The Little Mermaid II - Return to the Sea (2000)

Ariel and her husband, Prince Eric, have a little problem with their daughter, Melody, in the sequel to Disney's landmark The Little Mermaid. Melody is threatened by Morgana, the evil sister of the sea witch Ursula (both voiced by Pat Carroll). Before you can say "Briar Rose," Melody's parents decide to keep their daughter's roots a secret, forbidding her to learn about the ocean while Morgana is around. Now the budding teenager secretly frolics in the sea with Ariel's old friends, Sebastian and Scuttle. When she learns the truth from Morgana, Melody becomes an unknowing pawn in her scheme--and Mom has to take to the sea again to help.

As with Disney's other made-for-video sequels, The Little Mermaid II looks and sounds wonderful (and reunites much of the same vocal talent). Four- to nine-year-olds who grew up with the original will certainly enjoy seeing the friends again. A new set of artists has come up with four catchy tunes and some fun new characters, including Tip and Dash, a pensive penguin and his blubbery walrus friend. Yet, where Beauty and the Beast had a deliberate Christmas-themed sequel, and Pocahontas told the tale of her historical trip to England, the plot here is very forced. It is pretty much a rehash of the first film with different characters. Tip and Dash are a reincarnation of Timon and Pumbaa, and Morgana is exactly like her sister, except thinner. Besides the stellar music, this unneeded sequel also misses another important aspect of the original--heart. --Doug Thomas Amazon.com

Wonderful to watch!

Like most people, I love "The Little Mermaid". It was the first Disney Princess movie I ever watched and started my love of all the princesses. When I heard of "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea", I had to see it. I thought it would be good, but not as good as the original. Well, I was wrong. I enjoyed this movie very much and I've watched it many times. The story is similar to "The Little Mermaid", but not completely. I spotted many differences between "The Little Mermaid" and "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea".

Personality

In the original movie, Ariel is a strong-willed mermaid with a passion to live on land. She is very brave and wants to leave her home because she falls in love with Eric and is willing to do anything to be with him. She is a confident 16-year-old and very adventurous and inquisitive.

12-year-old Melody, on the other hand, is worried about not fitting in. She isn't confident in herself and worries about making a fool of herself. She is also brave and strong-willed, but feels insecure.

Storyline

In "The Little Mermaid", Ariel longs to be human from the very start of the movie. She has a collection of a variety of things she has found from the human world. Ariel also knows a few things about the human world, such as human being have two legs and feet and cannot breathe underwater. And she even seeks help Ursula, even though she is reluctant. Her love of Eric is too strong to restrain her from going to Ursula for help.

Now compare this to "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea". Melody knows absolutely NOTHING about her mermaid heritage. Sure, she loves the sea and prefers to spend time swimming than staying in the castle, but she doesn't even know mermaids actually exist. When she says that she sometimes pretends that she has fins, she means she pretends she's a fish. Melody doesn't run away from home to become a mermaid like Ariel does to become human. She runs away to find the meaning of the Atlantica locket, unlike Ariel, who simply left because of her love for Eric. Not only that, but Melody doesn't even know who Morgana is. Once Morgana tells Melody some of her heritage, that's when she wants to become a mermaid.

Danger

In the original movie, Ariel's love of the human world is her weakness, but the danger she's in doesn't even become clear until she falls in love with Eric. Melody was in danger from birth, which caused Ariel to forbid her to go into the sea. Not only that, but Ariel knew why her father didn't want her to interact with humans. Melody didn't have any clue as to why she wasn't allowed in the sea. When she brings the issue up with Ariel, instead of telling her, Ariel scolds her for disobeying. In my opinion, that isn't fair and Melody should know why going into the sea is forbidden along with her heritage. Melody's lack of knowledge of her mermaid inheritance is her weakness and the one person who can help her drives her away.

Overall, "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" is terrific! It's even a bit more realistic than "The Little Mermaid". Don't let the negative reviews give you the wrong opinion. Watch it for yourself and see! May 10, 2008

UNSATISFIED

WHEN I RECEIVED THE DVD IN THE MAIL, THE CASE WAS CRACKED AND THE MOVIE I BELIEVE IS A COPY AND NOT THE ORIGINAL. I THOUGHT THAT I WAS BUYING A "NEW" DVD, INSTEAD IT WAS A REPRODUCTION. POOR QUALITY!! April 28, 2008

Pleased overall

First of all I would like to say that I worried about getting a pirated copy of the movie I purchased. Unfortunately, the DVD is out of print now, so I had to take a chance in purchasing the DVD. When I received the movie, the box and the inserts looked very authentic, however, the label on the DVD itself looked as though it had been manufactured or copied from an original. When I inserted the DVD, it made a horrible groaning sound. Eventually the sound dies down, but for the first few minutes of the the movie, the sound is quite annoying. I don't know if I got a bad copy, but my daughter is pleased none the less. That makes the purchase worth it. I did receive the movie in time to wrap it for my daughter's birthday, even though I made a late purchase. March 3, 2008

Couldn't rent or buy it in any store!

I had searched everywhere for this movie for my niece - even considered "keeping" a rental from Blockbuster in order to own it (but somebody else actually did that with the ONE copy I had rented once from my Blockbuster). I searched on Amazon, found it, ordered it and received a "used" copy within a week of the order - and the price was no more than I would have spent in a store! And the used copy? If I didn't see that in the description, I never would have known it was used! Case, insert, dvd all in brand-new condition! Can you say - PERFECT! January 12, 2008

little mermaid II

my grand daughter just loves this movie, good condition and would buy again from the seller September 4, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...