2000 animated Disney film directed by Jim Kammerud
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
is a 2000
animated
direct-to-video
musical
fantasy
adventure film
produced by
Walt Disney Television Animation
, and the second installment in
The Little Mermaid
trilogy
. Directed by
Jim Kammerud
and Brian Smith, the story of the film takes place 12 years after the original, 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.
Many voice actors from the original film reprised their roles, including
Jodi Benson
as Ariel,
Kenneth Mars
as King Triton,
Samuel E. Wright
as Sebastian, and
Buddy Hackett
as Scuttle in his final film role before his death in 2003.
Pat Carroll
, who voiced
Ursula
in the first film, returned as Ursula's sister
Morgana
, the sequel's new villain.
Tara Charendoff
joined the cast as Melody, with
Rob Paulsen
replacing
Christopher Daniel Barnes
as Prince Eric.
Ben Wright
, the original voice of Grimsby, died four months before the first film was released and was replaced by
Kay E. Kuter
. Additionally,
Cam Clarke
portrayed a now adult Flounder, previously voiced by Jason Marin.
The film received largely negative reviews, with criticism directed at the screenplay and rehashed plot points, though the characterization of Melody and Charendoff's performance thereof were praised. In 2008, Disney released a third film,
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
, which is a
prequel
to the first film.
Plot
[
edit
]
Ariel
and
Eric
celebrate the birth of their daughter
Melody
on a ship at sea. Ariel's father
King Triton
presents Melody with a magic
locket
. The party is interrupted by
Ursula
's sister
Morgana
, who threatens to have Melody fed to her pet
tiger shark
,
Undertow
, unless Triton surrenders his
trident
to her as part of her plan to avenge Ursula and take over the ocean. Ariel and Eric work together to foil Morgana's plan, and Triton shrinks Undertow to the size of a
piranha
. Morgana escapes, eluding the attempts of King Triton's forces to capture her and declaring that she will someday exact her revenge on both Ariel and Triton and avenge Ursula's death. Fearing Morgana and remembering Ursula, Ariel decides that, until Morgana is captured, they will have to withhold all knowledge of the sea world and her heritage from Melody to protect her. Triton tosses the locket into the ocean, and a massive wall is built to separate the royal castle from the sea. Triton assigns
Sebastian
to watch over Melody.
Twelve years later, Melody remains unaware of her mother's
mermaid
heritage and is forbidden from going into the sea. However, she sneaks out of the castle regularly to swim, and one day finds the locket. Seeing her name on the locket, Melody questions her mother about it, but Ariel forbids her to go into the sea. Frustrated with her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody steals a small boat and sails away from home. Melody is discovered by Undertow, who leads her to Morgana. A desperate Sebastian tells Ariel and Eric Melody went out to the sea. Meanwhile, Melody meets Morgana, who reveals that Melody's background is marine, and uses the remains of Ursula's magic to transform Melody into a mermaid. Triton prepares search parties and is convinced by Ariel and Eric to use his trident to transform Ariel back into a mermaid in order to help in the search for Melody. Ariel searches the sea for Melody, regretting not sharing her heritage with her, while Melody explores her newfound abilities as a mermaid, and has a strong feeling that she was meant to be part of the sea.
Later, Morgana tells Melody she can only make the spell permanent if she retrieves Triton's trident. Melody decides to get the trident, and during her search befriends Tip and Dash, a
penguin
and
walrus
duo who join her. After Melody steals the trident, Ariel implores her not to give Morgana the trident. Frustrated by Ariel's decision to lie to her, Melody instead gives the trident to Morgana, who reveals her true intentions and traps Melody in a cave by sealing the entrance with a thick layer of ice. 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 grabs the trident and throws it back to Triton, who encases Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater. Melody reunites with her family, and Triton offers his granddaughter to become a mermaid permanently. Melody instead uses the trident to destroy the wall separating her home from the sea, reuniting the humans and the merpeople.
Voice cast
[
edit
]
Release
[
edit
]
The film was released directly to video on September 19, 2000.
[2]
It was released on May 7, 2001, in the UK. On November 6, 2006, the film was released in a bundle together with the original film in the Region 2 release.
[3]
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.
[4]
A package called
The Little Mermaid Trilogy
, which includes all three
Little Mermaid
films, was released on the same day.
[5]
This film, along with
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
, was released in a 2-Movie collection on DVD and Blu-ray on November 19, 2013.
[6]
Reception
[
edit
]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
reports that 17% of 6 critics gave the film a positive review, and the average rating is 3.8/10.
[7]
In 2011,
Total Film
ranked it as 27th among the 50 worst children's films ever made.
[8]
Unlike the film and even her mother
Ariel
, for whom the latter was generally mixed,
Melody
, the
main character
, was generally well received by both critics and
Little Mermaid
fans, who praised her emotional relationship with Ariel, character growth, likability, and Tara Charendoff's performance. In 2019,
Screen Rant
put her at #9 on Disney's Unofficial Princesses, Ranked.
[9]
Melody is one of Charendoff's favorite characters to voice, as she was a big fan of the 1989 film growing up.
Home video sales
[
edit
]
The film was the tenth-most-successful direct-to-video release of 2000, with retail revenues of $121 million.
[10]
The film sold
6 million
VHS and DVD units in 2000.
[11]
Soundtrack
[
edit
]
Songs from The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea & More!
|
---|
|
Released
| September 19, 2000
(
2000-09-19
)
|
---|
Recorded
| 2000
|
---|
Length
| 25
:
21
|
---|
Label
| Walt Disney Records
|
---|
Producer
| Bambi Moe, Don Mizell, Leonard Jones, Shepard Stern
|
---|
The film's official
soundtrack
was released on September 19, 2000,
[12]
and again on October 31, 2000, in a special edition double pack with the
original film's soundtrack
.
[13]
Additionally, two limited-edition two-track samplers were released on CD as a promotion for the soundtrack.
[14]
Title
| Writer(s)
| Recording artist(s)
|
---|
1.
| "Down to the Sea"
| Michael and Patty Silversher
| Jodi Benson
,
Rob Paulsen
,
Clancy Brown
,
Kay E. Kuter
,
Samuel E. Wright
and Chorus
| 3:29
|
---|
2.
| "Tip and Dash"
| Michael and Patty 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
| Wright
| 3:49
|
---|
4.
| "
Octopus's Garden
" (*)
| Richard Starkey
| Wright
| 2:47
|
---|
5.
| "For a Moment"
| Michael and Patty Silversher
| Benson, Charendoff
| 2:28
|
---|
6.
| "Give a Little Love" (*)
| Albert Hammond
,
Diane Warren
| Wright
| 3:57
|
---|
7.
| "
Hot, Hot, Hot
"
| Alphonsus Cassell
| Wright
| 5:08
|
---|
8.
| "Here on the Land and Sea" (Finale)
| Michael and Patty Silversher
| Benson, Charendoff, Wright and Chorus
| 1:44
|
---|
Total length:
| 25:21
|
---|
Limited edition two track CD 1
[14]
Title
| Writer(s)
| Recording artist(s)
|
---|
1.
| "Part of Your World"
| Alan Menken, Howard Ashman
| Chely Wright
| 3:25
|
---|
2.
| "Limbo Rock" (*)
|
| Samuel E. Wright
| 2:29
|
---|
Limited edition two track CD 2
[14]
Title
| Writer(s)
| Recording artist(s)
|
---|
1.
| "Here on the Land and Sea" (Finale)
| Michael and Patty Silversher
| Jodi Benson, Tara Charendoff, Samuel E. Wright and Chorus
| 1:44
|
---|
2.
| "
Coconut
" (*)
| Harry Nilsson
| Wright
|
|
---|
Note: *These tracks were originally recorded for the album
Sebastian: Party Gras!
.
The film's ending credits play a new recording of
Part of Your World
, performed by country singer
Chely Wright
. Another version of the song, performed by Ann Marie Boskovich, was used in some international releases of the film.
[15]
The theme song for the Japanese version is "Someone" by
Eiko Matsumoto
.
[16]
Legacy
[
edit
]
When asked about a possible sequel for the 2023 live-action remake of
The Little Mermaid
, stars
Halle Bailey
(Ariel) and
Jonah Hauer-King
(Eric) mentioned
Return to the Sea
and considered a similar plot with Melody's character. In the same interview, Bailey added that she "loves" the sequel, while Hauer-King suggested that Eric, too, be transformed into a
merman
in the potential sequel as well.
[17]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000)"
.
Allmovie
. Archived from
the original
on May 27, 2023
. Retrieved
May 18,
2020
.
- ^
The Little Mermaid II - Return to the Sea: Tara Strong, Pat Carroll, Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Buddy Hackett, Kenneth Mars, Max Casella, Stephen Furst, Rob Paulsen, Clancy Brown, Cam Clarke, Rene Auberjonois, Brian Smith, Jim Kammerud, David Lovegren, Leslie Hough, Eddie Guzelian, Elise D'Haene, Elizabeth Anderson, Temple Mathews: Movies & TV
.
ASIN
6305940959
.
- ^
"The Little Mermaid/the Little Mermaid II Box Set DVD: Amazon.co.uk: The Little Mermaid: Film & TV"
. Amazon.co.uk. 6 November 2006
. Retrieved
November 2,
2011
.
- ^
"The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea [Special Edition]: Jodi Benson, Pat Carroll, Max Casella, Stephen Furst, Buddy Hackett, Kenneth Mars, Rob Paulsen, Sam Wright, Tara Charendoff, Jim Kammerud, Brian Smith: Movies & TV"
.
Amazon
. 16 December 2008
. Retrieved
November 2,
2011
.
- ^
"The Little Mermaid Trilogy: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, The Little Mermaid, The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea Special Edition, .: Movies & TV"
.
Amazon
. 16 December 2008
. Retrieved
November 2,
2011
.
- ^
"The Little Mermaid II and Ariel's Beginning: 2-Movie Collection"
. Amazon. 19 November 2013
. Retrieved
August 27,
2018
.
- ^
"The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000)"
.
Rotten Tomatoes
.
Fandango Media
. Retrieved
May 7,
2015
.
- ^
Winning, Josh (November 8, 2011).
"50 Worst Kids Movies"
.
Total Film
.
GamesRadar
. Retrieved
October 24,
2015
.
- ^
"Disney's Unofficial Princesses, Ranked"
.
Screen Rant
. 22 August 2019
. Retrieved
August 22,
2019
.
- ^
"Top 2000 Homevideo titles".
Variety
. January 8, 2001. p. 79.
- ^
Annual Report 2000
(PDF)
(Report).
The Walt Disney Company
. 2001. p. 31
. Retrieved
23 April
2022
.
- ^
"Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea: Jodi Benson, Tara Strong: Music"
.
Amazon
. Retrieved
November 2,
2011
.
- ^
"The Little Mermaid & Little Mermaid II (Special Edition Double Pack)"
.
Amazon
. 1989
. Retrieved
August 23,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Little Mermaid II - 2 Song CD: Ariel, Sebastian, Melody: Music"
.
Amazon
. Retrieved
November 2,
2011
.
- ^
Miccio, Anthony (January 28, 2009).
"Idol Lies: Is Anne Marie Boskovich this week's Joanna Pacitti?"
. Retrieved
May 7,
2015
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
https://www.disney.co.jp/studio/animation/0017/products
- ^
"The Little Mermaid 2: Remake Stars Reveal Their Sequel Hopes"
. 28 May 2023.
External links
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See also
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Theatrical
feature films
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Direct-to-video
feature films
| As Disney MovieToons
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As Disneytoon Studios
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Television specials
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Short films
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- LR
Limited release
- IR
International release
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