The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea

Remember the Little Mermaid? The movie that made you believe in Disney again every time you saw it (no matter how awful their current movies were?) If you liked the Little Mermaid in the least bit, do not walk within viewing distance of this movie. I loved the Little Mermaid when it was the first movie I ever saw, I love it now; this movie, which had me excited in the beginning, left me feeling that it was better off never made. Everything in it, from character development, to voices, plot, lame side-kicks, lame villains, general stupidity, everything down to the more cutesy way things were colored and drawn, and the score. The original had a sort of mature feel that also appealed to kids that not a lot of Disney movies generally have, and this movie ended up as a drop in a sea of terrible Disney sequels.

I highly recommend the stunning original, and the inspirational TV series, but I don't recommend this, I'm sorry.

The animation was a lot of the time very flat and too garish, especially in the scenes with Morgana. Speaking of Morgana, never have I seen such a bland villainess. Ursula scared me so much, as I repeatedly watched the Little Mermaid. Morgana was just a wannabe, which is always ill-advised Disney. Why didn't they recreate the Evil Manta, who after Ursula, was the most convincing of the villains in the TV series? The characters were a mixed bag. Ariel was alright, though rather childish,but Melody was annoying at times. (I did think the story, on a parallel with the original, was rather unoriginal and rushed despite some effective scenes) Sebastian was the best character here, but he was also ruined to some extent. So was Scuttle and Flounder. Scuttle wasn't funny, whereas Flounder put me off with his nasal tone, since when did Flounder have a nasal tone of voice? Tip and Dash were also uninspired, and Undertow wasn't mean enough. And the flying bat creatures? They weren't even scary, they were nothing like flotsam and Jetsam, who were scary! Even the chef wasn't funny. Him chasing Sebastian was badly underplayed, really unfunny.

However, there were some positives. Kenneth Mars does a great job as King Triton, the only character I cared for completely, but you don't see him that much. The songs weren't bad but nowhere near as good as the original, and I love Jodi Benson's voice, though "For a moment" sounded a little like the song featured in the episode "wish upon a starfish" or the beginning of it did anyway. The beginning wasn't bad either, in fact the beginning was one of the better scenes of the movie. Some aspects of the story worked nicely, but I wish they showed less of Tip and Dash. The climax with Morgana was the highlight of the film, with some really colourful segments.

In conclusion, a sometimes colourful, but hugely disappointing sequel to one of Disney's finest. Mind you, the Cinderella and Jungle Book sequels were worse. My sister will probably hate me when she reads this. 5/10, maybe too harsh? Bethany Cox

Back in June 2005, I reviewed this movie and basically just slammed it repeatedly without really giving it a chance. Of course, when you're 14 and a troll, slamming movies that don't appeal to your age group or tastes is easy. So after a 9 year old review, it's time to give this movie a much better review.

First of all, This is a direct sequel to the 1989 classic that revitalized Disney as a serious movie making company. The original 1989 classic is loved for it's portrayal of a curious young mermaid who longs to discover what life is like on land. Now skip ahead 12 years. The sequel is a mirror image, with a young girl who dreams of life in the sea.

So the story begins a year or so after the events of the first movie. by this time, Ariel and Eric are now parents of their infant Melody. During the celebration of the newborn child, The sister of Ursula appears and threatens Melody's safety, but is driven back into the sea and into hiding. But as long as she's still at large, Ariel refuses to let young melody know about her true history, which eventually comes to bite Ariel on the tail 12 years later, as the rebellious Melody sneaks underneath a wall constructed to keep her out of the sea. She soon discovers a seashell pendant with her name on it, and longs to discover why, leading her on a fun adventure with some interesting characters.

For what it's worth, this movie isn't what one would call "mass appeal" like the movie that came before it. However, the character of Melody, whose voice belongs to the legendary voice actress Tara Strong, seems to have a cult following among girls, whereas other extra characters (Tip & Dash, Undertow, Cloak & Dagger) didn't seem to be accepted as well, even if they had some fun moments at points. Personally, I thought Tip & Dash were fun and Undertow was funny, but Cloak and Dagger were just hacks. they didn't say anything and didn't really have the same demonic effect as their predecessors, Flotsam & Jetsam did.

As for the returning characters, Ariel is a bit more mature and mother-like, but lacks the strength she had in the original movie. Luckily, Jodi Benson came back to do the voice again. Flounder is more or less the same. Triton is more or less the same guy but more trusting of his daughter. Sebastian is still the fun crab but with less musical routines. Scuttle is more one-dimensional and lacks the humor he had from the first movie. The only person I felt was an improvement was Prince Eric, because his original voice actor didn't return. I'm not saying the original prince Eric was bad, i'm saying the greatest voice actor of all time, Rob Paulsen, took over the role. And Paulsen makes any movie, TV show, or video game better with his voice.

Overall, This one's a fair sequel. It's aimed at girls in the tween range, but the supporting characters just might keep their older brothers entertained for the hour and a half.

6/10

Very few Disney sequels ever come close to the quality of the original, and this is probably why so many of them come directly to video. This film is no exception. The story is okay, but the characters are boring, and you learn to hate Melody after a few really, really stupid moves on her part.

It's not as bad as The Return of the Jafar, but not close to as good as The Lion King II: Simba's Pride or Aladdin and the King of Thieves or even Pocahontas II. Of course, none of these compare to the quality of Toy Story 2, which notably went to theaters and is actually better than the first one.

You can really afford to miss this film.

It wasn't good. The characters were underdeveloped and the only personality were from the memories I had of the previous movie which contrasted with the 'new' personalities (or lack thereof). I seriously thought the opening scene was a nightmare by Ariel because of how absurd it was. It was serious. It just reminded me of all the annoying characters on the Disney channel-everyone is hyperactive and the story jumps from action to embarrassing scenes without any really connection.

The most disappointing part was the horrible songs-not catchy, not amazing. In the original Ariel had an amazing and powerful voice and all the song are catchy and fun. You remember them and want to sing them. But the songs in this movie weren't creative in the least; it's as if they're talking in a annoying sing-song voice-quite weakly, disappointing. I don't have that want-to-sing-them feeling you normally get from a Disney movie.

It's as if not one wanted to do this movie, so they barely made an effort . . . this movie would needs a new story line, new catchy songs and more warmth and enthusiasm without the annoying "look at me! look at me! I'm so annoying!" mentality of this generation of Disney. :'(