A Pequena Sereia: A História de Ariel

This movie was remarkably refreshing and entertaining. The overall appearance of the film was pleasant. I really enjoyed the character design and animation; the film was very true to the original designs portrayed in the first Little Mermaid, and included just enough of modern 3d animation techniques to give additional depth to the 2d creations without spoiling its 2d nature. The story had a solid plot that supported other Little Mermaid films, as well as giving the viewer a touching glimpse of Ariel's mother and a deeper understanding of King Triton's character. The songs, while not as moving or masterful as Menken and Ashman's work on the first Little Mermaid film, were decent and fit in well with the overall theme of the movie. The movie flowed easily between the musical numbers and non-musical moments.

This is definitely one of those "Movie #3"s that rises well above the awful direction (plot, character, music, etc) that most sequels seem to follow.

The Little Mermaid is one of Disney's most lovable classics, it's one of my personal favorites, so I did want to see the sequel, which was pretty average. Normally most Disney sequels are lame or a waste of time, but it seems as if Disney is finally getting something right because The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning is a very sweet movie and was a nice prequel for Ariel to see what her life was like before she met Prince Eric and we learn a little bit about her family and how she came to meet Flounder. This is definitely a must see for the kids, it has fun music, cute characters, and a charming story that anyone could fall in love with. I liked that they chose a different story rather than continuing her life with Eric, I just like the "they lived happily ever after" and that's it, so this was a nice idea to get to know Ariel's sisters and mother.

In this Disney prequel, we explore Ariel's life before she became human, met Eric, met Ursela. Her father is heart broken after her mother is killed by a ship, he forbids music since it reminds him of her and her beautiful voice. Ariel and her sisters grow up in a very boring world with no music or life at all, but Ariel is thirsty for fun, to spice up her life. She comes along with friends who are also trying to make life a little more fun. But a mermaid named Marina is trying to take over the girls and their lives so she can eventually control the kingdom.

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning is a fun Disney sequel and was a pleasure to watch. The songs are a lot of fun and the story just charms it's way into your heart. This isn't my favorite Disney sequel, but it was a huge improvement over the second Little Mermaid. I would recommend this for the family or kids, it's a charming film and of course who could resist Sebastian and his fun crazy life under the sea? He, Ariel, and Flounder bring life to this story and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well.

6/10

Everyone's favorite redhead, whom we all know and love, is back in a new adventure. You know who I am talking about-it's Ariel, starring in the first Disney prequel, 'cause I wouldn't call it a sequel. Set before she walked on land and married her Prince.

Under the narration of Sebastian, the story starts with King Triton and his wife, Queen Athena, having seven young daughters (the youngest of whom is Ariel). The entirety of the underwater kingdom of Atlantica is filled with joy, music, and laughter. The merfolk are shown relaxing in a lagoon above water, and Triton gives Athena a small music box. A pirate ship approaches, and they attack, stealing the merpeople's possessions. Everyone escapes except Queen Athena, who is crushed by the pirate ship. Devastated by Athena's death, Triton throws the music box away and bans music from the kingdom. Ten years later, Triton's daughters live under a strict schedule maintained by their governess, Marina Del Rey, an original villainess voiced by Sally Field, with no relations to the two witches what so ever. Marina hates her job and longs for Sebastian's, who is the king's attaché. Ariel is frustrated by their current lifestyle, which brings her into conflict with her strict father. During their morning "walk", Ariel tickles her sister Adella with kelp, and she is given the punishment of cleaning barnacles. While carrying out her punishment, Ariel encounters Flounder, a fish who is making music. That night, Ariel sees Flounder outside the window and follows him to an underground music club. She is overjoyed by the presence of music and is shocked when she learns that Sebastian performs at the club. When her presence is revealed, at first all the club patrons flee, but Ariel sings a song explaining her love of music, and she joins the club with an oath. That's all I'm telling you. You will have to see it for yourself.

It's great to finally see Ariel's mother, Queen Athena, who looks like Ariel. But I can see some differences between mother and daughter: Athena's hair is a different shade of red compared to Ariel's and done up almost like a ponytail. And her eyes, I think, are green. Overall, Ariel's Beginning is another excellent Disney OAV (original animated video) and perfect to go with the original film and "Return to the Sea." I love Ariel's sisters, Alana (pink fin), Arista (red fin), and Attina (orange fin).

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This prequel starts off with Ariel as a child and we get to see what happened to her mother, which leads her father King Triton to ban all music in Atlantica. We then flash-forward to Ariel as a teenager when she learns the power of music and wants to bring it back.

This third film in the series is certainly a major step up from the second one but then again the second movie was so poor that it wouldn't be that hard to be better. This film here was obviously done on a low-budget and there's no question that the animation is far off from the original movie but, then again, it's at least better than the second film.

One certainly shouldn't go into this movie expecting some sort of masterpiece but at the same time I thought it was mildly entertaining and worth watching. I thought the highlight of the picture were the characters, which were a lot of fun and that includes the rebellious Ariel. I found her to be quite fun throughout and we also got nice support from King Triton, Flounder and Sebastian. The story itself wasn't all that original but it too was at least entertaining.

The music wasn't the greatest thing from Disney but the sequences were at least fun. As you can tell, there's really nothing ground-breaking with THE LITTLE MERMAID: ARIEL'S BEGINNING but it's at least mildly entertaining and worth watching once.

Cute, about the loss of the mother, the depression and coldness of the father, the serelepe sisters, a lot of adventure, it must please the little ones, I thought it was boring... The Little Mermaid 2 is still the best...