Toon Thursday: “Ariel’s Beginning” is a polished, professional & perfectly pleasant prequel to “The Little Mermaid.” But …

Jim Hill

16 years ago

Let’s start with the good news: “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning” isn’t nearly as awful as “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea” was. This prequel to “The Little Mermaid” is a polished, professional piece of work with terrific production values. In fact, I’d dare to say that a good portion of the animation that you’ll see in this DisneyToon Studios home premiere is actually technically superior to a lot of the stuff that you saw in the original film.

But that said, “Ariel’s Beginning” is still something of a disappointment. Mostly because this new “Little Mermaid” movie lacks a truly strong villain.

Okay. I know. It would be damned near impossible to top Ursula the sea witch. Which is why DisneyToon brought back Pat Carroll to voice Morgana, Ursula’s sister in “Return to the Sea.” But Marina Del Rey, Ariel’s ambitious governess? That’s the best that Disney could come up with for a villain in “Ariel’s Beginning” ?

Don’t get me wrong. As voiced by two time Academy Award winner Sally Field, Marina certainly is an amusing bundle of neuroses. Particularly when she’s kibitzing with her much-put-upon manatee manservant, Benjamin (voiced by Jeff Bennett). But Ms. Del Rey is still no match for Ursula.

Though — if you keep your eyes peeled toward the end of Marina’s “I Want” song, “Just One Mistake” — you will see, in a neat tip-of-the-hat to the sea witch, that this film’s animators do briefly put this ambitious governess in an outfit that’s very reminiscent of the preliminary designs that Disney animators initially cooked up for Ursula.

But without a strong villain, some credible threat that this film’s central characters then have to deal with, “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning” lacks urgency and true emotional weight. Which ultimately makes this DisneyToon Studios Home Premiere a pretty lightweight piece of entertainment.

Mind you, this prequel’s storyline does answer a certain number of questions that TLM fans have asked over the years (i.e. What became of Ariel’s mother? And why does King Triton hate humans so much?). And “Ariel’s Beginning” does give lots of screen time to the Little Mermaid’s six sisters: Aquatta, Attina, Adrina, Alana, Arista, and Adella. Which should please the 4-to-8-year-old girls in the audience.

Likewise the four songs that Jeanine Tesori contributed to the proceedings are staged with great panache by Peggy Holmes. Which — again — makes “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning” a perfectly pleasant if not all that memorable animated feature.

To be honest, the most memorable thing about that advance screening of “Ariel’s Beginning” that I attended last month at Comic-Con was how paranoid Walt Disney Studios obviously was. Mouse House officials were so concerned that someone might videotape a portion of this “Little Mermaid” prequel and then post that footage on the Web that they had a dozen or more volunteers standing around the perimeter of Hall 6B.

And these folks weren’t watching the movie. Oh no. They were watching the audience that was watching this advance screening of “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginnings.” These Comic-Con volunteers kept a close eye on everyone in Hall 6B, ever watchful should a handheld camera suddenly pop up out of the crowd.

But no footage like that ever emerged from this year’s Comic-Con International. However, if you’d now like to take a look at “The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning,” then I suggest that you head on over to the official webpage for this DisneyToon Studios home premiere. Where you’ll find a number of clips from the finished film.

So what do you folks think? Will you be picking up a copy of this “Little Mermaid” prequel when it hits store shelves on August 26th? Or have you or your family already kind of had your fill of these films?

Your thoughts?