"The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Beginning" Review and Clip
August 26, 2008 by Jane Boursaw
| DVD: The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning * Official Site | On DVD: August 26, 2008 |
| Runtime: 77 minutes | Directed by: Peggy Holmes |
| MPAA Rating: G |  Gecko Rating: |
This prequel to The Little Mermaid tells how King Triton (Jim Cummings) banned music in his kingdom when his wife died. Also how Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright) became the music conductor for King Triton, and how Ariel (beautifully voiced by Jodi Benson) and Flounder (Parker Goris) met.
Ariel discovers her love for music in a secret underground music club and must decide whether to hide her passion or share it with her father and risk losing everything.
She sets off on a daring adventure to restore music to the kingdom, and I think we all know how it ends. But no matter. This is a really sweet addition to the Mermaid franchise.
More after the jump, including a trailer…
Although the villain isn’t nearly as nasty as the evil Ursula, Marina Del Rey (voiced by Sally Field) is lots of fun as the nefarious governess for Ariel. It’s wonderful seeing all the characters again.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Teaching Mermaids to Dance – Before making her directing debut with The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Peggy Holmes was a sought-after choreographer. Go behind the scenes and watch as she uses her background in dance to create a totally unique animation experience.
- Disney Song Selection – When this fun interactive option is turned on, the words to the songs appear on the screen allowing viewers to sing along with the film.
- World Wide Water Webb – Merconnect (wwww.merconnect.sea) – Fans can now visit the dedicated web pages of Ariel and her sisters. Each of Triton’s seven lovely daughters has her own page, where she posts personal information, gets to know new friends and keeps her own personal blog. How fun is that?!
- The Little Mermaid: The Broadway Musical – A look behind the scenes of smash hit Broadway musical from Disney Theatrical productions.
- Deleted Scenes
Check out the trailer:
Image: The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2008
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] story. We learn why King Triton banned music from the kingdom, and how Ariel brought it back again. Read my review and watch a video clip here. Tons of bonus features, [...]