Jodi Benson has actually voiced Ariel in every project she’s been in, all 3 Little Mermaid movies, the TV series, House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts, Sophia the First and Wreck it Ralph 2. Ariel’s the only Disney Princess to have her original voice actress for every project she’s been in.
if anything, this movies teaches us that traumatized people (ariel) can traumatize their kids (melody) like they were traumatized by their parents. In this essay i will-
Yeah, one praise I can give it is that it shows how cold turkey censorship or sheltering kids from any harmful exposure doesn’t protect them. If anything, it creates a really dangerous self-fulfilling prophesy… Melody would’ve been better prepared to protect herself from Morgana if she hadn’t been prevented from knowing about Ursula’s existence. However, Finding Nemo teaches this much better imo.
5:05 literally yes! This is the biggest problem with the movie. Why does protecting her from Ursula 2.0 mean that she can’t know AT ALL about the undersea life?? Ariel could’ve just told her about it all and all problems could’ve been avoided. I could write a whole thesis paper on how Ariel and Eric are just awful parents😂 Edit: 8:19 !!!!!!!!!!!
@@vetarlittorf1807 But not saying a word did the exact same thing (Melody venturing out into the ocean behind her parents back - connecting with the ocean and its sea creatures). At least sitting her down and explaining why being in the ocean was dangerous would give Melody a reason why her parents were adamant that she never step foot in the waves.
@@madamefluffy4788 Triton told Ariel why she couldn't go to the surface. That didn't stop her. Besides, Ariel didn't want Melody to live in fear. And it's not like she wanted this to go on forever, just until Morgana was caught.
@@vetarlittorf1807 I disagree. Lying about it may have taken away living in fear, but it left Melody with a connection she didn't understand and a longing for that world without any context, with parents who never explained the very real danger she was in. This led her to going behind their backs and trusting the wrong people, down to betraying her family to get what she wanted. She was incredibly easily manipulated because she didn't know the truth, and because they never told her, she didn't trust them in the end. I understand the situation a little, because of growing up in a similar circumstance. My parents told me the truth and, while we were cautious and afraid at points, it did not have us living in fear nor did it control our lives. And in the end, knowing the truth helped me to make informed decisions that saved my life when I was confronted with the situation. This was something Melody never got, because her parents denied her that truth, trust, and camaraderie that should have informed her decisions.
@@sparxmaiden841 I'm pretty sure telling her that a monstrous witch wants to kidnap her WOULD have her live in fear, assuming she would even believe them. And like I said, the secret was never meant to go on for so long, just until Morgana was caught. And for all Ariel knew, Morgana was waiting for her to lose patience and bring Melody to the ocean. Need I remind you that the last time she thought Melody was safe on a ship, she was almost fed to a shark? Wouldn't that traumatize any mother? People tend to ignore all the context and just dismiss Ariel and Eric as bad parents. Not to mention the fact that the lesson Ariel learned is that she can't completely protect her child, all she can do is her best. As well as overcoming the trauma inflicted on her by Ursula (who almost killed her) and Morgana (who almost killed her baby).
The fact that Ariel was SURPRISED that Melody was sneaking out to the ocean. Like, did NO ONE consider this a possibility? She is LITERALLY HALF MER! OF COURSE, she's going to be drawn to the ocean! So maybe you should TELL HER why she can't go in, or at least not too far and not ALONE??? NO ONE thought this through AT ALL!
no one seemed to mention that the destroyed party is melody's birthday party cause of the cake (it says happy birthday melody) so if anything nice king or not Eric looks like a chump cause everyone in public laughed at the princess on her birthday
Yep, that is true! I got to attend her panel at Denver Comic Con back in 2019 and she talked a lot about that being her favorite role..one of the children in the audience even made a point to ask “who was your favorite character to voice, besides Melody”, lol
Melody's hair used to really annoy me as a child and still does but I guess they were afraid of her looking too much like Ariel with black hair 😭 they could've given it a different texture or something smh her top was also ugly
Yeah, I always hated how she was basically just running around in her undergarments. Even as a kid, I knew she was basically running around in her pyjamas (before I knew about historical underwear).
I’m wondering how poorly Eric is as a king for the disrespect aimed towards Melody 💀 like she’s a PRINCESS. Why are the kids openly mocking her?? They’re most likely from family of dukes, counts & viscounts all positions that can be easily taken from their family for MOCKING a royal member. Especially on Melody’s birthday. The fact that both Ariel and Eric stood there like 🧍♀️🧍♂️during the whole thing I’m 💀 Also I agree, where the hell are the servants? Actually I’d feel bad for them because they would have been punished for sure if Melody was running late or not presentable in an efficient time. No way they would ever blame a Princess/prince either. And the lack of guards 😭 how is Melody sneaking off like that?? Imagine how easy it is for assassins to sneak in. Did they forget that royal families have servants and guards??
jodi genuinely loves ariel so much, she's voiced her in everything from kingdom hearts to wreck it ralph and has been promoting and hyping up the live action movie as much as she can
I never noticed the crappy animation when I was younger bc when you’re a kid all animation kinda looks the same. But seeing it now when compared to the original is like the visual version of that meme of someone playing off-key Christmas music on a kazoo 🥴
The one part that always got me about this movie is that she spends the entire movie in her undergarments, and not A SINGLE SOUL questions it. They just let it happen. Also, the mother-daughter dynamic between Melody and Ariel just felt awkward as all hell. It was lacking the emotional depth that other mother-daughter relationships, like the one in Brave, showcased. The whole relationship conflict with Melody and Ariel was just: "Melody, you can't go into the sea bc it's dangerous" and Melody going "alright I'm going to go to the sea anyway." *Edit:* they don't even allow a chance for any growth between Ariel and Melody throughout most of the film. It's mainly just Melody and Ariel being frustrated at each other, Melody going off on her own, Ariel chasing after her, and when they meet up again in Morgana's lair, they're still upset at each other
I know I was still a kid when I first saw this, and even then it was physically painful for me to watch. It lost me pretty early too with random Ursula relation, and then Triton being willing to negotiate rather than blasting the shark and then Morgana. Almost everything about it got under my skin, putting up the wall instead of moving inland and focusing on eliminating Morgana as a threat, how there were hardly ever any waves on the surface of the ocean, their choice of plot and conflict, how Eric was pushed aside for less interesting characters and how his personality didn't seem authentic to the original portrayal, the lack of battle tactics from the good guys in the final battle, I could go on for awhile. Which means it was fun to see someone else complain about how it didn't live uo to the original.
They really didn't need hide the mermaid thing. They could have told her the truth & the dangers of the ocean and still have Melody rebel. She could've thought her parents claims were exaggerated and was sick of them babying her or had a natural calling to the ocean.
One of my gripes with this sequel is that we’re supposed to believe that Melody doesn’t know about the merfolk, BUT literally in the first film, at the end, EVERYONE discovers that merfolk exist and that Ariel, HER MOM and the QUEEN, was a mermaid 💀 You can’t tell me that all of a sudden everyone in that village forgot about that 😂 Like growing up, Melody must have surely heard the stories and rumors surrounding her family! Lol
I almost disagreed to your statement, but then suddenly realized that you have a huge point on that. At first I thought Eric, as the king, could have forbid the whole kingdom to talk about it like Triton did towards music or else, punishment will be bestowed upon those who disobey. But then I remembered how Melody got bullied and Eric didn't even do anything about it because he is too soft. So yeah, even if he did add a new rule to follow, he seems incapable to punish anyone. And due to that, people disrespects him and his family infront of him.
5:00 - I'm a little more forgiving of Ariel making a bad decision, because let's be real here, she made some rash decisions in the first movie. I wish Eric had done more to speak up about it though, or her dad. Her dad is literally a sea god. Like I understand keeping Melody away from the sea, and Ariel's thought process of "if I don't tell her, she won't ask" but if you think about it for just a minute more--Ariel, Melody is YOUR daughter. Your dad couldn't keep you away from the land, it's just history repeating itself here. Just tell Melody why she can't be out at sea alone. (Also Triton has a ton of other daughters, Ariel's sisters, why doesn't Morgana just go after them?) So much of this movie is a boring rehash of the first one. Right up to Melody making a deal with Morgana. Ironically the only danger Morgana presents is when she's not actually there and no one knows where she's hiding. What isn't a rehash is forgettable.
The bad part is, this had the potential to be a very good "what if Ariel became a parent?" Fanfiction. Had the plot been other than Ariel's in reverse, we could've had something great.
I mean, Ariel was told over and over again why she couldn't go to the surface, what the danger was, and that her mother had been killed by humans, and she still went, so... Maybe she thought there would be less allure of the forbidden with less info
10:52 I know they were going for theatrics here, but seriously? No one tripped, pushed, or pulled that boy into the punch, but it straight up looks like an invisible person THREW him into it?! Why did Melody's birthday party, of all things, have to be ruined this badly? She didn't deserve this!
One of my old classmates had a music related name, and so did most of her siblings. There was Harmony, Melody, Reed, and Aria. There were three other siblings, but I only remember that the one my cousin went to school with was named Ricky. He really broke the trend.
There was a prequel too, I remember actually liking it; we learn about Ariel and Sebastian's history with music. Between the prequel and Anastasia I really wanted a music box at that age.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea from 2000 is a sequel that is pretty much just badly done fanfiction (just stick with the 1989 classic). Other examples of fanfiction-like sequels from DisneyToon Studios would be Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World from 1998, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II from 2002, The Jungle Book 2 from 2003, Atlantis 2: Milo's Return from 2003, Mulan II from 2005, Tarzan II from 2005, and The Little Mermaid 3: Ariel's Beginning from 2008.
@@audracline8272 Well, like Belle's Magical World, Atlantis 2 was originally going to be a TV show, but then they hastily turned it into one movie, loosely stringing the episodes together. However, I suppose Atlantis 2 isn't as bad as the others I've already listed, but it's nothing like the original 2001 film.
I actually like the premise of Cinderella 3. What if the shoe never fitted Cinderella, but on someone else who clearly isn't in love with the prince? Oh and at least they gave Prince Charming some personality and more lines.
Ariel’s character and arc is shown well by her outfits throughout the movie. When we flash forward to the day of Melody’s birthday party, Ariel is wearing a purple dress with her hair drawn up in a bun. On one hand, this is done to showcase her maturity and age, but it is also done to show how she has withdrawn from the ocean and is hiding her true self. After Melody runs away, Ariel is shown in a dress similar to the one she wore in the first movie, but with her hair up in a bun. This shows Ariel’s restraint, but much less so. But when Triton transforms Ariel into a mermaid, we see the dress disappear, and Ariel’s hair released from a bun and down in it’s original style. Sowing is that Ariel has once again fully embraced her connection to the sea and her true self. When Melody destroys the wall with the trident, Ariel is once again seen in human form, wearing the dress she wore when Eric gave her a tour of the kingdom. But this time, her hair remains down, showing that Ariel is once again true to herself and her heritage, but Is also wearing earrings, to still showcase her maturity. I know that this movie isn’t perfect, but detail like this really show the effort put into Ariel and her character growth throughout the film.
I was really glad Ariel got some beautiful dresses in this movie. It really fulfills the fun for people who like princess dresses. And slightly makes up for Melody being stuck in her underwear for most of this movie lol. In the beginning of the movie when Ariel has that gold and white dress, it sort of reflects the innocence and bliss of her marriage. The gold keeps it from being bridal but the white is reminiscent of that. Melody's pink dress is reminiscent of her mothers pink dress in the first film. It's almost like Ariel is imposing on her daughters wishes to have a different experience and enjoy the land like how she did when she was younger. Melody's yellow dress at the end ties back to Ariel's dress from the beginning but omitting the white. Her wardrobe reflects her mothers again but this time it's because they've mended their relationship. Ariel wearing a blue dress at the end reminiscent of her town dress from the first movie represents freedom she now has opening her world in the water to her daughter. I'm with you, this movie isn't perfect but the detail in the outfits was well executed.
I think the characters look weird because they were animated more roundly/ simply versus in the first one there are sharper edges and more angular. Idk that’s just my guess! I watched this movie so many times when I was a kid it was giving me some serious nostalgia 😭 I never realized back then how much they made it worse by not telling her the truth
This seems to happen to animation industry in many countries. Animated Cartoons in Japan are even more good examples of that…having sharper edges and more angular…
Idk what it is about direct to dvd Disney sequels but they make the characters soooo evil...example Mushu in Mulan 2 made me not like the character anymore
The penguin and the walrus are just discount Timon and Pumbaa. The penguin was voiced by Max Casella and honestly he was far more annoying than Casella’s other Disney character Zini from Dinosaur. Though it’s ironic because Casella also originated Timon in the Broadway Lion King!
I'm pretty sure in the OG film, Triton always had his trident on his person; the only time he didn't was when he agreed to take Ariel's place as Ursula's captive and she swiped the trident/crown when everyone was distracted by Triton's sacrifice. The second movie had him leave the Trident in his throne room to make it easier for Melody to swipe it without being noticed. The explanation they gave (via Sebastion) as to why Triton would leave such a powerful artifact unattended doesn't make any sense either, because if the only merfolk who could wield the Trident was Triton or his descendants (i.e. - his daughters/granddaughter), Ursula would never have been able to wield the Trident in the first movie.
Ursula was tritons sister in the original script for the film 1989 movie and they changed it. But it stayed in broadway and tie in materials also the remake
The little mermaid is my favorite Disney movie, and truthfully, even if the sequel isn't considered good, I wouldn't say it's bad. Tip and dash are obnoxious, Morgana seems like a random villain put in there, and the songs were ofc not even close to the original, which is ofc disappointing. But I do like this movie to a certain extent. It's another story of ariel who I will always love, and I do think it's interesting of her and Eric having a story about their daughter.
@@SophiaPhannn that was because Disney wanted to give Disney princesseses kids and used Ariel as a launchpad. Because of the bad reviews Ariel got, they scrapped the whole thing.
@@tatumespino6705 the whole movie feels like the budget was 5 cents. Ugly animation, unlikeable characters ( ESPECIALLY Melody ) and prince Eric bursting into song for no reason... also the songs being forgettable and boring.
Me too. since I love the Ariel character so much, having a story about her happy family life make me already satisfied and I am very forgiving on the bad points of the sequel mentioned in this video.😂
Also why isn't anyone talking about the fact that out of all the sea creatures, melody's sidekicks are a walrus and a penguin which are incapable of breathing underwater
@@LightMoon7890 but they can't stay dowm there for up to 30 to 50 minutes like in the cartoon which makes it look like both the walrus and penguin can breath underwater, if they make a live action of that one which they most likely wouldn't, they would most likely change the characters species but slightly exaggerate how long they hold their breath
I never understood the whole ultimatum of “you must be a human or mermaid”. Like Grandpa why cant I just come down for holidays and you give me a tail. Like even Eric should be able to visit Atlantica on occasion.
Apologies in advance for the long comment but I just have a lot to say. To be honest, I like the idea of this movie. Ariel has a child, Ursula's sister wants revenge (even though she hates and resents her sister so why does she care?), and Ariel's child shares a similar trait except she's fascinated with the sea world instead of the human world. I just think it could've been played out better. Like you said, Ariel could've been specific to Melody from the beginning the dangers of the sea and to stay away from it until the matter is sorted. However, I do feel like it kinda makes sense why Ariel did what she did cause I felt like it was one of those "like father like daughter" moments except at least Ariel didn't destroy Melody's collections. Although I guess it would've been nice if Ariel learned from her father's over protectiveness to not do the same to her child. That being said, I honestly don't see this movie as terrible as other people do. Like I know the animation is cheap and all that but even that I don't mind cause I don't expect perfection from straight to VHS movies and a lot of the characters are either annoying or stupid but overall, I think it's one of those you gotta turn your brain off to enjoy it type movies. Honestly, if they made Melody a boy cause I always thought it would've been an interesting change (no one else probably cares about that), if Ariel and Eric were at least a little more honest about the ocean like at least tell Melody about Ariel's background and if they had Bea Arthur voice Morgana since fun fact, she was the original choice for Ursula instead of bringing Pat Caroll back to voice both characters (no hate to Pat cause she's amazing) and if the songs were slightly better (even though I do like the first and final songs), I could see this as being a better movie.
“if Ariel learned from her father's over protectiveness” TBF she eventually does, when Melody runs away from home. Also Melody as a boy would be interesting! If Melody were a boy, it’s less likely Ariel and Eric would keep Melody away from the sea. Boy!Melody would probably be trained to be a mariner like Eric, which would make his secret love for the sea a lot more interesting. It could be a “Moana”-like situation where he must balance his love for the sea with political duties on land.
@@FunFilmFare That would've made for an interesting plot! I know Ariel does learn eventually but it just kind of felt too similar to when Triton eventually had his "what have I done" moment. I just feel it would've been better if Ariel knew from the beginning to be honest with her daughter after what she went through in the past.
One reason everyone seems to look off, is because the animation budget for any of the straight to video was atrocious. Almost all of the home video launches have this issue. Also, Sophia I'm so convinced we basically lived the same childhood, Movie wise. Have you ever seen Aladdin King of Thieves? IMO one of the greatest direct to video sequels.
When I was younger I watched Ariel's beginning more times than return to the sea, I always found Ariel's beginning to be the more entertaining of the two Little Mermaid sequels/prequels
I’m kinda appalled that Melody didn’t interact with more Merfolk, since being in Atlantica was her dream, but nope, got dragged into a Mission Impossible-level stealth game. Is it weird to say that Simba did better parenting than Ariel pulling a pre-Elsa’s Parents?
I didn't think it was true but, Hammerhead sharks do eat penguins. I was under the impression they were the type that ate smaller fish and squids but they also like cold southern chicken too. The first movie has a few issues, but I think this is on the lower end of direct to video sequels. Tossed together villain that's a copy of the original, a story that uncomfortably mirrors the first, an extra helping of annoying characters, and the usual weaker writing staff and TV animation. It gets real painful when we've been through this story before and everyone would rather gaslight one princess rather than explain what's going on. Maybe they could have had a crossover with the Ice Queen or another Hans Anderson story but I guess they were saving that for Frozen to take a Queen and Ice and nothing else.
Did anyone else grow up watching this but in the Spanish dub?? And enjoyed it more than the English version?? I had the VHS in the Latino American Spanish dub of a handful of Disney movies, including The Little Mermaid II when I was little. I enjoyed this movie, Melody sparked my seashell collection habit. But any time I wanna go back and rewatch it, I can’t bring myself to watch the English version, it just isn’t the same experience - I **have** to watch it in Spanish, I just enjoy the performances in that one more.
You think this one's bad, try watching the hunchback of note dame 2 if you haven't already. The story isn't HORRIBLE, but the animation is SUCH a tragic downgrade its so sad 😔 I missed the animation style from the first one so much😥 They did the same thing to Esmerelda that they did to carpet from Aladdin A thought to consider though, I haven't seen it in a while, so I COULD very well be wrong, but my memory of it is such
I'm a 90s kid and I was obsessed with The Little Mermaid. I watched the sequel when I was 10. Despite my initial excitement I was underwhelmed by the movie. Mongana felt shoe horned into the movie. She even had Ursula's potions, which was strange for someone wanting to outdo her sister. The penguin and walrus were annoying.
I've seen this movie before, and looking back at it now, I do wish there was a different villain as opposed to a slim, green Ursula. Though, I do like Melody as a character.
I used to love the sequel growing up I had it taped in VHS at the time and would watch all the time but as grew older I realise that it’s pretty much like the first one only in reverse and the animation is so much better in the first one. But there things I do like for example I love seeing Ariel as a mother and it’s cute that Melody is so much like her and I like that Melody is voiced by my favourite voice actress Tara Strong the same woman who voices Raven from Teen titans and Timmy Turner from Fairly ODD Parents. Hopefully you did like it but I got to tell you the third movie is so much better but thanks for this reaction and can’t wait for the next one Sophia 😊😄😄😉😉
23:48 I've always thought she could be like Merliah from Barbie a Mermaid Tail with a necklace, ring or anything that could transform her into a mermaid anytime she wanted, all she would need to do is ask king Triton
Bro Ariel and Eric heard there was a kidnapper on the street and instead of saying "Hey sweetheart, there are kidnappers and murderers after girls so stay safe and always call your family when something's wrong" they said "Welp I guess our child will NEVER go outside for the rest of her life and she'll never know she has family outside of this house" some Mother Gothel shi right there.
(Melody being half mermaid and drawn to the ocean, directed at Ariel) "This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me!" One thing that's different in this movie is that Ariel's eyes are more greenish-blue whereas in the original movie, her eyes were more of a clear blue. ("She's not going to question why every sea animal is being so friendly to her?") Well, Melody doesn't have any actual friends, so I'm sure she just accepts it whenever sea creatures are being friendly to her. ("The fact that those kids have the audacity to laugh at the princess") And not only that, Melody is the birthday girl, the whole party was for her, so the fact that they were laughing and mocking the guest of honor is shocking. Like, her parents own the castle so they could literally kick them out for laughing at their daughter.
I just realized something, in the first movie Eric heard Sebastian in kiss the girl but the mean kids made fun of Melody for talking to animals, Why can't they hear them and anybody else on land for that matter? Was Eric able to because of the power of love and magic disney?
I 100% agree with another TH-camr, Welchy, that this sequel ripped off the first two "Little Mermaid" movies: the original "The Little Mermaid," and "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning," which was the prequel. This third adaptation copies things that happened in the first two. 1) Ariel forbids Melody from going into the sea, and Melody is a human who wants to be a mermaid. This is just the reverse of what happened in the first movie, where King Triton forbade Ariel to go to the surface and she just wanted to go on land. 2) King Triton gifts Melody a music box and Ariel has him get rid of it, which he does by dropping it to the ocean floor (instead of doing the logical thing and taking it with him so Melody couldn't accidentally find it... but then NOBODY follows logic in this movie ughhhh.) This just copies the prequel when Triton gifts a special music box to Queen Athena and after she's killed, he yeets it into the sea in a fit of rage. DISNEY RIPPED ITSELF OFF, *TWICE!* It copied two very good movies to make a poor excuse for a third in the series, which didn't need to exist! This movie is the Disney equivalent of "Shrek: the Third." It didn't need to exist, but it was made because it was possible. I wish Melody had a better introduction. And I feel it's a little sad that she can never be an official Disney Princess bc she was introduced in a sequel for the simple fact that her mom already is one. Ariel is the only Disney Princess to have a daughter, and I still want her to be... I just don't like how they went about showing it. There's no lesson to be learned here that we didn't already see in the first two. Ariel does the same thing Triton did to her: forbid her young, inquisitive child from doing what she wants to do, and not explaining to her why. The child keeps her forbidden hobby a secret for YEARS, then gets in trouble with said helicopter parent when she's caught. The parents grounds the child even harder. Then the child stubbornly does the forbidden anyway, gets in trouble with an evil octopus lady (or in Marina's case, mermaid lady,) and has to be saved. There's a bland apology from the parent, the child was right all along, there's a dance party, then THE END. Ariel's Beginning was a pretty good sequel. I liked it as much as the original as a kid, and I still think it mostly holds up. This third one, however, is laughably bad. I love Rob Paulsen and his legacy of voice work. I liked his work in the prequel, and this terrible third movie made me realize he can sing very well. But I can't unsee him as other roles I liked him better in: Pinky from "Pinky and the Brain," Donatello in the 2012 TMNT series on Nickelodeon, and the octopus he played in the prequel.
Actually, you are wrong that there is no lesson to be learned. Melody learns the lesson that she needs to accept herself if she wants others to accept her and she needs to deal with her problems instead of fleeing them. And Ariel learns the lesson that she can't completely protect Melody, all she can do is her best.
Man, I REALLY want to like this movie because the initial premise has so much potential with Melody being opposite of Ariel and yearning for the sea. Then it basically became a semi-reverse of the first movie. I’m sad cuz this coulda been great if they actually cared.
flounder was a teenager in the beginning of the film(still voiced by the same actor back in 89 but he is an adult. someone from the recording studios high pitch his voice for the opening scene so that flounder sounded like a grown up) then at around 13 years later flounder is an adult(still voice by the same actor for the entire film)
I have a lot of questions about whether or not the humans can understand the animals here because Eric was convinced by "Kiss the Girls." But sequel plotholes, I guess. Ariel trusting Ursula makes a lot more sense because Triton destroyed her entire treasure grotto that she'd collected over years (don't know why it's here) and forbade her from going to the surface. The conflict was set up well and Ursula was able to use it to her advantage. Melody had a mild disagreement with her parents and is like, "Well, time to commit treason. No questions asked."
Why wouldn't Melody trust the first fish she runs into? Every fish she's interacted with has been nice and she's sheltered so 🤷🏽♂️ And as for why she wanted to go out on a rowboat to "figure this thing out," if she's anything like her mother who hoardes treasures, she was most likely going to try and see if there were more items with her name on them. Not to mention she just got embarassed and fought with her mom and the ocean is her safe space so even if she didn't find anything, she still feels at peace in the ocean.
Hey Sophia, you should give The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. I think that was mostly good! I few downsides but very interesting and much better animation
I will never forgive this movie for making Morgana's version of henchmen creatures manta rays as if they're not the gentle giants of the sea I will literally fight for the honor of those big guys
But could it really be avoided? I mean Melody is a teenager, even if they had said the sea was dangerous and all that she'd probably wouldn't mind much...
I'm actually pretty excited for the live action Little Mermaid. From what I heard from people who got an early viewing of it, it's been described as one of if not the best live action adaption so I have pretty medium to high hopes. I know there will probably be moments I don't like but from what I've seen in the previews, I'm pretty stoked. Honestly, anything better than the Mulan, Pinocchio and Lion King live actions will be a win from me.
@@homeiswonderland I wouldn't say totally cause for Mulan, I personally thought the concept was an interesting idea like how they wanted to base it off of the original Ballad of Mulan. I also wasn't totally against them taking out the songs cause I got that they were aiming for a more serious approach for lack of a better term. The main problems for me are the actress choice for Mulan and her emotionless acting, giving her a sister and also magic abilities, writing out Shang and Mushu and adding a witch. There might be other issues that I'm not remembering but those are the main ones I can think of. I'm pretty confident in that the issues I have with the Mulan live action won't be a problem for The Little Mermaid live action.
The only live action movies I truly liked were Cinderella and Maleficent! So I think it’s possible for me to like the Little Mermaid too. We shall see though 🧐
@@SophiaPhannn Yeah those are my favorites too. Although I personally did also enjoy the Beauty and the Beast live action. My only complaint was Emma Watson as Belle. I love Emma but she was just not the right choice for the character. I also really loved Cruella even though that's more of an origin story than a remake.
Said the same thing about Triton giving them the ability to transform before. Like, some spell that makes melody and ariel get fins when they touch sea water, so he doesn't have to be there every time they want to go out
As a kid and even now as an adult...i still prefer Ariels Beginning to this movie at least i wasn't fustrated with every single character in the movie😭😭...like melody and Ariel really pisses me off in this movie..like damn I reallly love your videos and you look really pretty...i do hope you get to react to Ariels Beginning
Fun fact… Ariel is the only Disney princess to have a daughter!! Outside of nala from the lion king Also this is missing the mastermind that is Howard ashman
I got this movie for my 12th birthday because it came out right before I turned 12. Also Melody turns 12, so for that reason, and that reason only, it holds a special place in my heart. But other than that it sucks 😅
I hated Ariel in the first movie but in this movie seeing her onscreen is like the equivalent of the world’s rustiest and the most raggedy cheese grater scrubbing my nerves. I genuinely can’t stand her; I think I’d like her better if she’d chosen to stay a mermaid in the first one
Yeah, direct to video Disney sequels are mostly effortless cash grabs with bad stories, but on the other hand they are opportunities for newbie animators to practice
LMAOO FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT. I never liked this movie not even as a kid and what made me sad is that my favorite character aka Ariel barley was in the movie it wasn’t even about her 🤦🏻♀️ in the first movie she barley talks and in the second she doesn’t either wtf. Also I wish they never made her out to be a mother like nobody cares about melody please 🙄 it’s literally a rip off of the first movie 😢
A part of why this movie just does NOT ever hit is because Melody is CONSTANTLY out playing in the ocean, coming only second to a snorkler in terms of human ocean enthusiasts. Hell not even Moana could do that, she never got past the shoreline without her dad stepping in immediately. Ariel is quite literally stuck in the water at all times and you really feel how miserable and lonely she is in "Part of Your World" when she reaches up in that tiny hole in her grotto towards a sunlight whose warmth will never reach her, causing her to literally and figuratively sink into her depression. Melody is just a major whiner and fish kinnie
I’m about to get hated on hardcore, but this is my favorite Disney movie. 😭 I loved everything about it as a kid, and still today! I don’t like to get analytical when it comes to children’s films, because there’s really no point. They’re just made for entertainment purposes. Also, we were given the ICONIC song “For A Moment”. ❤️
The one thing I never understood about this movie was the pure fact that she wasn’t suppose to know anything about the ocean or mermaid or even her grandfather, but she can talk to a crab?!! Somebody make it make sense, like okay just a talking crab
Who else feels like they did Eric so wrong in this movie because he just feels like a side character because he did almost NOTHING in this movie. I know this movie was basically about Melody and Ariel’s bond and relationship, but why couldn’t they sprinkle a bit of Eric in there??? He’s not my favorite Disney Prince but I still feel like they did him so frickin wrong.
as a kid I thought melody was being a brat by giving the trident to morgana just to spite ariel for her lies but i guess like her mother she acted on emotion rather than ration when she was sad because she couldn't fit in with the kids on land
Jodi Benson has actually voiced Ariel in every project she’s been in, all 3 Little Mermaid movies, the TV series, House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts, Sophia the First and Wreck it Ralph 2. Ariel’s the only Disney Princess to have her original voice actress for every project she’s been in.
I met her on galaxycon 2 years ago.
And that’s why she’s the best princess with the best voice actress
And dreamlight valley
She’s so passionate about her character, it’s beautiful
@@dawdlendoodle It really is sweet how she grew to love playing the character that much
As a kid, I hated the penguin and the walrus. I wish Melody interacted with more merfolks.
YES she was ostracized by human kids, it just makes her look more reclusive by giving her animal sidekicks 😂
FR I thought I was the only one who hated them.
@@nina__serafina You’re definitely not. People call them “Diet Timon and Pumbaa” for a reason.
I didn’t.
@@camrynbrewer2370 god im so glad animated movies dropped that trope. It seemed like multilple movies did that trop in the 90s and 2000s
if anything, this movies teaches us that traumatized people (ariel) can traumatize their kids (melody) like they were traumatized by their parents. In this essay i will-
Yes but Triton and Ariel made up. They ruined Ariel
@@purpleclaws202 Oh, that doesn't...
Yeah, one praise I can give it is that it shows how cold turkey censorship or sheltering kids from any harmful exposure doesn’t protect them. If anything, it creates a really dangerous self-fulfilling prophesy… Melody would’ve been better prepared to protect herself from Morgana if she hadn’t been prevented from knowing about Ursula’s existence.
However, Finding Nemo teaches this much better imo.
@@purpleclaws202Ariel keeping Melody away from the ocean had nothing to do with Triton though....
@@purpleclaws202making up does not just remove trauma...
I love your take that Eric is a WEAK ass king, if his own court doesn't respect the crown princess, then why should anyone respect him??
RIGHT like how was the literal Crown Princess being bullied.
He's gotten too soft, that's the problem
5:05 literally yes! This is the biggest problem with the movie. Why does protecting her from Ursula 2.0 mean that she can’t know AT ALL about the undersea life?? Ariel could’ve just told her about it all and all problems could’ve been avoided. I could write a whole thesis paper on how Ariel and Eric are just awful parents😂
Edit: 8:19 !!!!!!!!!!!
Because that might encourage her to connect with the ocean where Morgana is waiting to kidnap her.
@@vetarlittorf1807 But not saying a word did the exact same thing (Melody venturing out into the ocean behind her parents back - connecting with the ocean and its sea creatures). At least sitting her down and explaining why being in the ocean was dangerous would give Melody a reason why her parents were adamant that she never step foot in the waves.
@@madamefluffy4788 Triton told Ariel why she couldn't go to the surface. That didn't stop her. Besides, Ariel didn't want Melody to live in fear. And it's not like she wanted this to go on forever, just until Morgana was caught.
@@vetarlittorf1807 I disagree. Lying about it may have taken away living in fear, but it left Melody with a connection she didn't understand and a longing for that world without any context, with parents who never explained the very real danger she was in. This led her to going behind their backs and trusting the wrong people, down to betraying her family to get what she wanted. She was incredibly easily manipulated because she didn't know the truth, and because they never told her, she didn't trust them in the end.
I understand the situation a little, because of growing up in a similar circumstance. My parents told me the truth and, while we were cautious and afraid at points, it did not have us living in fear nor did it control our lives. And in the end, knowing the truth helped me to make informed decisions that saved my life when I was confronted with the situation. This was something Melody never got, because her parents denied her that truth, trust, and camaraderie that should have informed her decisions.
@@sparxmaiden841 I'm pretty sure telling her that a monstrous witch wants to kidnap her WOULD have her live in fear, assuming she would even believe them.
And like I said, the secret was never meant to go on for so long, just until Morgana was caught. And for all Ariel knew, Morgana was waiting for her to lose patience and bring Melody to the ocean. Need I remind you that the last time she thought Melody was safe on a ship, she was almost fed to a shark? Wouldn't that traumatize any mother? People tend to ignore all the context and just dismiss Ariel and Eric as bad parents. Not to mention the fact that the lesson Ariel learned is that she can't completely protect her child, all she can do is her best. As well as overcoming the trauma inflicted on her by Ursula (who almost killed her) and Morgana (who almost killed her baby).
The fact that Ariel was SURPRISED that Melody was sneaking out to the ocean. Like, did NO ONE consider this a possibility? She is LITERALLY HALF MER! OF COURSE, she's going to be drawn to the ocean! So maybe you should TELL HER why she can't go in, or at least not too far and not ALONE??? NO ONE thought this through AT ALL!
That and Ariel herself would sneak out to shipwrecks and the surface XD Like Mother like Daughter
It's like she forgot that she did the same things Melody did, but like the opposite way.
no one seemed to mention that the destroyed party is melody's birthday party cause of the cake (it says happy birthday melody) so if anything nice king or not Eric looks like a chump cause everyone in public laughed at the princess on her birthday
THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING 😭
Ariel: You deliberately disobeyed me!!
Mufasa 6 years earlier: You deliberately disobeyed me!!
At least Mufasa was coming from a more genuine place of loving concern there.
@@moviemaestro800 so was Ariel bruh she don’t want a witch killing her daughter
Melody is her karma lmfaoo no shocker she takes after her rebellious ways
As if Ariel didn't disobey her father in the first movie, at least Melody didn't give up her voice to try and get with some boy she barely knew
Apparently Melody is Tara Strong favourite voice role because she wanted to work with Jodi Benson (Ariel)
RAVEN AND MELODY SHARE A VOICE??
@@elliedear9534 EVEN TWILIGHT AND UNIKITTY!! :3
Dang Tara Strong is in everything I swear lol
@@ariannarivera8254 I agree!!
Yep, that is true! I got to attend her panel at Denver Comic Con back in 2019 and she talked a lot about that being her favorite role..one of the children in the audience even made a point to ask “who was your favorite character to voice, besides Melody”, lol
Melody's hair used to really annoy me as a child and still does but I guess they were afraid of her looking too much like Ariel with black hair 😭 they could've given it a different texture or something smh her top was also ugly
I also thought her top was ugly 😂
@@SophiaPhannn her whole mermaid transformation scene might be in the top 10 most underwhelming movie moments maybe ever🤧🤧
Yeah, I always hated how she was basically just running around in her undergarments. Even as a kid, I knew she was basically running around in her pyjamas (before I knew about historical underwear).
@@BrightWulph She has this annoying "I'm not like other girls, I hate dresses" attitude
@@misslady2639 Oh yeah, she was one of the early adpoters of this characterisation. XO
I’m wondering how poorly Eric is as a king for the disrespect aimed towards Melody 💀 like she’s a PRINCESS. Why are the kids openly mocking her?? They’re most likely from family of dukes, counts & viscounts all positions that can be easily taken from their family for MOCKING a royal member. Especially on Melody’s birthday. The fact that both Ariel and Eric stood there like 🧍♀️🧍♂️during the whole thing I’m 💀 Also I agree, where the hell are the servants? Actually I’d feel bad for them because they would have been punished for sure if Melody was running late or not presentable in an efficient time. No way they would ever blame a Princess/prince either. And the lack of guards 😭 how is Melody sneaking off like that?? Imagine how easy it is for assassins to sneak in. Did they forget that royal families have servants and guards??
fun fact I didn't even know, Ursulas VA came back to be Morganna
OMG I never knew that either
You can even say that Ursula found a way to be reincarnated.
RIP Part Carrol
I think that's also what made me mad 😂
jodi genuinely loves ariel so much, she's voiced her in everything from kingdom hearts to wreck it ralph and has been promoting and hyping up the live action movie as much as she can
Halle Bailey is going to do Jodi Benson and Howard Ashman justice. I nearly cried when Halle and Jodi hugged at the premiere
I never noticed the crappy animation when I was younger bc when you’re a kid all animation kinda looks the same. But seeing it now when compared to the original is like the visual version of that meme of someone playing off-key Christmas music on a kazoo 🥴
Yeah, it's like this in a lot of disney sequels. I just recently watched the second Aladdin and the animation was whack.
@@AngieD247 But at least the Aladdin sequels had a good plot.
The one part that always got me about this movie is that she spends the entire movie in her undergarments, and not A SINGLE SOUL questions it. They just let it happen.
Also, the mother-daughter dynamic between Melody and Ariel just felt awkward as all hell. It was lacking the emotional depth that other mother-daughter relationships, like the one in Brave, showcased. The whole relationship conflict with Melody and Ariel was just: "Melody, you can't go into the sea bc it's dangerous" and Melody going "alright I'm going to go to the sea anyway."
*Edit:* they don't even allow a chance for any growth between Ariel and Melody throughout most of the film. It's mainly just Melody and Ariel being frustrated at each other, Melody going off on her own, Ariel chasing after her, and when they meet up again in Morgana's lair, they're still upset at each other
I know I was still a kid when I first saw this, and even then it was physically painful for me to watch. It lost me pretty early too with random Ursula relation, and then Triton being willing to negotiate rather than blasting the shark and then Morgana. Almost everything about it got under my skin, putting up the wall instead of moving inland and focusing on eliminating Morgana as a threat, how there were hardly ever any waves on the surface of the ocean, their choice of plot and conflict, how Eric was pushed aside for less interesting characters and how his personality didn't seem authentic to the original portrayal, the lack of battle tactics from the good guys in the final battle, I could go on for awhile. Which means it was fun to see someone else complain about how it didn't live uo to the original.
Yeah I was excited to rent this with my family then I watched it as was like 😮💨
They really didn't need hide the mermaid thing. They could have told her the truth & the dangers of the ocean and still have Melody rebel. She could've thought her parents claims were exaggerated and was sick of them babying her or had a natural calling to the ocean.
One of my gripes with this sequel is that we’re supposed to believe that Melody doesn’t know about the merfolk, BUT literally in the first film, at the end, EVERYONE discovers that merfolk exist and that Ariel, HER MOM and the QUEEN, was a mermaid 💀 You can’t tell me that all of a sudden everyone in that village forgot about that 😂 Like growing up, Melody must have surely heard the stories and rumors surrounding her family! Lol
I almost disagreed to your statement, but then suddenly realized that you have a huge point on that. At first I thought Eric, as the king, could have forbid the whole kingdom to talk about it like Triton did towards music or else, punishment will be bestowed upon those who disobey. But then I remembered how Melody got bullied and Eric didn't even do anything about it because he is too soft. So yeah, even if he did add a new rule to follow, he seems incapable to punish anyone. And due to that, people disrespects him and his family infront of him.
5:00 - I'm a little more forgiving of Ariel making a bad decision, because let's be real here, she made some rash decisions in the first movie. I wish Eric had done more to speak up about it though, or her dad. Her dad is literally a sea god. Like I understand keeping Melody away from the sea, and Ariel's thought process of "if I don't tell her, she won't ask" but if you think about it for just a minute more--Ariel, Melody is YOUR daughter. Your dad couldn't keep you away from the land, it's just history repeating itself here. Just tell Melody why she can't be out at sea alone. (Also Triton has a ton of other daughters, Ariel's sisters, why doesn't Morgana just go after them?)
So much of this movie is a boring rehash of the first one. Right up to Melody making a deal with Morgana. Ironically the only danger Morgana presents is when she's not actually there and no one knows where she's hiding. What isn't a rehash is forgettable.
The bad part is, this had the potential to be a very good "what if Ariel became a parent?" Fanfiction. Had the plot been other than Ariel's in reverse, we could've had something great.
I mean, Ariel was told over and over again why she couldn't go to the surface, what the danger was, and that her mother had been killed by humans, and she still went, so... Maybe she thought there would be less allure of the forbidden with less info
10:52 I know they were going for theatrics here, but seriously? No one tripped, pushed, or pulled that boy into the punch, but it straight up looks like an invisible person THREW him into it?! Why did Melody's birthday party, of all things, have to be ruined this badly? She didn't deserve this!
One of my old classmates had a music related name, and so did most of her siblings. There was Harmony, Melody, Reed, and Aria. There were three other siblings, but I only remember that the one my cousin went to school with was named Ricky. He really broke the trend.
There was a prequel too, I remember actually liking it; we learn about Ariel and Sebastian's history with music. Between the prequel and Anastasia I really wanted a music box at that age.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea from 2000 is a sequel that is pretty much just badly done fanfiction (just stick with the 1989 classic).
Other examples of fanfiction-like sequels from DisneyToon Studios would be Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World from 1998, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II from 2002, The Jungle Book 2 from 2003, Atlantis 2: Milo's Return from 2003, Mulan II from 2005, Tarzan II from 2005, and The Little Mermaid 3: Ariel's Beginning from 2008.
Cinderella 3 is also very fanfictionlike but is well done
Cinderella 3 is SO good
Atlantis 2 is awesome how dare you
@@audracline8272 Well, like Belle's Magical World, Atlantis 2 was originally going to be a TV show, but then they hastily turned it into one movie, loosely stringing the episodes together. However, I suppose Atlantis 2 isn't as bad as the others I've already listed, but it's nothing like the original 2001 film.
I actually like the premise of Cinderella 3. What if the shoe never fitted Cinderella, but on someone else who clearly isn't in love with the prince? Oh and at least they gave Prince Charming some personality and more lines.
Ariel’s character and arc is shown well by her outfits throughout the movie.
When we flash forward to the day of Melody’s birthday party, Ariel is wearing a purple dress with her hair drawn up in a bun. On one hand, this is done to showcase her maturity and age, but it is also done to show how she has withdrawn from the ocean and is hiding her true self.
After Melody runs away, Ariel is shown in a dress similar to the one she wore in the first movie, but with her hair up in a bun. This shows Ariel’s restraint, but much less so. But when Triton transforms Ariel into a mermaid, we see the dress disappear, and Ariel’s hair released from a bun and down in it’s original style. Sowing is that Ariel has once again fully embraced her connection to the sea and her true self.
When Melody destroys the wall with the trident, Ariel is once again seen in human form, wearing the dress she wore when Eric gave her a tour of the kingdom. But this time, her hair remains down, showing that Ariel is once again true to herself and her heritage, but Is also wearing earrings, to still showcase her maturity.
I know that this movie isn’t perfect, but detail like this really show the effort put into Ariel and her character growth throughout the film.
I was really glad Ariel got some beautiful dresses in this movie. It really fulfills the fun for people who like princess dresses. And slightly makes up for Melody being stuck in her underwear for most of this movie lol.
In the beginning of the movie when Ariel has that gold and white dress, it sort of reflects the innocence and bliss of her marriage. The gold keeps it from being bridal but the white is reminiscent of that.
Melody's pink dress is reminiscent of her mothers pink dress in the first film. It's almost like Ariel is imposing on her daughters wishes to have a different experience and enjoy the land like how she did when she was younger.
Melody's yellow dress at the end ties back to Ariel's dress from the beginning but omitting the white. Her wardrobe reflects her mothers again but this time it's because they've mended their relationship.
Ariel wearing a blue dress at the end reminiscent of her town dress from the first movie represents freedom she now has opening her world in the water to her daughter.
I'm with you, this movie isn't perfect but the detail in the outfits was well executed.
I love reading these kind of things on the internet! You two have amazing eye for detail! I love how each outfit was fully analyzed. Well done! 👏🏻
@@minivan1680 Thank you!
Morgana was just a hater because Ursula got all the food growing up
Fat shaming? Cool
@@purpleclaws202 Morgana just wishes she could’ve looked as good as Ursula did if she ate enough
@@purpleclaws202 Ursula slayed
@@purpleclaws202 literally how
@@purpleclaws202Insecure? Hilarious.
(they weren't shaming at all, doofus.)
I think the characters look weird because they were animated more roundly/ simply versus in the first one there are sharper edges and more angular. Idk that’s just my guess! I watched this movie so many times when I was a kid it was giving me some serious nostalgia 😭 I never realized back then how much they made it worse by not telling her the truth
This seems to happen to animation industry in many countries. Animated Cartoons in Japan are even more good examples of that…having sharper edges and more angular…
In Ariel and Eric's defence. People with bad parents are bad parents unless they are taught another way.
Idk what it is about direct to dvd Disney sequels but they make the characters soooo evil...example Mushu in Mulan 2 made me not like the character anymore
OMG I agree, Mushu was straight up UNLIKABLE in Mulan 2
The penguin and the walrus are just discount Timon and Pumbaa. The penguin was voiced by Max Casella and honestly he was far more annoying than Casella’s other Disney character Zini from Dinosaur.
Though it’s ironic because Casella also originated Timon in the Broadway Lion King!
In my opinion Lion King 2 is the best direct to video sequel
It helps with 'The Lion Guard' made the sequel to be 1 of the very few to be respected by Disney.
Incorrect. You only say because of a dumb love story with lions.
eh, Cinderella 3 and 101 dalmation sequel are also pretty good
I'm pretty sure in the OG film, Triton always had his trident on his person; the only time he didn't was when he agreed to take Ariel's place as Ursula's captive and she swiped the trident/crown when everyone was distracted by Triton's sacrifice.
The second movie had him leave the Trident in his throne room to make it easier for Melody to swipe it without being noticed. The explanation they gave (via Sebastion) as to why Triton would leave such a powerful artifact unattended doesn't make any sense either, because if the only merfolk who could wield the Trident was Triton or his descendants (i.e. - his daughters/granddaughter), Ursula would never have been able to wield the Trident in the first movie.
i mean in the musical ursula is tritons sister so maybe thats the logic?
Ursula was tritons sister in the original script for the film 1989 movie and they changed it. But it stayed in broadway and tie in materials also the remake
The little mermaid is my favorite Disney movie, and truthfully, even if the sequel isn't considered good, I wouldn't say it's bad. Tip and dash are obnoxious, Morgana seems like a random villain put in there, and the songs were ofc not even close to the original, which is ofc disappointing. But I do like this movie to a certain extent. It's another story of ariel who I will always love, and I do think it's interesting of her and Eric having a story about their daughter.
I do think it’s interesting that she’s the only Disney Princess who becomes a mom!
@@SophiaPhannn that was because Disney wanted to give Disney princesseses kids and used Ariel as a launchpad. Because of the bad reviews Ariel got, they scrapped the whole thing.
@@tatumespino6705 the whole movie feels like the budget was 5 cents. Ugly animation, unlikeable characters ( ESPECIALLY Melody ) and prince Eric bursting into song for no reason... also the songs being forgettable and boring.
@@tatumespino6705 I’m very glad Snow White didn’t have kids.. she was 14 when she got with Florian.. who is 31… 💀
Me too. since I love the Ariel character so much, having a story about her happy family life make me already satisfied and I am very forgiving on the bad points of the sequel mentioned in this video.😂
Eric sang and I immediately died. Rob Paulsen!?
I grew up with Animaniacs how the heck did I not notice his voice in this movie. 😂
he even voiced him in the tlm series
Also why isn't anyone talking about the fact that out of all the sea creatures, melody's sidekicks are a walrus and a penguin which are incapable of breathing underwater
I never knew walruses and penguins cant breathe under water lol
@@darchelmacaroyo184 really? 😅
@@realdavidjones1623I was suspicious but I was like I guess they can breathe underwater when I saw the movie today. Until now 🎉😂
Penguins can’t breathe but they can dive down to extreme depths
@@LightMoon7890 but they can't stay dowm there for up to 30 to 50 minutes like in the cartoon which makes it look like both the walrus and penguin can breath underwater, if they make a live action of that one which they most likely wouldn't, they would most likely change the characters species but slightly exaggerate how long they hold their breath
Seriously, imagine if the court had laughed at one of Henry the VIII's kids 💀
I never understood the whole ultimatum of “you must be a human or mermaid”. Like Grandpa why cant I just come down for holidays and you give me a tail. Like even Eric should be able to visit Atlantica on occasion.
Apologies in advance for the long comment but I just have a lot to say. To be honest, I like the idea of this movie. Ariel has a child, Ursula's sister wants revenge (even though she hates and resents her sister so why does she care?), and Ariel's child shares a similar trait except she's fascinated with the sea world instead of the human world. I just think it could've been played out better. Like you said, Ariel could've been specific to Melody from the beginning the dangers of the sea and to stay away from it until the matter is sorted.
However, I do feel like it kinda makes sense why Ariel did what she did cause I felt like it was one of those "like father like daughter" moments except at least Ariel didn't destroy Melody's collections. Although I guess it would've been nice if Ariel learned from her father's over protectiveness to not do the same to her child.
That being said, I honestly don't see this movie as terrible as other people do. Like I know the animation is cheap and all that but even that I don't mind cause I don't expect perfection from straight to VHS movies and a lot of the characters are either annoying or stupid but overall, I think it's one of those you gotta turn your brain off to enjoy it type movies.
Honestly, if they made Melody a boy cause I always thought it would've been an interesting change (no one else probably cares about that), if Ariel and Eric were at least a little more honest about the ocean like at least tell Melody about Ariel's background and if they had Bea Arthur voice Morgana since fun fact, she was the original choice for Ursula instead of bringing Pat Caroll back to voice both characters (no hate to Pat cause she's amazing) and if the songs were slightly better (even though I do like the first and final songs), I could see this as being a better movie.
“if Ariel learned from her father's over protectiveness” TBF she eventually does, when Melody runs away from home. Also Melody as a boy would be interesting! If Melody were a boy, it’s less likely Ariel and Eric would keep Melody away from the sea. Boy!Melody would probably be trained to be a mariner like Eric, which would make his secret love for the sea a lot more interesting. It could be a “Moana”-like situation where he must balance his love for the sea with political duties on land.
@@FunFilmFare That would've made for an interesting plot! I know Ariel does learn eventually but it just kind of felt too similar to when Triton eventually had his "what have I done" moment. I just feel it would've been better if Ariel knew from the beginning to be honest with her daughter after what she went through in the past.
"hates and resents and her sister" basically me and my younger sisters and even also my parents too
This movie is THE reason I’m naming my child Melody😅
OMG LOL melody is a cute name though!
I hope your child isnt annoying...
@@purpleclaws202 you and me both!
@Amberlynn Negri Melody is a pretty name tho
This is gonna sound really weird, but this movie is the reason why I know how to tie things behind my back.
LOOOOL that’s so funny
One reason everyone seems to look off, is because the animation budget for any of the straight to video was atrocious. Almost all of the home video launches have this issue. Also, Sophia I'm so convinced we basically lived the same childhood, Movie wise. Have you ever seen Aladdin King of Thieves? IMO one of the greatest direct to video sequels.
YES I actually really like that sequel 😅
When I was younger I watched Ariel's beginning more times than return to the sea, I always found Ariel's beginning to be the more entertaining of the two Little Mermaid sequels/prequels
I’m kinda appalled that Melody didn’t interact with more Merfolk, since being in Atlantica was her dream, but nope, got dragged into a Mission Impossible-level stealth game.
Is it weird to say that Simba did better parenting than Ariel pulling a pre-Elsa’s Parents?
I didn't think it was true but, Hammerhead sharks do eat penguins. I was under the impression they were the type that ate smaller fish and squids but they also like cold southern chicken too.
The first movie has a few issues, but I think this is on the lower end of direct to video sequels. Tossed together villain that's a copy of the original, a story that uncomfortably mirrors the first, an extra helping of annoying characters, and the usual weaker writing staff and TV animation. It gets real painful when we've been through this story before and everyone would rather gaslight one princess rather than explain what's going on. Maybe they could have had a crossover with the Ice Queen or another Hans Anderson story but I guess they were saving that for Frozen to take a Queen and Ice and nothing else.
Did anyone else grow up watching this but in the Spanish dub?? And enjoyed it more than the English version?? I had the VHS in the Latino American Spanish dub of a handful of Disney movies, including The Little Mermaid II when I was little. I enjoyed this movie, Melody sparked my seashell collection habit. But any time I wanna go back and rewatch it, I can’t bring myself to watch the English version, it just isn’t the same experience - I **have** to watch it in Spanish, I just enjoy the performances in that one more.
I grew up watching the Latin Spanish version.
Oh ew youre one of THOSE latino people. I grew up in a Mexican householf the Spanish dubbed VHS movies were awful
Stretch-neck Ariel being acknowledged makes me happy. As a kid that was my favorite part of the movie
Her neck stretching was your favorite part?? 😂 I did do a double take when I saw it hahaha
@@SophiaPhannn it was so funny to 10 year old me and my younger siblings, we rewinded it multiple times 😅 small things amuse small minds after all 🤣
You think this one's bad, try watching the hunchback of note dame 2 if you haven't already. The story isn't HORRIBLE, but the animation is SUCH a tragic downgrade its so sad 😔 I missed the animation style from the first one so much😥
They did the same thing to Esmerelda that they did to carpet from Aladdin
A thought to consider though, I haven't seen it in a while, so I COULD very well be wrong, but my memory of it is such
This girl is probably the BEST movie reactor I've ever seen like, your are so pretty AND you make me smile in every video ❤
OMG 🥺 thank you for the sweet comment 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
agreed every video she does is a straight banger!
I'm a 90s kid and I was obsessed with The Little Mermaid. I watched the sequel when I was 10. Despite my initial excitement I was underwhelmed by the movie. Mongana felt shoe horned into the movie. She even had Ursula's potions, which was strange for someone wanting to outdo her sister. The penguin and walrus were annoying.
I've seen this movie before, and looking back at it now, I do wish there was a different villain as opposed to a slim, green Ursula. Though, I do like Melody as a character.
I always had soft spot for melody. We both felt awkwardness around people plus we both have black hair(though I'm a guy and non-white)
I used to love the sequel growing up I had it taped in VHS at the time and would watch all the time but as grew older I realise that it’s pretty much like the first one only in reverse and the animation is so much better in the first one. But there things I do like for example I love seeing Ariel as a mother and it’s cute that Melody is so much like her and I like that Melody is voiced by my favourite voice actress Tara Strong the same woman who voices Raven from Teen titans and Timmy Turner from Fairly ODD Parents. Hopefully you did like it but I got to tell you the third movie is so much better but thanks for this reaction and can’t wait for the next one Sophia 😊😄😄😉😉
1. I can't believe I actually enjoyed this "movie" as a kid.
2. I can't understand why Ariel looks younger in the sequel than in the original.
23:48 I've always thought she could be like Merliah from Barbie a Mermaid Tail with a necklace, ring or anything that could transform her into a mermaid anytime she wanted, all she would need to do is ask king Triton
Bro Ariel and Eric heard there was a kidnapper on the street and instead of saying "Hey sweetheart, there are kidnappers and murderers after girls so stay safe and always call your family when something's wrong" they said "Welp I guess our child will NEVER go outside for the rest of her life and she'll never know she has family outside of this house" some Mother Gothel shi right there.
why does this movie feel like the first draft of frozen
(Melody being half mermaid and drawn to the ocean, directed at Ariel) "This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me!"
One thing that's different in this movie is that Ariel's eyes are more greenish-blue whereas in the original movie, her eyes were more of a clear blue.
("She's not going to question why every sea animal is being so friendly to her?") Well, Melody doesn't have any actual friends, so I'm sure she just accepts it whenever sea creatures are being friendly to her.
("The fact that those kids have the audacity to laugh at the princess") And not only that, Melody is the birthday girl, the whole party was for her, so the fact that they were laughing and mocking the guest of honor is shocking. Like, her parents own the castle so they could literally kick them out for laughing at their daughter.
Can we just give Sophia’s hair a moment 😍😍😍 the curls are eating devouring even😌
Thank you hehe I tried to mimic that mermaid kind of hair 💅🏼
I just realized something, in the first movie Eric heard Sebastian in kiss the girl but the mean kids made fun of Melody for talking to animals, Why can't they hear them and anybody else on land for that matter? Was Eric able to because of the power of love and magic disney?
The fact that Ariel is the daughter of a king and married to one is pretty powerful
I 100% agree with another TH-camr, Welchy, that this sequel ripped off the first two "Little Mermaid" movies: the original "The Little Mermaid," and "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning," which was the prequel. This third adaptation copies things that happened in the first two.
1) Ariel forbids Melody from going into the sea, and Melody is a human who wants to be a mermaid. This is just the reverse of what happened in the first movie, where King Triton forbade Ariel to go to the surface and she just wanted to go on land.
2) King Triton gifts Melody a music box and Ariel has him get rid of it, which he does by dropping it to the ocean floor (instead of doing the logical thing and taking it with him so Melody couldn't accidentally find it... but then NOBODY follows logic in this movie ughhhh.) This just copies the prequel when Triton gifts a special music box to Queen Athena and after she's killed, he yeets it into the sea in a fit of rage.
DISNEY RIPPED ITSELF OFF, *TWICE!* It copied two very good movies to make a poor excuse for a third in the series, which didn't need to exist! This movie is the Disney equivalent of "Shrek: the Third." It didn't need to exist, but it was made because it was possible. I wish Melody had a better introduction. And I feel it's a little sad that she can never be an official Disney Princess bc she was introduced in a sequel for the simple fact that her mom already is one. Ariel is the only Disney Princess to have a daughter, and I still want her to be... I just don't like how they went about showing it.
There's no lesson to be learned here that we didn't already see in the first two. Ariel does the same thing Triton did to her: forbid her young, inquisitive child from doing what she wants to do, and not explaining to her why. The child keeps her forbidden hobby a secret for YEARS, then gets in trouble with said helicopter parent when she's caught. The parents grounds the child even harder. Then the child stubbornly does the forbidden anyway, gets in trouble with an evil octopus lady (or in Marina's case, mermaid lady,) and has to be saved. There's a bland apology from the parent, the child was right all along, there's a dance party, then THE END.
Ariel's Beginning was a pretty good sequel. I liked it as much as the original as a kid, and I still think it mostly holds up. This third one, however, is laughably bad.
I love Rob Paulsen and his legacy of voice work. I liked his work in the prequel, and this terrible third movie made me realize he can sing very well. But I can't unsee him as other roles I liked him better in: Pinky from "Pinky and the Brain," Donatello in the 2012 TMNT series on Nickelodeon, and the octopus he played in the prequel.
Actually, you are wrong that there is no lesson to be learned. Melody learns the lesson that she needs to accept herself if she wants others to accept her and she needs to deal with her problems instead of fleeing them.
And Ariel learns the lesson that she can't completely protect Melody, all she can do is her best.
little mermaid airels beginning actually came after this one.
Man, I REALLY want to like this movie because the initial premise has so much potential with Melody being opposite of Ariel and yearning for the sea. Then it basically became a semi-reverse of the first movie. I’m sad cuz this coulda been great if they actually cared.
As a child, this movie made me not want kids 🤣🤣🤣
Good. Don't. The kids maybe adorable, but they're annoying nerve-wreckers.
flounder was a teenager in the beginning of the film(still voiced by the same actor back in 89 but he is an adult. someone from the recording studios high pitch his voice for the opening scene so that flounder sounded like a grown up)
then at around 13 years later flounder is an adult(still voice by the same actor for the entire film)
I feel like this movie is a fanfic written by a 12 year old girl and Melody is her self insert.
I have a lot of questions about whether or not the humans can understand the animals here because Eric was convinced by "Kiss the Girls." But sequel plotholes, I guess.
Ariel trusting Ursula makes a lot more sense because Triton destroyed her entire treasure grotto that she'd collected over years (don't know why it's here) and forbade her from going to the surface. The conflict was set up well and Ursula was able to use it to her advantage. Melody had a mild disagreement with her parents and is like, "Well, time to commit treason. No questions asked."
Why wouldn't Melody trust the first fish she runs into? Every fish she's interacted with has been nice and she's sheltered so 🤷🏽♂️
And as for why she wanted to go out on a rowboat to "figure this thing out," if she's anything like her mother who hoardes treasures, she was most likely going to try and see if there were more items with her name on them. Not to mention she just got embarassed and fought with her mom and the ocean is her safe space so even if she didn't find anything, she still feels at peace in the ocean.
12:06 „You deliberately disobeyed me.“ is a Lion King line. Ariel is such a shitty protagonist she cannot even think of original dialogue.
The One BEST Thing About This Sequel is The 1ST Disney Offspring BEFORE ‘Descendants’ Franchise - Ariel & Eric’s daughter, MELODY!!
Hey Sophia, you should give The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. I think that was mostly good! I few downsides but very interesting and much better animation
"Melody must smell like shit" XD that was so outta pocket im dead
I will never forgive this movie for making Morgana's version of henchmen creatures manta rays as if they're not the gentle giants of the sea I will literally fight for the honor of those big guys
But could it really be avoided? I mean Melody is a teenager, even if they had said the sea was dangerous and all that she'd probably wouldn't mind much...
Yeah they should have sent her to boarding school in the desert
I'm actually pretty excited for the live action Little Mermaid. From what I heard from people who got an early viewing of it, it's been described as one of if not the best live action adaption so I have pretty medium to high hopes. I know there will probably be moments I don't like but from what I've seen in the previews, I'm pretty stoked. Honestly, anything better than the Mulan, Pinocchio and Lion King live actions will be a win from me.
That's setting the bar so LOW though...
@@homeiswonderland I wouldn't say totally cause for Mulan, I personally thought the concept was an interesting idea like how they wanted to base it off of the original Ballad of Mulan. I also wasn't totally against them taking out the songs cause I got that they were aiming for a more serious approach for lack of a better term. The main problems for me are the actress choice for Mulan and her emotionless acting, giving her a sister and also magic abilities, writing out Shang and Mushu and adding a witch. There might be other issues that I'm not remembering but those are the main ones I can think of. I'm pretty confident in that the issues I have with the Mulan live action won't be a problem for The Little Mermaid live action.
The only live action movies I truly liked were Cinderella and Maleficent! So I think it’s possible for me to like the Little Mermaid too. We shall see though 🧐
@@SophiaPhannn Yeah those are my favorites too. Although I personally did also enjoy the Beauty and the Beast live action. My only complaint was Emma Watson as Belle. I love Emma but she was just not the right choice for the character. I also really loved Cruella even though that's more of an origin story than a remake.
@@SophiaPhannn I think you'll like it tbh
Said the same thing about Triton giving them the ability to transform before. Like, some spell that makes melody and ariel get fins when they touch sea water, so he doesn't have to be there every time they want to go out
Tara Strong and Rob Paulsen provided voices for this DVD movie, and this was the last role King Tritan's actor did before he passed away.
As a kid and even now as an adult...i still prefer Ariels Beginning to this movie at least i wasn't fustrated with every single character in the movie😭😭...like melody and Ariel really pisses me off in this movie..like damn
I reallly love your videos and you look really pretty...i do hope you get to react to Ariels Beginning
No wonder why Disney only focuses on the OG in everything Little Mermaid related instead of the sequel 💀
On the subject of musical names, my favorite is Kanede, lit. music in Japanese. Plus its just a pretty name.
Fun fact… Ariel is the only Disney princess to have a daughter!! Outside of nala from the lion king
Also this is missing the mastermind that is Howard ashman
I got this movie for my 12th birthday because it came out right before I turned 12. Also Melody turns 12, so for that reason, and that reason only, it holds a special place in my heart. But other than that it sucks 😅
I hated Ariel in the first movie but in this movie seeing her onscreen is like the equivalent of the world’s rustiest and the most raggedy cheese grater scrubbing my nerves. I genuinely can’t stand her; I think I’d like her better if she’d chosen to stay a mermaid in the first one
Looking at the title, I say it pretty much sums it up
Yeah, direct to video Disney sequels are mostly effortless cash grabs with bad stories, but on the other hand they are opportunities for newbie animators to practice
LOL! Bi-lingual rays :) 12:56 "They're clearly giggling -- in EVIL".
I'm checking this out at Duolingo now :)
LMAOO FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT. I never liked this movie not even as a kid and what made me sad is that my favorite character aka Ariel barley was in the movie it wasn’t even about her 🤦🏻♀️ in the first movie she barley talks and in the second she doesn’t either wtf. Also I wish they never made her out to be a mother like nobody cares about melody please 🙄 it’s literally a rip off of the first movie 😢
EVERYBODY cares about Melody and yeah I agree they pretty much didn't really have Ariel speaking enough both in the 1989 TLM
and the sequel
it IS about Ariel and her beloved young daughter Melody
also your rant on melody being dumb was a mood.....it's called stranger danger a 4 year old can understand it.
i feel the same abt this movie but i also watched it very often as a child knowing it was light mid at best 😂😂
I loved this movie as a kid. I love melody a lot and seeing Ariel as a mom.
Ariel is tritons daughter 😂 even though a lot of kids hate how their parents raise them they usually grow up to do the same thing
A part of why this movie just does NOT ever hit is because Melody is CONSTANTLY out playing in the ocean, coming only second to a snorkler in terms of human ocean enthusiasts. Hell not even Moana could do that, she never got past the shoreline without her dad stepping in immediately. Ariel is quite literally stuck in the water at all times and you really feel how miserable and lonely she is in "Part of Your World" when she reaches up in that tiny hole in her grotto towards a sunlight whose warmth will never reach her, causing her to literally and figuratively sink into her depression. Melody is just a major whiner and fish kinnie
I’m about to get hated on hardcore, but this is my favorite Disney movie. 😭 I loved everything about it as a kid, and still today! I don’t like to get analytical when it comes to children’s films, because there’s really no point. They’re just made for entertainment purposes. Also, we were given the ICONIC song “For A Moment”. ❤️
If Ariel was 16 in the first movie she has to be at least 17 in the opening scene
The one thing I never understood about this movie was the pure fact that she wasn’t suppose to know anything about the ocean or mermaid or even her grandfather, but she can talk to a crab?!! Somebody make it make sense, like okay just a talking crab
Two words answer the question of why Ariel didn't just tell Melody what was up: Generational Trauma.
bro as a kid, i used to get so annoyed at melody of how much dumb things she has done and ariel was like “Bad 😡”, its just so chaotic at this point 😭
I adored Ariel’s beginning 1000 times more then I did this one and the little mermaid movies are my favorite Disney movies of all time
I loved this film as a kid, slander is NOT acceptible!! LMAO
Who else feels like they did Eric so wrong in this movie because he just feels like a side character because he did almost NOTHING in this movie. I know this movie was basically about Melody and Ariel’s bond and relationship, but why couldn’t they sprinkle a bit of Eric in there??? He’s not my favorite Disney Prince but I still feel like they did him so frickin wrong.
The villain’s design reminds me a bit of Eda the owl lady’s design and I feel bad comparing Eda with this weak ass character…
The “Jodi Benson wHyYyYy???” KILLED me 😭
9:00 yeah the ocean used to be cleaner but you know, fish shit there too, and they naturally smell bad so…
as a kid I thought melody was being a brat by giving the trident to morgana just to spite ariel for her lies but i guess like her mother she acted on emotion rather than ration when she was sad because she couldn't fit in with the kids on land