| The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea |
|
|---|---|
DVD release cover |
|
| Directed by | Jim Kammerud Brian Smith |
| Produced by | Leslie Hough David Lovegren |
| Written by | Elizabeth Anderson Temple Mathews Elise D'Haene Eddie Guzelian |
| Starring | Jodi Benson Samuel E. Wright Tara Charendoff Pat Carroll Buddy Hackett Max Casella Stephen Furst Clancy Brown |
| Music by | Danny Troob |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Home Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | September 19, 2000 |
| Running time | 77 minutes |
| Language | English |
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is a 2000 Disney animated feature film and direct-to-video sequel to the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. Directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith, the story takes place over a decade after the original film, 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. This sequel stars the voices of Jodi Benson as Ariel, Tara Charendoff as Melody and Pat Carroll as Morgana, the film's new villain. It is the last film in the chronology of Walt Disney's version of The Little Mermaid.
Contents |
Set some unspecified time after the events of the original film, the film begins with a celebration for Ariel and Eric's newborn daughter Melody on a ship at sea. Ariel's father King Triton presents baby Melody with a magic locket. The party is interrupted by Morgana, sister of the deceased Ursula, who threatens to cause Melody harm, using her as leverage to get Triton's trident. Ariel and Eric work together to foil Morgana's plan.
Fearing Morgana and remembering Ursula, Ariel decides to withhold all knowledge of the sea world from Melody. The locket is tossed into the ocean, and a massive wall is built to separate the royal castle from the sea.
Twelve years later, Melody remains unaware of her mother’s mermaid heritage and is forbidden from ever going into the sea. However, she has been sneaking out the castle regularly to swim and one day finds her locket. Seeing her name on the locket, Melody confronts her mother in an explosive argument. Angry at her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody takes a boat and sails away from home. Her parents soon learn that she is gone, and Triton uses his magic to transform Ariel back into a mermaid to search for Melody.
Melody is lured to Morgana’s lair by her manta rays, Cloak and Dagger, and Undertow, and Morgana uses the remains of Ursula's magic to temporarily transform Melody into a mermaid. Morgana says that the transformation will be permanent if Melody can get hold of the trident, which she claims was stolen by Triton. With the help of Tip the penguin and Dash the walrus, Melody successfully returns to Morgana with the trident. Ariel tries to stop Melody, but before she can explain that Morgana is evil, Melody gives the trident to Morgana. With the trident in her grip, Morgana reveals her true intentions and grabs Ariel with her tentacle and holds her hostage.
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 manages to grab the trident and throw it back to Triton by climbing up the cliff on which Morgana is standing and sneaking up on her. Triton uses his trident to encase Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater.
Melody reunites with her family, and Triton offers his granddaughter the option of becoming a mermaid permanently. Instead, she uses the trident to disintegrate the wall separating her home from the sea, reuniting the humans and the merpeople.
The film was released direct-to-DVD on September 19, 2000.[1] On November 6, 2006, the film was bundled together with the original film in the Region 2 release.[2] 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.[3] A package called The Little Mermaid Trilogy, which includes all three Little Mermaid films, was released on the same day.[4]
| Songs from The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea & More! | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | September 19, 2000 |
| Recorded | 2000 |
| Length | 25:21 |
| Label | Walt Disney Records |
| Producer | Bambi Moe, Don Mizell, Eric Silver, Leonard Jones, Shepard Stern |
The film's official soundtrack was released on September 19, 2000.[5] The soundtrack was released internationally on October 31, 2000 in a special edition double pack with the original film's soundtrack.[6] Two limited edition two tracked CD samples were released as a promotion for the soundtrack in 2000.[7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Down to the Sea" | Michael Silversher, Patty Silversher | Jodi Benson, Rob Paulsen, Clancy Brown, Kay E. Kuter, Samuel E. Wright and Chorus | 3:29 |
| 2. | "Tip and Dash" | Silversher, 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" | Silversher, 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) | Silversher, Silversher | Benson, Charendoff, Wright | 1:44 |
| Limited edition two track CD 1[7] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording artist(s) | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Part of Your World" | Alan Menken, Howard Ashman | Cheyl Wright | ||||||
| 2. | "Limbo Rock" (*) | Samuel E. Wright | |||||||
| Limited edition two track CD 2[7] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording artist(s) | Length | |||||
| 1. | "Here on the Land and Sea" (Finale) | Michael Silversher, Patty Silversher | Jodi Benson, Tara Charendoff, Samuel E. Wright | 1:44 | |||||
| 2. | "Coconut" (*) | Harry Nilsson | Wright | ||||||
The film's ending credits play a new version of Part of Your World from the original movie. It is performed by country singer Chely Wright. Another version of that song was performed by Ann Marie Boskovich. That version of the song was played in international dubbings of the film.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||