Little Mermaid ' s Island Little Mermaid ' s Island was a project proposed by Jim Henson in 1990 , during talks with The Walt Disney Company , as a spin - off of Disney ' s animated film " The Little Mermaid " . Two episodes were shot , but never aired : " Sebastian ' s Birthday " and " Tell the Truth " . It was intended as a daily series to air on Disney Channel , with puppets against blue screen and human characters interacting . Filming took place in a very old studio ( once owned by Mary Pickford ) in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles . According to Karen Falk , " the Henson Workshop created the puppets and Ed Christie went out to the shoot to wrangle them , but that was the extent of our involvement . Jim did not work on it himself ( did not direct , produce , perform ) and was pretty disappointed by the pilot . It was one of the few projects done while our company was in transition to Disney right before Jim died . " In the show , Ariel was portrayed by a human performer , Marietta Deprima , playing opposite puppet versions of Sebastian the crab , Scuttle the seagull , Flotsam and Jetsam , and Flounder the fish , as well as a new character , Flounder ' s twin sister , Sandy . The other live cast member was character actor Clive Revill as a variation of Grimsby from the original film , here re - conceived as a jovial sea captain who lived on an island nearby to Ariel . The puppet used for Ambrosius in " Labyrinth " was recycled as Max the sheepdog . There was also a full body puppet called Scales the Dragon , a musical dragon who lived in a cave and created songs with his rock piano and pots and pans . Each episode was planned to have four musical numbers , with ten songwriters assigned to the project . The project went into pre - production before the release of the film , with many of the original vocal cast set to reprise their roles ( including Samuel E . Wright and Buddy Hackett ) . For scenes of Ariel swimming , a rod puppet was used to simulate her movements underwater . Jim Henson died within two months after the pilot was shot . The two episodes filmed lack the end credits and the final opening titles . A Disney animated series of " The Little Mermaid " , unrelated to Henson ' s production , ran on CBS from 1992 to 1994 . One of the songs from the episode " Tell the Truth " was later re - used in the " Sesame Street " home video , " Telling the Truth " . Description . In " Sebastian ' s Birthday " , Ariel and her friends are planning a surprise party for Sebastian . While searching for his friends , Sebastian tells Scuttle that it is his birthday , which the seagull misinterprets as " bird day . " Sebastian is joined by a chorus of oysters in a song about his birthday , followed by another number by Ariel and Flounder which convinces the crab they are too busy to play with him . On his way to visit Scales , Flotsam and Jetsam try to convince the crustacean that his friends have forgotten his special day , and no longer care about him . Once Sebastian reaches Scales , the dragon goes into another musical number to try and mask the noise of Sebastian ' s birthday balloons popping . Heading home with a headache , Sebastian meets the eels once again , who reinforce their message that friends are unnecessary . Grimsby and Max the sheepdog dock at the pier with the three - layer birthday cake , where they meet up with the confused Scuttle . The seagull and Grimsby sing another song as they head towards the party . Meanwhile , Ariel has broken Sebastian ' s present while attempting to wrap it . She sings another number about their friendship , and ponders another gift for the crab . Convincing Sebastian to come to Scales ' cave , a reprise of Sebastian ' s birthday song is sung , and Ariel presents the crab with his present , a framed poem written by the mermaid . As the show ends , Sebastian blows the candles of his cake out with a mighty gust , covering Scuttle with frosting . Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _