and Danny Cooksey who played the part of John's friend, Tim in Terminator 2. The series is quite additive too. After seeing a few episodes, I started watching the 3:30AM airing of it too. Well if you could rate this I would give this series a 10/10 and not many cartoons deserve that rating these days. I recommend anyone who saw the movie to watch this series too. It's a pity that there weren't many episodes thought. I think that this series is better then the Aladdin series but just by a small bit.

As a whole this is the TV-series spin-off of a Disney animated classic which is most true to the source material. Most of the original voices return and the replacements for the voice of Flounder didn't ruin anything like Dan Castellaneta did to the Genie in the Aladdin Spin- off series.

The events of the series are doing a good job serving as earlier adventures of Ariel taking place before the events of the original movie. Jodi Benson and Samuel E. Wright both do great jobs reprising their roles. Kenneth Mars' reprisal of his role is overall much like in the movie as a mean father who frequently learns about forgiving Ariel's often disobedient attitude and radical decisions.

The new characters in the series are generally well made. My favorite is Spot, a killer whale who has got away from his family and spends time with Ariel. He is cute, enough said. The Lobster Mobster and his sidekick Shrimp are two bad guys I found a little annoying at times, but were funny once in a while. Evil Manta is voiced by Tim Curry, enough said, he is a perfect choice for a bad guy.

While I welcomed the musical aspect of the series, I must say that aside from the great mix of the famous songs from the original movie into a title sequence the frequent small songs suffer from the lower budget. Some of them do grab your feelings towards the scene in which it is playing, but is definitely not a new "Under the Sea" or "Kiss the Girl".

Overall a well made TV-series which is made for kids, but lives up to their expectations if they are fans of the original.

"The Little Mermaid" is a magical tale. A healthy story to the child's spirit. Many have seen it but the new generation must see it. It's a magical story that fills the children's soul with fantasy and creativity. I think all children should see it at a young age. This Disney classic will win the heart your son/daughter/niece/nephew etc. I really encourage families to see it. Think of it as chicken soup for the children's soul. If you've ever heard of those books. It's a classic that you will never forget. A Magical tale that will light up you Shields face(s) I hope that this movie will make you children happy and joyful to the bone. Enjoy.