When I was 10, I watched this movie for the first time and loved it. This is because I was 10 and was entertained by any animated movie. You could have shown me a 90 minute cartoon solely about talking garbage cans and I would've thought it was great.
The other day I was babysitting some girls, and they wanted to watch a Disney movie, so I pulled out an old box consisting of several Disney classics and this one. They picked Little Mermaid 2, so I thought that this would be a good excuse to relive some childhood memories. At the end of the movie, I realized that the sequel that I used to think was awesome was actually a nauseatingly bad piece of...ship. The old characters have no personality, and Ariel and Eric have been reduced to cardboard cutouts. Melody, their daughter, is supposed to be the lovable misfit, but she is far too sickening and and perfect to be lovable. The plot is extremely similar to the original, except that Melody wants to be a mermaid whereas Ariel wanted to be a human. The songs lack any of the first movie's charm, and it feels like the creators just stuck them in there for the sake of putting songs in. The animation is flat and boring, lacking the subtleties in the first movie (noticing a pattern here?). Flounder is not nearly as adorable, Scuttle has become so dumb that it hurts to hear him speak, and Morgana, the new villain, is like a much less intimidating version of Ursula. Morgana's sidekicks are not especially menacing either- her pet shark is more oafish than frightening. Two new characters, a penguin and walrus duo, are forced comedy relief. Their shtick is that they are cowards who aspire to be heroes, and at the end of the film they finally get to become heroes. Very original. The day after I watched this, I watched the original to remind myself that The Little Mermaid is, in fact, a great Disney movie with great characters, memorable music, and beautiful animation, unlike the travesty I've just lambasted.
Naturally, the girls I babysat for loved it.
The other day I was babysitting some girls, and they wanted to watch a Disney movie, so I pulled out an old box consisting of several Disney classics and this one. They picked Little Mermaid 2, so I thought that this would be a good excuse to relive some childhood memories. At the end of the movie, I realized that the sequel that I used to think was awesome was actually a nauseatingly bad piece of...ship. The old characters have no personality, and Ariel and Eric have been reduced to cardboard cutouts. Melody, their daughter, is supposed to be the lovable misfit, but she is far too sickening and and perfect to be lovable. The plot is extremely similar to the original, except that Melody wants to be a mermaid whereas Ariel wanted to be a human. The songs lack any of the first movie's charm, and it feels like the creators just stuck them in there for the sake of putting songs in. The animation is flat and boring, lacking the subtleties in the first movie (noticing a pattern here?). Flounder is not nearly as adorable, Scuttle has become so dumb that it hurts to hear him speak, and Morgana, the new villain, is like a much less intimidating version of Ursula. Morgana's sidekicks are not especially menacing either- her pet shark is more oafish than frightening. Two new characters, a penguin and walrus duo, are forced comedy relief. Their shtick is that they are cowards who aspire to be heroes, and at the end of the film they finally get to become heroes. Very original. The day after I watched this, I watched the original to remind myself that The Little Mermaid is, in fact, a great Disney movie with great characters, memorable music, and beautiful animation, unlike the travesty I've just lambasted.
Naturally, the girls I babysat for loved it.