''The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea'' is a 2000

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

produced by

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

, and the second installment in ''The Little Mermaid'' trilogy. Directed by

Jim Kammerud Jim Kammerud (born July 23, 1960) is an American director, writer, producer and animator, best known for his work with the Walt Disney Company. Kammerud attended the Ohio State University in the mid-1980s. There he developed his cartooning styl ...

and Brian Smith, the story of the film takes place 12 years after the original, and focuses on

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

and Eric's daughter

Melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

, a human princess who longs to swim in the ocean despite her parents' law that the sea is forbidden to her. Many voice actors from the original film returned for the sequel, including

Jodi Benson Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in Disney's 1989 animated film ''The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its seque ...

as Ariel,

Kenneth Mars Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in '' The Producers'' (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in ''Young ...

as King Triton, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, and

Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...

as Scuttle in his final film role before his death in June 2003.

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'', and NBC' ...

, who voiced Ursula in the first film, returned as Ursula's sister

Morgana Morgana may refer to: People * Morgana Gmach (born 1994), Brazilian female rhythmic gymnast * Morgana King (1930–2018), American singer and actress * Morgana O'Reilly (born 1985), New Zealand actress * Morgana Robinson (born 1982), British c ...

, the sequel's new villain.

Tara Charendoff Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as ''The New Batman Adventures ...

joined the cast as Melody,

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...

replaced

Christopher Daniel Barnes Christopher Daniel Barnes (born November 7, 1972), also known professionally as C. D. Barnes, C. B. Barnes and Chris Barnes, is an American actor and writer. He is best known for his voice role as the title superhero of the 1990s animated series ...

as Prince Eric and

Kay E. Kuter Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter (April 25, 1925 – November 12, 2003) was an American actor who appeared on television and in films. He is mostly recognized for his role as farmer Newt Kiley on the CBS sitcoms ''Green Acres'' and ''Petticoat Junction'' ...

voiced Grimsby replacing Ben Wright who died four months before the first film was released. The film received largely negative reviews, with criticism directed at the screenplay and rehashed plot points, though the characterization of Melody and Charendoff's performance thereof were praised. In 2008, Disney released a third film, '' The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning'', which is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the first film.

Plot

Set two years after the events of the first film,

and

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

celebrate the birth of their daughter

on a ship at sea, being the first child to ever be born of both worlds. Ariel's father

King Triton This article lists information of animated original characters from Disney's ''The Little Mermaid (franchise), The Little Mermaid'' franchise, covering the The Little Mermaid (1989 film), 1989 film, its The Little Mermaid (TV series), prequel , i ...

presents Melody with a magic

locket A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a lock of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day and occasions such as christenings, wedding ...

. The party is interrupted by Ursula's sister

, who threatens to have Melody fed to her pet

tiger shark The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and tempera ...

, Undertow, unless Triton surrenders his

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

to her so that she can avenge Ursula and take over the ocean. Ariel and Eric foil Morgana's plan, and Triton shrinks Undertow to the size of a

piranha A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, ...

. Morgana escapes, declaring that she will someday exact her revenge. Fearing Morgana and remembering Ursula, Ariel decides that, until Morgana is captured, they will have to withhold all knowledge of the sea world from Melody in order to protect her. Triton secretly assigns

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

to watch over Melody before tossing the locket into the ocean. Twelve years later, Melody remains unaware of her mother's

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

heritage and is forbidden from going into the sea, which is now separeted from the royal castle with a massive wall. Nevertheless, Melody constantly sneaks out to swim, and one day finds the locket. Seeing her name on the locket, she questions her mother about it, but Ariel scolds Melody for disobeying her, resulting in a falling out between them. Frustrated, Melody steals a small boat and sails away from home. She is discovered by Undertow, who leads her straight to Morgana, who uses the remains of Ursula's magic to transform Melody into a mermaid. Meanwhile, upon discovering Melody's disappearance, Ariel and Eric organize a search party to find her, and Triton transforms Ariel back into a mermaid so that she can search the ocean. As Melody explores her newfound abilities as a mermaid, Morgana warns her that the spell is only temporary and that she needs Triton's magic trident to make it permanent. Unaware that Triton is her grandfather and deceived by Morgana into thinking that he stole the trident, Melody sets off to Atlantica to retrieve it. Along her journey, she befriends

Tip Tip commonly refers to: * Tip (gambling) * Tip (gratuity) * Tip (law enforcement) * another term for Advice (opinion), Advice Tip or TIP may also refer to: Science and technology * Tank phone, a device allowing infantry to communicate with the oc ...

and

Dash The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, a clumsy but well-intentioned

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

and

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped, flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in ...

duo who help her steal the trident. Upon returning to Morgana's lair, Melody meets Ariel, and is shocked to discover her mother's mermaid heritage. Having been angered by Ariel's decision to lie to her and forbidding her from the sea, Melody gives the trident to Morgana, who then reveals her true intentions, captures Ariel, and traps Melody in a cave by sealing the entrance with a thick layer of ice. 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. Tip and Dash attempt to rescue Melody while escaping from Undertow, who has been restored to his original size by Morgana. With

Flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

's help, they defeat Undertow and arrive just in time to save Melody from drowning as Morgana's spell wears off on her, transforming her back into a human. Returning to the surface, Melody confronts Morgana, successfully grabing the trident and throwing it back to Triton who encases Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater. Melody reunites with her family, and Triton offers his granddaughter the choice of becoming a mermaid permanently. Instead, Melody uses the trident to destroy the wall separating her home from the sea, reuniting the humans and the merpeople.

Voice cast

* Samuel E. Wright as

as Scuttle *

Max Casella Max Casella (born Maximilian Deitch; June 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''The Sopranos'', ''Boardwalk Empire'', ''Vinyl'', '' Cro'' and the voice of Daxter in the ''Jak ...

Stephen Furst Stephen Furst (born Stephen Nelson Feuerstein; May 8, 1954 – June 16, 2017) was an American actor, director and producer. After gaining attention with his featured role as Kent "Flounder" Dorfman in the comedy film ''National Lampoon's An ...

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

as Undertow *

Cam Clarke Cam Clarke is an American voice actor, known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 ...

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony Aw ...

as Chef Louis *

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

Edie McClurg Edith Marie McClurg (born July 23, 1945) is an American actress and comedian. She has played supporting roles in the films ''Carrie'' (1976), ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), and ''Elvira: Mistress of the Dark'' (1988), and bit parts in '' ...

as Carlotta *

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', ''Codename: Kids Next Door'', ...

Cloak and Dagger "Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common in the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery. Overview In "The ...

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Max

Release

Home media

The film was released directly to video on September 19, 2000. It was released on May 7, 2001, in the UK. On November 6, 2006, the film was released in a bundle together with the original film in the Region 2 release. The original DVD release was later discontinued and a

special edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

DVD with a deleted song, "Gonna Get My Wish", and a new game was released on December 16, 2008. A package called ''The Little Mermaid Trilogy'', which includes all three ''Little Mermaid'' films, was released on the same day. This film, along with '' The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning'', was released in a 2-Movie collection on DVD and Blu-ray on November 19, 2013.

Reception

Critical reception

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 17% of 6 critics gave the film a positive review, and the average rating is 3.8/10. In 2011, ''

Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched i ...

'' ranked it as 27th among the 50 worst children's films ever made. Unlike the film and even her mother

, for whom the latter was generally mixed,

, the

main character A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, was generally well received by both critics and ''Little Mermaid'' fans, who praised her emotional relationship with Ariel, character growth, likability, and Tara Charendoff's performance. In 2019,

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

put her at #9 on Disney's Unofficial Princesses, Ranked. Melody is one of Charendoff's favorite characters to voice, as she was a big fan of the 1989 film growing up.

Home video sales

The film was the tenth-most-successful direct-to-video release of 2000, with retail revenues of $121 million. The film sold VHS and DVD units in 2000.

Soundtrack

The film's official

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

was released on September 19, 2000, and again on October 31, 2000, in a special edition double pack with the original film's soundtrack. Additionally, two limited-edition two-track samplers were released on CD as a promotion for the soundtrack. Note: *These tracks were originally recorded for the album '' Sebastian: Party Gras!''. The film's ending credits play a new recording of

Part of Your World "Part of Your World" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Disney's animated feature film ''The Little Mermaid'' (1989). Performed by American actress and singer Jodi Benson in the titular role as Ariel, a merm ...

, performed by country singer

Chely Wright Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American Activism, activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the numbe ...

. Another version of the song, performed by Ann Marie Boskovich, was used in some international releases of the film.

Legacy

When asked about a possible sequel for the 2023 live-action remake of ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

'', stars

Halle Bailey Halle Lynn Bailey (born March 27, 2000) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is best known for being one half of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Chlöe Bailey, together earning five Grammy Award nominations since 2 ...

(Ariel) and

Jonah Hauer-King Jonah Andre Hauer-King (born 30 May 1995) is an English actor. He has starred in the films ''The Last Photograph'' (2017) and ''A Dog's Way Home'' (2019), and appeared in the television miniseries ''Howards End'' (2017), ''Little Women'' (2017) ...

(Eric) mentioned ''Return to the Sea'' and considered a similar plot with Melody's character. In the same interview, Bailey added that she "loves" the sequel, while Hauer-King suggested that Eric, too, be transformed into a

merman Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ...

in the potential sequel as well.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Mermaid 2, The 2000 animated films 2000 children's films 2000 direct-to-video films 2000s adventure films 2000s American animated films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films American coming-of-age films American sequel films Australian animated feature films Australian musical fantasy films Canadian direct-to-video films Canadian musical fantasy films Canadian animated feature films English-language Canadian films Animated coming-of-age films Direct-to-video sequel films The Little Mermaid (franchise) films Disney direct-to-video animated films DisneyToon Studios animated films Animated films about witchcraft Animated films about children Animated films about princesses Animated films about shapeshifting Disney Television Animation films Films directed by Jim Kammerud 2000 directorial debut films Animated films based on The Little Mermaid 2000s children's animated films Animated films set in castles Animated films set in palaces Animated films set in a fictional country 2000 films Animated films about mother–daughter relationships 2000s English-language films 2000s Canadian animated films