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The Little Mermaid 2 - Return to the Sea

The Little Mermaid 2 - Return to the Sea

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Only an Ok sequel to a brilliant classic
Review: When I first saw this movie in ad I was immeditately pulled in by how colourful cover and was certain this movie would b just as good as the original. When I watched this movie I felt cold at some parts and why? Because it lacks the same feel and the animation is flat at times looks VERY sloppy (e.g. When Ariel is singing in the song For A Moment with Melody). Ariel's character is a bit pale when you look at her in the first movie. I have to admit I do like Melody a lot. The walrus and the penguin annoy me to no end because they're just clones of Timon and Pumba and they don't really add anything to the movie except comic relief. The songs were forgettable and boring (except For A Moment, I liked that one). The music, while not Alan Menken quality, isn't as horrible as everyone says. I think that if Return to the Sea had been made in the Feature Animation department of the Disney studio this movie would be a LOT better.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for a sequel
Review: Kept my daughter entertained. She was happy to see familiar characters and particularly liked the seagull. Can't get a copy of the Little Mermaid for a reasonable price (ours was eaten by the vcr). It's a decent sequel.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Under the Sea... Again
Review: Another of the string of animated sequels to some of Disney's most popular films, The Little Mermaid II is defiantly one of Disney's most uninspired films. The story revolves around Melody, the daughter of Ariel (the original film's "little mermaid"). Melody love the sea, but is not permitted by her parents to ever visit the sea after she was almost kidnapped by the Sea Witch Ursula's evil sister Morgana, seeking revenge the demise of her sister. If the plot of the young daughter who was forbidden to be part of the world she love sounds familiar, it should. It's the same plot of the first film turned upside-down. In addition to a weak plot, the songs are forgettable (and, at times, painful) and the characters are uninteresting, including not only the film's returning characters who are now meer shadows of their former selfs, but also the new additions such as Morgana's shark-turned-guppy henchman and Timon and Pumbaa clones Tip and Dash. All in all, it's not worth the time watching it unless you have small children who love Ariel and friends.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Wise to always be wary of sequels, no fear here
Review: This movie is good but as most sequels that just cannot measure up to the original.

As you might remember from the first Ariel ( the Little Mermaid ) winds up living happily everafter with Prince Eric after the demise of Ursula. Starting in this movie, Ursula has a evil sister that vows to take revenge on the happy couples offspring who is the NEW Little Mermaid, Melody. Jump ahead 12 years and the conflicts similar to the first story, make way for Melody's new great adventure against the evil Morgana.

The story plot is fun and characters are darling. I don't feel that the music is as impressive as the first. It is worthwhile watch especially for little girls. ( This was a MUST for our collection, and I have 2 daughters )

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: If you've got a little girl, try this movie! You'll like it!
Review: I brought this for my three year old niece and she loves it! She is a big fan of everything Little Mermaid. She has both Little Mermaid and Little Mermaid II and watches them everyday. Of course nothing can top the original but overall I think it is a good sequel and the songs are really cute. As an adult, I also don't mind watching it, which is saying alot because most kids movies become annoying after a while.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but not as great as the original
Review: I was first dying to see this movie when I was like 9. I got this on my tenth birthday. But I was a bit disappointed in this movie. The characters' personalities have changed. Ariel used to be a cheerful, spunky, and lovable mermaid but now she acts like her father, King Triton! And what on earth did they do to Flounder!? Now he's a father with children! I liked the Flounder in the first Little Mermaid movie. He was sooooooo adorable! I was annoyed with Morgana. Ursula used to make me scream, have nightmares, and make me unable to go to the bathroom at night. Boy, was she creepy! I liked the song "For a Moment". It was good. I liked how they added two new characters: an adorable penguin named Tip and a walrus named Dash (please correct me if I got them mixed up). And I liked their song. Let's not forget Melody, Ariel's daughter. I wish they've given her more detail other than just her tomboyishness. I would've given this movie 5 stars, but since this movie wasn't that good as the first Little Mermaid movie, this deserved 3 stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This was great!
Review: I thought this DVD was awesome. It was very funny and it was nice to see how the once free-spirited Ariel, when faced with danger to her child, took on her father's over-protective attitude and then had to deal with the consequences. Melody was a bright, chipper child, Sebastian was his usual bungling funny self, and Scuttle was back scatter-brained as ever. This also introduced two new clumsy sidekicks, Tip and Dash who want to be heroes but keep falling short. Morgana wasn't as scary as Ursula, but she won't give the kids nightmares like Ursula did either. Very well done for an immediate production to video/DVD release.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Understanding the Power of Music and Scripting
Review: THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA met my expectations for a direct-to-video film. It did not exceed them. Nor did they fall short. The 1989 original THE LITTLE MERMAID is a very formidable film, making the artistic success for a sequel a great challenge. To its credit THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA does unfold in a different direction than I had anticipated. The story is not entirely innovative but some of the particular plot situations were well thought out. In any story you have conflict and resolution and those are the aspects that I liked about this film. Some of the dramatics did rely on prior events, which took place in the original. That was thematically important to the overall story. One weakness of this film is the lack of character development. Character development was one of the strong points of THE LITTLE MERMAID. I watched THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA twice trying to determine if the film digressed in such a way to bolster my contention of this. What did THE LITTLE MERMAID achieve in roughly the same amount of time that this film didn't? And then it struck me that it was the music or more specifically the songs in the original that advanced the story line and defined the characters. That was the brilliance of lyricist Howard Ashman. He and composer Alan Menken developed songs in the original that in several minutes clearly defined Ariel's reckless but innocent curiosity about the humans above and her yearning to discover that world. Every song in the original bolstered the characters, advanced the plot or enhanced the significance of a scene in addition to being very melodic and well written. So in THE LITTLE MERMAID we were given a substantial amount of information and entertainment in a minimum amount of time. There is not a single frame of wasted footage in that film. THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA does not have the advantage of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman compositions. The instrumental score is very good but the new songs feel superficial. The animation especially during the underwater scenes is good. Morgana is not as menacing as her sister Ursula was in the original. Other than Ursula I believe all the main characters are back. Melody, Ariel's daughter gets to mingle with the old characters as well as meet new ones. I thought that was significant seeing that the scriptwriters were determined not to have Melody just copy what Ariel did in the original. It would have been a very good sequel for theatrical release. If that was done, there would have been a larger budget and the various shortcomings could have been corrected. I liked THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA. However, I believe that THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA will continue to have a definite audience with younger family members and there are actually some nostalgic moments that will no doubt attract teens and up who loved the original. I highly recommend this movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Wish there was a choice for "0 Stars"
Review: Isn't Disney ever going to realize that sequels are not a good idea? I am a HUGE Little Mermaid fan, and I was really excited when I heard about TLM2, but it was really .

One thing I want to know is, this movie is set 10 years after the first one, right? Well, Ariel was only 16 in the original, and now in the sequel she has a 9-year-old child? Promoting teen pregnancy, are we? To have a child that old, she'd have had to gotten pregnant within the first year of her marriage to Eric, making her still 16, possibly 17 at the time of conception. Hello! I thought we were trying to discourage that??

And the cool thing out the first one was the whole rebellion thing right? Well, that's understandable, Ariel was 16 and she didn't agree with her father's strict rules and ways of life. She wanted a different life for herself than what her father wanted. But what does Melody have to rebel against? She's 9 years old for Pete's sake! What, are we looking to start a kiddie-riot? There is a major difference between a teenager rebelling for her freedom and a child disobeying her parents. Ariel was pushing for her indepenence and freedom. Melody was just a brat.
Also, the movie was just plain cheesy with the same plot (well, it's reversed as far as the water to land part goes, but basically the same) and some of the same gags from the first one. Especially considering that the music wasn't as good at the original. It just lacked the plot, characters, charm and magic that the original one had. Big disappointment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best 2nd I've seen
Review: So many times the second movie just doesn't come close to the original. That isn't the case in this movie. My daughter LOVES this movie - even more than the original Little Mermaid. She has to watch it at least once a day. She obviously recommends it highly!


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