The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is a 2000 Disney animated feature film and direct-to-video sequel to the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. Directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith, the story takes place over a decade after the original film, and focuses on Ariel's and Eric's daughter Melody, a human princess who longs to swim in the ocean despite her parents' law that the sea is forbidden to her. This sequel stars the voices of Jodi Benson as Ariel, Tara Strong as Melody and Pat Carroll as Morgana, the film's new villain.



Plot
Set some unspecified time after the events of the original film, the film begins with a celebration for Ariel and Eric's newborn daughter Melody on a ship at sea. Ariel's father, King Triton, presents baby Melody with a magic locket, which is meant to remind her of her mermaid heritage. The party is interrupted by Morgana, sister of the deceased Ursula, who threatens to cause Melody harm, using her as leverage to get Triton's Trident. Ariel and Eric work together to foil Morgana's plan.

Fearing Morgana and remembering what happened with Ursula, Ariel decides to withhold all knowledge of the sea world from Melody. The locket is tossed into the ocean, and a massive wall is built to separate the royal castle from the sea. In the meantime, Sebastian is tasked by Triton to watch over Melody.

Twelve years later, Melody remains unaware of her mother’s mermaid heritage and is banned from ever going into the sea. In However, she has been sneaking out the castle regularly to swim and one day finds the locket. Seeing her name on the locket, Melody confronts her mother in an explosive argument. Angry at her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody takes a boat and sails away from home. Her parents soon learn that she is gone, and Triton uses his magic to transform Ariel back into a mermaid to search for Melody.

Melody is lured to Morgana’s lair by her manta rays, and Morgana uses the remains of Ursula's magic to temporarily transform Melody into a mermaid. Morgana says that the transformation will be permanent if Melody can get hold of the trident, which she claims was stolen by Triton. Unknown to Melody, Morgana only wants the trident to make up for her own lack of magical talent, but the trident can only be removed from its resting place by a descendant of Triton.

Melody meets Tip the penguin and Dash the walrus, who quickly bond with her and take her to Atlantica, where she meets mer-teens, who want to befreind her (but don;t seem to notice her top is not a sea-shell bikini). She is quickly put back on track and sneaks into the throne room, where she removes the trident and heads back to the arctic.

Melody successfully returns to Morgana with the trident. Ariel tries to stop Melody, but before she can explain that Morgana is evil, Melody gives the trident to Morgana. With the trident in her grip, Morgana reveals her true intentions. She kidnaps Ariel and takes her to the surface.

Morgana imprisons Melody in an ice prison. Soon, Morgana's spell wears off, and Melody returns to human form. Because she is no longer a mermaid, she begins to drown. Melody is freed with the help of Tip and Dash and an unlucky shark. 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. Melody manages to grab the trident and throw it back to Triton by climbing up the cliff on which Morgana is standing and sneaking up on her. Morgana sees Melody and throws her off the cliff. Triton uses his trident to encase Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater.

Melody reunites with her family. She then begins to apologize to Ariel, but Ariel says that she and Eric are sorry, and that they should've told her the truth instead of keeping it from her. King Triton offers his granddaughter the option of becoming a mermaid permanently. Instead, Melody uses the trident to disintegrate the wall separating her home from the sea.

Voice Cast

 * Jodi Benson as Ariel
 * Tara Strong as Melody
 * Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
 * Pat Carroll as Morgana
 * Rob Paulsen as Prince Eric
 * Kenneth Mars as King Triton
 * Cam Clarke as Flounder
 * Buddy Hackett as Scuttle
 * Clancy Brown as Undertow
 * Max Casella as Tip
 * Stephen Furst as Dash
 * Rene Auberjonois as Louis the Chef
 * Edie McClurg as Carlotta the Maid
 * Kay E. Kuter as Grimsby the Valet
 * Tress MacNeille as Mother Penguin and Baby Penguin
 * Frank Welker as Max the Sheepdog

Release
The film was released direct-to-DVD on September 19, 2000. In 2006, the film was bundled together with the original film in the Region 2 release. The original DVD release has been discontinued. A special edition DVD with a newly discovered deleted song, "Gonna Get My Wish," and a new game was released on December 16, 2008.

Soundtrack
The film's official soundtrack was released on September 19, 2000. The track list is as follows:


 * Down to the Sea
 * Tip and Dash (song)
 * Iko Iko
 * Octopus's Garden
 * For A Moment
 * Give A Little Love
 * Hot, Hot, Hot
 * Here On The Land and Sea

These tracks were originally recorded for the album Sebastian: Party Gras!.

Trivia

 * While Sebastian sings Here on the Land and Sea, one of the lyrics is Fun and Fancy Free which is the title of Fun and Fancy Free.
 * Tip and Dash are inspired by Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King
 * Down to the Sea is similar to Part of Your World.
 * The movie's plot is a reverse of the main plot of the first movie; as instead of Ariel, born a mermaid, wishing to become human, it focuses on Melody, born a human, wishing to become a mermaid.