The Little Mermaid (TV series)
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| The Little Mermaid | |
|---|---|
From left to right: Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder. |
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| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Walt Disney Television |
| Starring | Jodi Benson Edan Gross Samuel E. Wright Maurice LaMarche Kenneth Mars Danny Cooksey Jim Cummings Bradley Pierce Pat Carroll |
| Country of origin | |
| No. of episodes | 31 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 11, 1992 – November 26, 1994 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Little Mermaid is an animated television series based on the 1989 film of the same name, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It featured the adventures of Ariel and her friends Flounder, Sebastian, Scuttle, and other characters from the movie The Little Mermaid along with characters that are original to the series. This is the first Disney Television series to have spun-off from a major film. The Little Mermaid premiered in the Fall of 1992 with the animated short called "A Whale of a Tale," then moved to Saturday mornings. This series originally appeared on CBS, with an original run from 1992 to 1994. Jodi Benson reprised her role as Ariel for this show, and Kenneth Mars reprised his role as King Triton.
There are currently no plans to release The Little Mermaid TV series on DVD from Walt Disney Home Entertainment.[citation needed]
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The first non-Disney Afternoon cartoon series to premiere for some time, The Little Mermaid television series is a prequel to the movie of the same name. The story is set when Ariel is 15, a year before the events in the movie, and follows her adventures as a mermaid still living under the sea. Various episodes highlight her relationship with her friends, father and sisters, and usually involves Ariel foiling the attempts of various enemies that intend ill harm to her or to her kingdom.
While the movie features musical segments, not every episode of this series has them. Some shows are presented "straight" (i.e. no songs). The show also does not always stay consistent to the movie, as Ariel has too much human contact in it. Also, in one episode, Sebastian is present when Ariel begins her collection of human objects in the cave, though in the movie, which takes place later, he was clearly surprised to discover it.
Princess Ariel, voiced by Jodi Benson, is the seventh daughter of the sea king who loves to go on adventures. Although she is interested in the human world, her fascination with it has not fully developed.
Sebastian, voiced by Samuel E. Wright, is a crab who acts as the king's adviser, court musician, and a baby-sitter-like figure for Ariel.
Flounder, voiced by Bradley Pierce and Edan Gross, is Ariel's best friend, is a fish who follows along on her adventures, even if he is a guppy.
King Triton, voiced by Kenneth Mars is Ariel's father and ruler of Alantica.
Scuttle, voiced by Maurice LaMarche is a seagull who is friends with Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian. He is Ariel's only connection to the human world.
Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella and Alana are Ariel's six older sisters.
Ursula, voiced by Pat Carroll is an overweight cecaelia and a powerful sea witch. She constantly plots to steal the throne from King Triton that she believes is rightfully hers.
Flotsam and Jetsam are Ursula's pet eels who do her evil bidding for her.
Prince Eric is a young human prince. He only makes two cameo appearances in the series.
Grimsby is Eric's right hand man/servant.
Carlotta is Eric's maid.
Urchin, voiced by Danny Cooksey, is a merboy and Ariel's new friend. He shares her love for adventure and is unofficially her adopted brother.
The Lobster Mobster is a lobster gangster following the style of the 1940s gangster stereotype.
The Shrimp is the Lobster Mobster's sidekick.
The Evil Manta, voiced by Tim Curry, is an evil manta ray who repeatedly tries to take over Atlantica. While his magic is not as dramatic as Ursula's, the Manta can turn friends against each other by talking to one of them, and his tail delivers brutal possibly fatal lightning strikes. He has a son who became an artist and friend of Ariel's.
Pearl, voiced by Cree Summer, is a wealthy and spoiled mermaid and is constantly trying to get Ariel in trouble.
Gabriella is a deaf Hispanic mermaid who dreams of becoming a singer. Because she is mute and only communicates with sign language, Gabriella has a translator for her, in her octopus friend Ollie. This character is based off a real person. She was a fan of the show who died during its first season.
Moray Eel is a moray eel salesman and con-artist who occasionally sells items to Ariel that alternately help her or get her into trouble.
| Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- Some groups of creatures in the show use the time measure of tides as an alternative for years. One year is equal to 200 tides, and one tide is equal to about 3 days (which is coincidently the limit of time Ariel is given to kiss Prince Eric in the original film.)
- In the episode Metal Fish, Ariel saves a character named Hans Christian Andersen who is based on the real life author of the original The Little Mermaid, and the encounter inspired the character to "write" the story of The Little Mermaid. A voice-over at the end of the episode talks about the real Hans Christian Andersen, while the image on the screen shows Ariel sitting on a rock in the style of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor.
- In Calliope Dreams, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart makes a cameo as a musician who loses a lot of his valuable possessions to two clumsy sailors and his rocking ship. Coincidentally or not, it may be a humorous reference of Mozart's (possibly alleged) death as a poor man.
- The upcoming sequel to The Little Mermaid, currently known as The Little Mermaid III, is supposed to feature the character of Urchin from the series.
- The opening theme to the show is a combination of the songs "Part of Your World", "Under the Sea", and "Kiss the Girl". The overture for the upcoming stage musical of The Little Mermaid will be similar to this.
- Official Website
- The Little Mermaid (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Little Mermaid (TV series) at TV.com
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| Television and Films | The Little Mermaid · The Little Mermaid (TV series) · The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea |
| Characters | Princess Ariel · King Triton · Prince Eric · Flounder · Sebastian · Ursula · Flotsam and Jetsam · Scuttle · Max · Other characters · Princess Melody · Morgana |
| Songs | Part of Your World · Under the Sea · Poor Unfortunate Souls · Kiss the Girl |
| See Also | The Little Mermaid · The Little Mermaid (musical) · Hans Christian Andersen |
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | Articles with trivia sections from June 2007 | 1992 television series debuts | 1994 television series endings | 1990s American television series | The Little Mermaid | Animated television series | Fictional mermen and mermaids | Television series by Disney | Disney Channel shows | Television programs based on films | CBS network shows | Family Channel shows