The Little Mermaid/Whale Of a Tale

"**Whale of a Tale**" is the first and pilot episode of *The Little Mermaid* TV series, originally aired on September 11, 1992.

## Synopsis

Ariel befriends a Killer Whale and tries to take him in, despite her father's orders.

## Plot

The episode opens with Spot, a young baby whale at the time swimming with a pod of whales. A ship on the surface is seen with a man yelling to the rest of the crew about killer whales. The ship begins firing harpoons, and the whales flee. In the confusion, Spot is separated from the rest of the whales, and gets lost, crying for help.

We then see Ariel and Flounder swimming, and they hear the cries of a frightened Spot and go to investigate. Spot sees a shark headed toward him and quickly hides in seaweed. Ariel and Flounder question where the sound went, as Flounder tries to convince Ariel to ignore it. Flounder and Ariel split up to search, and Flounder runs into Spot, and is scared by Spot’s large eye. Flounders screams scare Spot and he swims quickly away past Ariel. Ariel coaxes Spot out from hiding and proceeds to name the young whale spot. Ariel sings to Spot to calm him down. Ariel decides to bring Spot home. Trust and friendship grow throughout song.

Sebastian, admiring himself in a mirror is oblivious to Ariel sneaking Spot into the palace. They bring Spot into a room, and Spot makes a mess and gives them trouble. Flounder scares spot, who rushes away from the room, squashing Sebastian with the door.

Sebastian comes into the room to investigate. Ariel and Flounder hide Spot under covers. Sebastian sees Spot. Ariel convinces Sebastian to keep Spot a secret. Three months later, Spot has grown big. Ariel and Flounder leave him to partake in the Spring Celebration.

Sebastian sings in the Celebration. Spot hears the music and goes to the performance. Sebastian tries to improvise with Spot crashing the show. Spot's “singing” causes the stage to collapse. King Triton is seen scolding Ariel. Triton gives Ariel and her friends two weeks to train Spot to survive in the Ocean. Despite their best efforts, Spot is still unprepared for the wild.

Going back home, Sebastian makes Spot sleep outside, despite Ariel’s protests. Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and Spot all sleep outside the palace. Sharks are seen before the fade out near where they are sleeping. In the morning, Spot still doesn’t get it. Three sharks appear to attack the four. Ariel cries for everyone to swim.

The three sharks chase after Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder, leaving Spot by himself as he swims away. Spot hears Flounder's cries and goes to see. Flounder gets caught in seaweed but Ariel saves him before the Shark can eat him. As Ariel tries to swim away from the nearby Shark, Spot sees the Shark snapping at Ariel’s fin, and Spot gets angry and rushes to their aid. Ariel swims towards a giant shell with the Sharks close behind. Spot doesn’t chase after them inside, and instead opts to head straight to the top of the shell where he knows Ariel and them will end up. Eventually, Ariel and them get cornered. Before the Sharks can lunge at the group, Spot bursts through the shell, and beats the three Sharks up, and sends them all flying. Ariel celebrates with him, and states “My father will have to let you stay” due to Spot saving their lives.

Spot hears the cries of Whales, possibly his old group. Spot swims off to find them, and a saddened Ariel swims away, knowing it’s for the best to separate. Spot comes back for one final goodbye before he swims off with the whales.

## Cast

* Jodi Benson - Ariel
* Edan Gross - Flounder
* Samuel E. Wright - Sebastian
* Kenneth Mars - King Triton
* Frank Welker - Spot

## Songs

* *Just a Little Love* - *Ariel*
* *You've Got to be You* - *Sebastian*, *Crabettes*, *Chorus*

## Trivia

* The title comes from the song, "A Whale of a Tale" from Disney's *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*.
* This is the first appearance of Spot the Killer Whale, he would later appear a second and final time in "Save the Whale".
* For unknown reasons, the episode is missing on Disney+, hence making it the only episode of *The Little Mermaid: The Series* to be unavailable on the streaming service.