The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Beginning – DVD Review

Instead of continuing the adventures of Ariel this time we go back to before the first film. The sequel is sure to please the young-uns, but it might be a bit much for the adults as well as shadowing some of the hit film.

King Triton’s (Jim Cummings) wife was killed in an accident and in his grief he’s banned music in the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. He keeps the corralling of his daughters to their governess Marina Del Rey (Sally Field). She has eyes on the job of royal attaché, but that job is currently occupied by Sebastian the crab (Samuel E. Wright), with whom she has a rivalry.

His youngest daughter Ariel (Jodi Benson) discovers that there’s a musical speak-easy and decides that she wants to bring music back to the kingdom. Meanwhile, Marina has discovered that Sebastian is the ringleader at the music club and reports this to Triton and gets him removed from his position. Ariel gets mad at her father and runs off with Sebastian and the members of his band. The maniacal Marina is drunk on her newfound power and decides to send her bloodthirsty electric eels to dispose of our band of heroes.

Instead of doing The Little Mermaid III as not a continuation of the adventures of Ariel but as what happened before the events of the film. A sequel of any kind is going to go up against the film that it’s continuing. In that aspect Ariel’s Beginning seems rather thin. The songs are no more than pale imitations of the originals, if not entirely forgettable. The only tune that comes close is an already established one, “Jump in the Line” made famous by Harry Belafonte.

It is nice that much of the voice cast returns, including Benson and Wright. I was a bit surprised to see (and hear) Sally Field as she steps into the Ursula role and does some extreme scene chewing. The younger you are the more you’ll appreciate the film, but this one isn’t going to have the same all ages feel that the original did. To play devil’s advocate, this one is well animated and will entertain if you don’t expect too much out of it.

Ariel’s Beginning is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include 5 minutes of deleted scenes, in storyboard format, that are introduced by director Peggy Holmes. The “Music and More” section separates out four of the songs from the film with optional onscreen lyrics for you to sing along with.

These are the original songs from the film and not Jump in the Line. The “Games and Activities” section has the Mermaid Discovery Vanity Game. The “Backstage Disney” section starts with the 7 minute “Splashdance” which is all about director Peggy Holmes who started as a dancer before directed this feature. The 10 minute “Little Mermaid: Under the Sea and Behind the Scenes on Broadway” looks at the stage show that has been adapted from the hit film.

Ariel’s Beginning is somewhat creative in that it looks at the origins of the perky mermaid, but it really feels slight. The songs are forgettable and are not up to the high standard that the first film set. That being said, the film will entertain the rug rats and they’ll probably watch it over and over again. Once was enough for me, but it was better made than some of the earlier Disney sequels. The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Beginning is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK. Visit the DVD database for more information.