From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Directed by	Jim Kammerud Brian Smith
Produced by	Leslie Hough David Lovegren
Written by	Elizabeth Anderson Temple Mathews Elise D'Haene Eddie Guzelian
Starring	Jodi Benson Samuel E. Wright Tara Strong Pat Carroll Buddy Hackett Max Casella Stephen Furst Clancy Brown
Music by	Danny Troob
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release date(s)	September 19, 2000
Running time	75 minutes
Language	English
Preceded by	The Little Mermaid (1989)
Followed by	The Little Mermaid III (2007)
IMDb profile

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is a 2000 Disney animated feature film, a direct-to-video sequel to the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid. In this movie, Jodi Benson reprised her role as Ariel, the "former" Little Mermaid. Like most Disney DVD releases, the title was discontinued several years after its release.

A few years after the events of the first film when Ariel, Triton's seventh daughter, is married to sailor Eric and is now his wife, Ariel and Eric have given birth to a daughter named Melody, after Ariel's love of singing. A celebration is held on a ship at sea, attended by humans and merpeople alike, including Grimsby and King Triton, who presents baby Melody with a magic locket of Atlantica Castle. However, the party is interrupted by the sea witch Morgana, the sister of the deceased Ursula, who attempts to gain control of Atlantica by stealing Triton's Trident. She is stopped, but swears that she will eventually avenge her sister's death.

Sebastian speaking to Melody.

Ariel decides to take extreme measures by keeping any sort of knowledge of the seaworld from Melody, and has a wall built between the castle and the beach. Triton asks Sebastian to look over Melody, and tosses Melody's Atlantica Locket into the depths of the sea. But as Melody grows older she develops a liking for the ocean, and sneaks under the wall to swim, finding her locket. After a social disaster during her twelfth birthday party, Melody looks more closely at the locket and sees her name engraved on it.

Melody demands information from Ariel, but continuing to fear Morgana, Ariel simply turns the issue into one of disobedience. Melody disobeys Ariel and gets to see Morgana. In a similar fashion to Ariel's own actions from the first movie, Melody steals a small boat and runs away. She meets Morgana, who reveals that Melody's background is marine, but does not explain in detail, and uses her magic to make Melody a mermaid. Melody explores her newfound abilities as a mermaid, and has a strong feeling that she was meant to be part of the sea ("For A Moment, I Belong.")

Meanwhile, Sebastian has alerted Melody's parents of their daughter's departure and they prepare search parties with the help of Triton. Triton reverses Ariel's human transformation, again returning her to her mermaid form, so she can help in the search. Melody visits Morgana to thank her and is told that her being a mermaid is only temporary. Morgana says that she can make the spell permanent with a magic trident, if only Melody will get it. Morgana indicates that the trident was stolen from her by an evil merman, and shows Melody an image of Triton himself. (Melody, not knowing a thing about her mermaid heritage, falls right into this trap.)

Morgana showing Melody Atlantica by using her locket.

While looking for the trident, Melody meets Tip, a penguin, and Dash, a walrus, and they join her in her search. While Melody's parents and grandfather search for her, Melody, Tip, and Dash sneak into the castle and steal the trident. The trident is discovered missing shortly thereafter, and it is realized that only someone of royal blood could have stolen it, as the trident had been protected and could only be "removed" by Triton or his descendants.

Ariel trails Morgana's pet rays and finds her daughter, where she pleads for Melody not to listen to Morgana. Melody, however, is angry that her mom kept such an important part of her life from her, and in rage, gives the trident to Morgana. The villain then captures Ariel and traps Melody behind a wall of ice, informing her that her mermaid transformation is about to run out and she will return to human form trapped under the sea. She then swims to the surface with a struggling Ariel in her tentacles, proclaiming herself queen.

Melody realizing the mistake she had just made as Ariel and Flounder watch in fear.

Triton and Eric's armies show up as Morgana conjures an ice palace for herself. Meanwhile, Ariel escapes Morgana's clutches and rescues her husband Eric from drowning, and all of them gather on the ice. Below, after the sun goes down, Melody turns back into a human and begins to drown. However, Tip and Dash trick Morgana's shark Undertow into smashing the ice containing Melody, and they and Flounder bring her to the surface. However, Morgana forces all of the merpeople to bow down to her, even Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder, and Triton, by using Triton's trident. Unseen to her, though, Melody (being human and thus uneffected by the spell) climbs the back side of the ice palace and snatches the trident, throwing it to Triton, who encases Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater with a picture of Ursula.

Melody is then reunited with her family and uses the trident to disintegrate the wall separating her home from the sea. A party is held, and the humans make friends with the merpeople.

• Tara Strong As Melody
• Jodi Benson as Ariel
• Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
• Pat Carroll as Morgana
• Rob Paulsen as Prince Eric
• Kenneth Mars as King Triton
• Cam Clarke as Flounder
• Buddy Hackett as Scuttle
• Clancy Brown as Undertow
• Max Casella as Tip
• Stephen Furst as Dash
• Rene Auberjonois as Louis the Chef
• Edie McClurg as Carlotta the Maid
• Kay E. Kuter as Grimsby the Valet
• Frank Welker as Max the Sheepdog

• The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea at the Internet Movie Database