THE LITTLE MERMAID II: RETURN TO THE SEA

2000, Walt Disney Pictures

Animation

Rating: G

Approx. 74 mins.

THE STORY:

Ariel (Jodi Benson) is all grown up and has a baby of her own. Although her nemesis, the evil sea witch Ursula, is dead, Ursula's younger sister, Morgana (Pat Carroll), is out to get baby Melody (Tara Strong). In order to keep her safe, Ariel vows never to let her near the sea, or to let her know about her mermaid heritage. Nature trumps nurture, however, and Melody secretly spends every minute she can in the water.
On the eve of her 12th birthday, Melody meets Morgana, who pretends to be kind and promises to reveal the young girl's mysterious connection to the underwater world of Atlantica. When Ariel discovers that her daughter is missing, she transforms herself back into a mermaid to search for her. 
Meanwhile, Morgana has changed Melody into a mermaid, but announces that the transformation is only temporary until the sea witch gets 'her' trident back. Melody unwittingly steals the powerful item from the merman she has no idea is her grandfather, thus giving Morgana ultimate evil power over the sea and its creatures. melody, her friends and her family then battle the witch to regain the trident and banish her far below the sea.      

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• loser

VIOLENCE:

• nothing significant

TEACHING POINTS:

• do whatever you can to stop your kids finding out about this movie

THE UPSHOT:

If there's one thing I dislike more than having to sit through an awful Disney movie that I find insulting to my intelligence and gender, it's having to sit through the sequel. This is a completely pointless and exploitative addition to the Disney canon, and the fact that the 5 year-old in the room begged to see it makes my heart ache.

The 5 year-old in the room has been seduced be the mermaid mystique, and just loved watching Ariel and Melody swimming around, long hair floating immaculately in the waves. The only consolations for me are the facts that a) it is pretty short, and b) it is completely forgettable and bound to be replaced in her memory by bigger and better very soon.

I would love to give this 0/5, but that wouldn't be fair given the enjoyment it provided the 5 year-old in the room. All I will say is: Avoid it if you can. Bear it if you can't.

1.5/5