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

Just perfect...

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is in my opinion, one of the worst direct to video sequels ever made.The Bad: 1. The characters are not as likable as they were in the original. Melody is an atrocious character. I think she is an infantilised version of Ariel, in terms of both personality and appearance, also very annoying and unlikable, Ariel plays as a boring and generic mother figure, Morgana is a pale imitation of Ursula, and Eric goes from a fairly likable character to a boring character, Flounder plays as a boring and generic father figure, King Triton served no purpose in the film and Tip and Dash are a blatant rip-off of Timon and Pumbaa, the list goes on. 2. The music, both the score and songs are terrible. Unlike the original, where Alan Menken provides a beautiful film score and some good songs, with Part of Your World being the best song in the original. 3. The story is way too similar to the original, only differences being story told in reverse and being dumbed down for younger audiences.The Good: 1. The only characters in this film I like and am interested in are Sebastian and Undertow. They both give me a chuckle. 2. The animation is at least pretty good, but that is not saying much. Ariel is still very beautiful, just like in the much superior original and prequel and television series, her character design has always got a good balance of youth and maturity, and that is the reason why I think she is gorgeous. Keep in mind that I said "beautiful", not "hot", since "hot" has a sexual connotation to it, which I do not like or condone the use of the word and think it is inappropriate. And this is coming from a male who is a supporter of gender equality. Just because I commented on one female character's appearance does not mean I condone anyone to catcall other women, which I don't, because it's wrong. But I digress. 3. The voice acting is solid, with Jodi Benson reprising as Ariel, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Edie McClurg as Carlotta, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, Rene Auberjonois as Chef Louis and Pat Carroll as Morgana as returning talents, all do a decent job. New talents include Tara Strong as Melody, which is OK, I guess, Clancy Brown as Undertow is hilarious, Max Casella as Tip, Stephen Furst as Dash, Cam Clarke as Flounder, Rob Paulsen as Eric and Kay E. Outer as Grimsby all do a solid job. Not enough to save the movie, sadly. 4. The best part about this film is that it is much better than any of the English-language dubs of Studio Ghibli, which are highly nationalised versions of Japanese animated films, as well as capitalising on the fame of Hollywood movie stars, the salt in that particular wound. But with The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, being a direct to video film at least keeps it true to its identity, as well as trying to entertain me, even if it fails to do so. Also, watching it in English, the original language, has international cohesion to it, which is a good thing, but that is not enough to save this movie, unfortunately. So overall, watching Studio Ghibli films in the English dubs is much, much worse than watching this movie. This movie still sucks, nonetheless.Overall, this an awful direct to video sequel that I do not recommend to anyone. Watch the original film, prequel or television series. They are much better than this pile of garbage.

Weak, inconsistent, rushed, and lazy are the words I have to describe this poorly done sequel. What's the plot? Basically it's about Ariel's daughter, Melody, who wants to become a mermaid.The story could have had great potential, but they spoiled it. Where do I start? Melody: she's got no character compared to Ariel in the first film, all we know is that she's headstrong and loves the sea, whereas Ariel was headstrong, loved the land, a hopeless romantic, determined, and had a better written character development. It's like the writers were trying to make Melody just like her mother, just without a character development - which is what they did. In fact almost nobody in this story has real character development other than from annoying to obnoxious. Sebastian, what have they done to you? He had better laughs, a truly defined personality, and a guardian protectiveness in the first film, whereas in the film he's all laughs (and when I say "all laughs" in his case I mean "smack your head with a mallet unfunny!"). Scuttle also gets a "What have you done with him, Movie?" from me. He was dumb to an extent in the first movie, but was also helpful. Here in this movie, he's a useless blithering idiot, if you cut him from the movie it wouldn't make a difference. King Triton is underwhelming, and Ariel is just...........bland...ish, motherly blandish and a hypocrite. She tries to keep her out of the sea because it's dangerous, and of course it's so not like the original film.The new characters stink as well! Tip and Dash - DON'T REMIND ME OF THEM!!! They're so obnoxious that they make Olaf from Frozen look less annoying and more lovable. It always bothers me when Disney feels like the heroes always need a bumbling sidekick - and that they ALWAYS NEED A SONG!!! But of course we have the biggest flaw of the movie is Ursula - I mean Ursula - I mean Ursula - I mean Morgana. Her motivation is a flip flop: First she wants revenge for her sister's death (you heard right), then she's tired of her late mother favoring Ursula above her, and when she gets the Trident, does she make them pay for Ursula's death? No, she makes them bow to her. What was the point of bringing Ursula into this story - period? If she just wanted power, then fine - that's part of what motivated Ursula (aside from revenge for banishment), but the writers made her character motivation so inconsistent and rushed that not only can I not enjoy her as I did Ursula, but also it makes me beg to see the first movie with Ursula in it!The only good thing I enjoyed was hearing Ariel singing - that's always a pleasure. Also I loved in the beginning before the opening title Ariel's relationship with her baby girl - I could feel the attachment between the two for that first few seconds, but their relationship never develops afterwards. I could spend hours watching that scene (along with For a Moment).The plot and the animation being a replica of the first movie is bad enough, but the writing and story developments are horribly done that it makes me wonder if the better writers were fired and replaced by monkeys who were desperate for money. It not only hurts me to see my favorite Disney Princess go down the tubes, but to see something that was beautifully written, and beautifully animated be flushed down the toilet and resurrected as crud. It could have been a great sequel about a mother daughter relationship (which Brave did a better job on), but instead the monkey writers threw that chance away for reversed plagiarism. Shame for them.

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

The Little Mermaid II is honestly turning into one of my favourite movies in a very serious way. There are too many abominable reviews of it out there and I've been meaning to try and redress the balance for a long time, especially since it hit blu-ray where it looks astonishingly better than it ever has. The story seems similar to the first movie on the surface - Ariel's daughter Melody wants to be a mermaid, like Ariel wanted to be human, but Ariel fears the dangers of the sea, like her father feared humans; particularly Morgana, sister of Ursula, the octopus witch of the original. But the way this is framed is important. Perhaps the reason Melody is drawn to the sea is that her parents, after the first hint of a threat from Morgana, built a giant wall separating land from sea - the very union that was the resolution of the first movie. We're drawn to the mysterious, that which we're told is forbidden - some of us, least - and Melody and Ariel are absolutely this kind of person, but they don't realise how alike they are. This is a movie about the need to label and divide passing from generation to generation and being considered okay as long as it's called something else, and - ironically - dividing us even more.It's Melody's 12th birthday and just like Ariel at 16 she's not really au fait with such occasions, preferring to frolic beyond the forbidden wall with Sebastian the crab (okay, they don't explain why she's okay with the fact he can speak yet doesn't question the rest of her parents' bullsh*t lol… but hey I guess it's what you get used to that you believe…), exploring the ocean. After her party goes awry (a bit of slapstick with the old French chef from the first movie), there's a scene that resonated particularly strong for me on this viewing after some personal stuff this past weekend. Ariel tries to comfort Melody, making what to the audience is just a bad joke but when you actually think about it is actually incredibly cruel - "I was a regular fish out of water," she says, and follows up by saying, "you can tell me anything" which we know simply isn't true, and she should too, having hidden that statue etc from her father 12 years previously.So it's understandable and actually a little exciting when Melody not only runs away, like Ariel did in the first movie, makes a deal with Ursula's sister and becomes a mermaid, but also then steals her grandfather's trident for the new witch. The fact is this family hasn't learned their own lesson yet, and it's exhilarating to see this little girl sticking it to them. Repetition is a form of insanity - this movie isn't recycling a story for the sake of making a little more money, it's actually using that cliché to say something about the fact we do this ourselves every day.There is a simply incredible scene at the end of this movie. Ursula's sister is defeated in a similar fashion (a little rushed and easy if you ask me, but it's not exactly crucial to the reason I love the movie). King Triton tells his granddaughter Melody, "I don't blame you for wanting to join us merfolk…" (in the same condescending tone Ariel said "You can tell me anything…" if you ask me) and he gives her a choice - same as it seemed the rules were in the first movie - she can be a mermaid or a human, he'll wave his trident and make it so. "I have a better idea," Melody says, and in the next shot, she holding the trident, breaks down the effing wall.I've been going through a whole kind of self-analysis thing, well, most of my life, but particularly recently about gender binary, identity, the way these things pass down through generations, the way people do things because they feel it's what they're supposed to do, because who of us really knows better etc. But I'm focussing too much on my own obsessions. On the most basic level this movie is about absolutism in all its forms - any system that says there are only two choices and that one is right and one is wrong. The wall erected between land and sea is the wall between any two extremes you feel are pulling you to choose between, when you actually feel like you lie somewhere between and they both have their good and bad points. There are assholes and angels in both mer and human kingdoms and the wider you cast your net the more angelfish you're gonna catch (sorry that was awful lol). I really think this aspect of this movie has been severely overlooked - it might be the best message I've seen in any Disney movie. But still, really, as per my initial response, it had me at Melody and the incredible song "For a Moment"… for those two elements alone, it is worth it. If you haven't seen it yet, see it - if you have seen it, please… watch it again