The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) (V)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Directors:

Jim Kammerud
Brian Smith (co-director)

Writers:

Elizabeth Anderson (screenplay) &
Temple Mathews (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 September 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

Return to the sea September 19

Plot:

To protect her from a sea witch, Ariel's daughter is not allowed in the ocean; but when she becomes 12, she runs away to an adventure under the sea.

Plot Keywords:

Mermaid | Ocean | Magic | Walrus | Penguin

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Jodi Benson	...	Ariel (voice)
Samuel E. Wright	...	Sebastian (voice)
Tara Strong	...	Melody (voice) (as Tara Charendoff)
Pat Carroll	...	Morgana (voice)
Buddy Hackett	...	Scuttle (voice)
Kenneth Mars	...	King Triton (voice)
Max Casella	...	Tip (voice)
Stephen Furst	...	Dash (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Prince Eric (voice)
Clancy Brown	...	Undertow (voice)
Cam Clarke	...	Flounder (voice)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Chef Louis (voice)
Kay E. Kuter	...	Grimsby (voice)
Edie McClurg	...	Carlotta (voice)
Frank Welker	...	Max (voice)

Runtime:

75 min | 72 min

Country:

USA | Canada | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Singapore:G | New Zealand:G | Australia:G | Germany:o.Al. | UK:U | USA:G

Company:

Walt Disney Television Animation

Trivia:

This sequel contains a number of visual references to the original film, which has been dubbed by the Disney Channel as "Double Takes". Among these references are: A similar opening shot featuring a flying seagull. The shot of Melody shooting to the surface after searching for shells is exactly the same as the shot of Ariel's resurfacing after she was transformed into a human by Ursula. Melody sinking down to the bottom of the cave where the locket lies is similar to shots of Ariel while singing "Part of Your World". Sebastian unintentionally reminds Melody about her party the same way Scuttle unintentionally reminded Ariel about her concert. While Louis chases Sebastian, Sebastian hides under a piece of lettuce, just as he did in the original movie. Melody does a back flip through the water while singing "For a Moment", which is the exact same movement Ariel did while singing "Part of Your World". When Morgana tells Melody to "enjoy those fins... while you can", the screen fades to black, while her eyes stay their original white, and her tentacles tap each other. This was also done in the original movie when Ursula says "she may be the key to Triton's undoing". Melody pushes Dash out of a hole almost too small for him to go through, which is what Ariel does to Flounder during the shipwreck scene in the first movie. Scuttle torments Morgana to help Ariel escape the same way he did Vanessa to help Ariel reach the wedding boat in time. When the sun sets, Melody turns back to a human. In the original movie, Ariel turned back into a mermaid when the sun set. When Ariel discovers Melody's visit to the sea, she says "You deliberately disobeyed me," the same line King Triton delivers to Ariel when he discovers her visits to the surface.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end when Morgana has Ariel entwined in her tentacles, she covers her mouth and it is originally from right to left, then in an immediate close-up it is from left to right.

Quotes:

Ariel: We have to keep Melody away from her.Until Morgana is found Melody can't tgo in the sea.
Flounder: But Ariel...
Ariel: I'm sorry Flounder, but if Morgana is anything like Ursula she will never give up. This is the only way. Melody can't know about mepeople or Atlantika or even about you, Daddy.
King Triton: Very well, Ariel, you're right.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#24.10)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Down to the Sea

Your common "Made for home video Disney sequel" movie.

If you seen Disney's other "Made for home video sequel" movies, then you know what I am talking about. Movies such as "Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World," "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride," "The Return of Jafar," etc. The problem with "Made for home video sequel" movies is that it doesn't put too much effort into creating a new and original story. Instead, it relies only on the old characters and a typical & overdone storyline to carry the movie.

There are also a new bunch of generic characters. You have the new henchmen (a shark voiced by Clancy Brown and a couple of devil rays that I guess are suppose to imitate the Flotsam & Jetsam characters) for the villain (Morgana), and your new comedic sidekicks (Tip & Dash) for Ariel's daughter (Melody). I liked Morgana's character and how she relates herself to Ursula, but I didn't care for the Tip & Dash characters. They tired to make them similar to the Timon & Pumbaa characters, but it just doesn't work! They aren't that funny and you feel as though that these two characters were just thrown into the movie because the writers felt that they needed to fill in the gap for your generic storyline where there must always be new comedic characters. With a generic storyline, there must always be the need for romance with the main character. When you watch this movie, you get a sense that they wanted to add a romantic character for Melody, but instead they hinted at it, which really stands out as a sore thumb!

The conclusion of the movie is not thrilling at all. It tries to imitate the final battle of the original, but it's just not exciting. I felt as though the writers spent an all-nighter, rushing themselves in trying to figure out how to conclude this movie with a final battle sequence all in one night!

It may seem as though that I hated this movie, but I didn't! I was just disappointed with this movie. One thing that is for sure, this sequel isn't nearly as good as the original. Still I give this movie a (B-) because if you loved the original "The Little Mermaid," you still enjoy watching the old characters in this sequel.

6 out of 10