The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Blu-ray Movie Review

"Hi! My mommy lied to me and now I'm, like, going to destroy the sea!"

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 2, 2014

Disney's track record is nearly untarnished when it comes to major animated releases -- there are far more good titles than there are bad titles -- but the acclaimed maker of timeless animated films fit for audiences of all ages doesn't have the best of luck when it comes time to shove out a sequel, or two, onto the direct-to-video marketplace. Sequels to classics like Cinderella were met with with some derision by critics, and the trend knows no boundaries, neither land nor shore alike. The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, the follow-up to the terrific and immensely popular The Little Mermaid, is a dud of a sequel, a tired, slowly paced, and not at all musically catchy follow-up that more or less reverses its predecessor's plot and, at the same time, reverses everything that made the first so good, such as excellent music, enthusiastically performed voice acting, and a dramatically weighty story that perfectly blended humor, heart, action, and drama.

Blinded by the light.

Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson) and Eric (voiced by Rob Paulsen) are celebrating the birth of their daughter, Melody. All of Ariel's underwater friends and family -- including King Triton (voiced by Kenneth Mars) -- have appeared to join in the festivities. Unfortunately, one invited guest crashes the party: Morgana (voiced by Pat Carroll), sister of Ursula and out to take Triton's powerful trident for herself. Her plot is foiled, but it's enough for the family to worry about Melody's future by throwing away Triton's gift to her -- a pendant meant to reminder her of her mermaid heritage -- and keep her away from the water for the rest of her life. A dozen years pass. Melody (voiced by Tara Charendoff) has become hopelessly attracted to the sea. One day, she discovers the pendant and sets out on a quest to discover her heritage, a quest that could have deadly consequences for all life on shore and under the sea alike.

It's hard to imagine a Disney movie as, well, frankly, boring, but here is a rare film that fits that criteria. The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea lackadaisically sets out with a paper-thin plot that, to be fair, isn't much less than that of the original. But the similarities end there. Whereas the original showed a deeper underbelly of drama -- themes of self-worth, self-confidence, family, and friendship -- none of that is apparent in the sequel, at least not in any meaningful way. In this film, the powerful delivery of emotions -- embodied in a spectacular coordination of voice work and animation in the original -- is left by the wayside in favor of, well, almost nothing of substance. In the original, much of Ariel's screen time was spent while without the ability to verbally communicate her emotions. That necessitated a greater technical polish, a tighter surrounding story script, and reliance on heartfelt feeling to convey messages and win the day. Not so much here. It's not that Melody having a voice is a problem, it's that the voice shares nothing of substance. The audience is left with a shell of an emotional center, one that exists only as far as the simpleminded script allows, not one shaped by inspired talents working with meaningful drama and towards a near perfect animated film.

Indeed, The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea feels rushed in most every way. The animation, for the most part, is solid, but that it becomes a focal point throughout only reinforces the idea that the film's core is lacking anything worth seeing. The voice talent is disappointingly uninspired. Not a single cast member seems to give it his or her all, not the talents portraying Ariel, Melody, Triton, Morgana, or any of the aquatic supporting cast. The main voice cast is comprised of returning members (Jodi Benson as Ariel, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Kenneth Mars as Triton) and new talent replacing old favorites (Rob Paulsen as Prince Eric and Cam Clarke as Flounder) that breathe life into the words but fail to breathe substance into them. The entire film plays with a straightforward cadence embodied in that bland voice work, one that seems content to simply tell the story rather than make sure the audience feels the story and understands its purpose, if there is one beyond selling movies.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea does at least feature excellent video. Disney's 1080p transfer delivers bold, exciting colors and sturdy animated details. Ariel's bright red hair, multicolored fish under the sea, golden adornments on human clothes, and even the murky green that surrounds Morgana are all superbly balanced and exacting, lighting up the screen and doing more than any other element in the film to define it. Image clarity is excellent. Lines are smooth and natural, and the Blu-ray resolution brings out the best the animation has to offer even on large displays, including wooden textures, rocky formations, and most every object above and below the sea. The image does suffer from some occasionally light banding, but this is otherwise a picture-perfect Disney transfer in every regard.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea arrives on Blu-ray with a good, nicely balanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music is presented admirably, yielding terrific vocal and instrumental clarity with a nice and wide front stage presence but not an excess of back speaker usage. A few heavier action sound effects are sufficiently hefty and nicely fill the stage. Several supporting effects, such as rolling waters or dialogue reverberation in chapter nine, are gently immersive. Dialogue delivery is steady, clearly delivered, and focused in the front-center portion of the soundstage.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea contains several short bonuses.

• The Little Mermaid II DVD Storybook (480i, 4:3, 10:09): A reading of the storybook version of the film.
• Deleted Song (480i, 4:3, 1:54): Gonna Get My Wish.
• Classic Animated Short Merbabies (480i, 4:3, 8:36).

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea pales in every regard compared to its vastly superior predecessor. This film is barely salvageable, even as it takes an interesting idea of Ariel's teenage child wishing to return to the sea in stark contrast to her own teenage desire to live ashore. There's a fascinating dichotomy there and room to analyze, in a Disney easily-digesitble manner, of course, ideas on shared and divergent family traits and characteristics, youthful rebellion versus adulthood experience, knowledge versus exploration, and so on and so forth. Sadly, the movie is a vapid shell of what it could have been, content to tell a tired story with no redeeming value, not even in its songs. All around, this is a terrible disappointment of a follow-up to one of Disney's best animated features. Disney's Blu-ray release of The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea features superb video, solid audio, and a couple of extras. Skip it.