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The Little Mermaid 2 - Return to the Sea
- Color
- Closed-captioned
- Animated
- NTSC
Avg. Customer Review: 
 Excellent!
Little Mermaid II is a great sequel to a wonderful movie. The animation is beautiful, the songs and the score are very well done, and the characters are fresh and original. I know there are a lot of naysayers out there who say that Ariel and Eric are "different" in this movie...well, duh, think about the time frame...they are both in their early 30s and parents of a twelve-year-old. Did you expect them to be the same flippant teenagers they were in the first movie? Now THAT would be disconcerting. **Mild Spoilers Ahead**
I think the parallels to the first film with Ariel acting to Melody as her father acted toward her when SHE was a teen are humorous and well-placed in the film. It doesn't make Ariel BORING, it makes her real...how many kids grow up saying they'll never be like their parents and then, as disturbing as it is, find themselves growing more and more like them every year? As for the plot, I don't think it's anywhere near a "copy" of the original...think about it. In the original, Ariel dreams of going up on land to explore, live life, meet real people with two legs, learn about all the things she's found on sunken ships, etc. and she does with Ursula's help. In LM2, Melody thinks she's a screw-up, a nobody, and she's upset with her parents for NOT letting her go into the sea because she doesn't know about the incident that happened when she was a baby at the beginning of the film when Morgana tries to kill her and Triton gives her that locket. It's more of a mystery to her...when she finds the locket, she needs to know what it means. She does that on her own...she has no intentions of becoming a mermaid until Morgana puts it in her head so the sea witch can get King Triton's trident. Two totally different stories. Anyway, enough rambling. The movie is great. If you are a fan of LM1, Disney, or just good animated films, check out Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea. I have many Disney films on DVD and this is definitely one of my favorites.
not as good as the first one...
I saw The Little Mermaid in the theaters when I was two and it's been a part of me ever since. I love to sing the songs, watch the movie, play with the dolls, ect. And I'm thirteen now-imagine how obsessed I was when I was younger. So, needless to say, I was anxious to see the sequel, especially since Ariel's daughter's name is Melody, very close to my own name, Melanie. But, though I'll admit I had very high expectations to begin with, I was very sadly disappointed. The voices were great, as always they were in the first one, but the story lacked the life that the original had. The story was almost exactly like the first one (only reversed, of course), but not quite as good. I did like Melody's character a lot, as she was a lot brighter than Ariel was ("sure, Miss Scary-Looking-Octopus-Lady-I-Don't-Know, I'll give you my voice and leave my family and friends to go with some guy whom I've never really met and doesn't even know I exist and hope this guy kisses me, or else I'm done for"), even though I guess Melody probably could have done better than to trust that Morgana character (who buy the way, was way too much like Ursula, even if they were sisters). But at least she didn't do it for a guy. Also, the songs were kinda stinky. I don't know, a lot of people seem to love them, but really, can any of them compare to "Part of Your World"? ah...no. But then again, how can you compete with Alan Menken and Tim Rice, the Disney Duo, combined with the haunting voice of Jodi Benson (who, thankfully, returns in the sequel)? You can't. End of story.
 Sequel
Obviously, the sequel isn't going to be as good as the first. They never are. This is no different, the storyline is similar with all the characters resembling each other as well. Basically, Melody is Ariel, only in a much younger perspective wanting to be a mermaid (just like Ariel wanted to be a human in the first), Morgana is Ursula, only skinnier with her pet shark who is the eels. Tip and Dash are basically Flounder and Sebastian. I enjoyed Tip and Dash a lot, especially compared to the annoying Flounder. All the original characters make appearances, Sebastian is the crap that used to look after Ariel for King Tritan but now he's supposed to look over Melody for Ariel and Eric. Flounder is still around, yet fatter and his voice is more annoying, King Triton is now the worried grandfather instead of just the worried father. The real downfall here is Prince Eric, who is rarely in the movie but his voice is different and for the worst. He looks a bit different too, he has like blue eyes in this one which makes him look strange.
The storyline as I said is similar. Melody wants to explore the sea, she's an OUTCAST on land and SNEAKS out by going under the wall between the castle and the ocean. She meets Morgana, an EVIL OCTOPUS who has the POWER to TRANSFORM her into a mermaid (hint: with help from Ursula) and she can REMAIN a MERMAID if she STEALS the "pitchfork" (sorry I forget its name) from her grandfather, yet she doesn't know he's her grandfather. Melody captures it with the help of Tip and Dash and returns to Morgana. All the while Ariel has transformed back into a mermaid in hope to find Melody in the sea while Eric looks on land. Morgana TURNS on Melody and transforms her back into a human and keeps her underwater until she drowns. The shark crashes into the ice barrier and Melody is free, Ariel and Melody chat then realize that Eric and the rest of them are in trouble. Melody saves the day. That is basically the whole storyline.
Though very similar to the first one, this is still a good watch and would be a nice movie to show your little kids, especially since they probably wouldn't care if the first one is the original. It's a fun movie, not as romantic or as funny as the first but still fun. If you collect Disney movies or really enjoyed this one if you saw it, buy it. Other than that I'd just suggest you rent this one.
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