- Release Date: August 26th, 2008
- Publisher: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
- Price: $15.99 on Amazon
- Run Time: 77 Minutes
- Genre: Animated, Children’s
- Starring: Jodi Benson, Lorelei Hill Butters, Jim Cummings, Sally Field, Samuel E. Wright, Parker Goris
- Special Features: Deleted Scenes, Music and More, Mermaid Discovery Vanity Game, Splashdance, The Little Mermaid: Under the Sea And Behind the Scenes on Broadway
In 1989 Disney released the animated classic the Little Mermaid. Ariel’s Beginning is actually a prequel to the original Little Mermaid. When Ariel’s mother is kidnapped by pirates, King Triton decides to ban all music in the kingdom since it brings back too many painful memories of his wife. This upsets Ariel since music is one of the few things she enjoys in life. Ariel’s sisters try and help Ariel restore music to the kingdom. Things are complicated though when Marina Del Rey tries to ruin their plan with her quest for power.
I remember watching The Little Mermaid when I was a young child. Many years later I barely remember if I liked the movie or what happened in it. I have actually never seen the sequel since I never though it was worth watching. About a week ago I received Ariel’s Beginning in the mail so I decided to give this sequel a chance. I really wasn’t very excited about this movie since most of Disney’s sequels aren’t that great. I wouldn’t say that I was surprised by Ariel’s Beginning.
I didn’t really enjoy Ariel’s Beginning. I thought the movie was pretty childish and not nearly as good as the original Little Mermaid. Pretty much the only reason that I didn’t really enjoy this DVD was due to the plot idea. The plot idea is more of a subplot but it is actually the main story of Ariel’s Beginning. I personally don’t care a whole lot about how music was banned and then restored to the sea. I also don’t really care about Ariel’s sisters who get a much larger part in this movie. If Ariel’s Beginning had a stronger plot I could have seen it at least as an average to above average movie. With such a weak idea for a plot I can’t say it is anything more than a below average movie.
Despite not really liking the plot I do have some compliments for the movie. First they were wise enough to keep the original cast for most of the voices. I was actually a little surprised that they got most of the cast back since it has almost been 20 years since the last movie was made. The other thing I have to compliment is the animation since it is pretty good for a sequel.
As far as special features are concerned you pretty much get what you get with every other Disney DVD. You get some deleted scenes, a feature to sing along with the movie’s songs, some children’s games, and finally a behind the scenes on how the director created the sequel. One special feature that I found a little interesting was the behind the scenes look at the Broadway Little Mermaid show. As a whole I wouldn’t really recommend the special features unless you really liked the movie or if you have smaller children (they should enjoy the games).
Overall I didn’t really enjoy The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Beginning. The one problem that I had with the movie was that the plot was so weak that it couldn’t fill the 77 minutes of the movie. As I mentioned earlier it is more of a subplot in my opinion. Even though I didn’t really like it that much doesn’t mean that you need to write it off and not even think about picking it up. If either you or your children really like the Little Mermaid and you don’t mind Disney sequels I would tell you to look into picking up The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Beginning.
