The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning

***The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning*** (known as ***The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning*** and ***The Little Mermaid III***) is a 2008 American direct-to-video animated fantasy film produced by DisneyToon Studios, and a prequel to Disney's 1989 animated film *The Little Mermaid*. Directed by Peggy Holmes, the film's story is set before the events of the original film, when Ariel is still young, and where all music has been banned from the underwater kingdom of Atlantica by King Triton after being heartbroken at his wife's death, and Ariel attempts to challenge this law. Jodi Benson and Samuel E. Wright reprise their roles as Ariel and Sebastian respectively, while Sally Field voices the film's new villain, Marina Del Rey, and Jim Cummings replaces Kenneth Mars as King Triton, as Mars had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was unable to reprise the role. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on August 26, 2008. The film contradicts certain events of the television series, implying that it is an independent installment of Disney's *The Little Mermaid* franchise.

## Plot

King Triton and his wife, Queen Athena, rule over the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, filled with music and laughter. They have seven young daughters: Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, Andrina and the youngest of whom is Ariel. One day, while the merpeople relax in a lagoon above water, Triton gives Athena a music box. However, a pirate ship approaches. Everyone escapes except Athena, who is killed by the ship when she tries to recover the music box. Triton becomes devastated by his wife’s death and throws the music box away, permanently banning music from Atlantica.

Ten years later, Ariel and her sisters live under a strict routine maintained by their governess, Marina Del Rey and her assistant, Benjamin. Marina hates being the girls' governess and longs to be Triton's attaché, a job currently filled by Sebastian the crab. Ariel is frustrated by their current lifestyle, which brings her into arguments with her father. One day, Ariel encounters Flounder, a young tropical fish whom she later follows to an underground music club. She is overjoyed by the presence of music, and is shocked when she sees Sebastian performing there. When her presence is revealed, the entire band stops playing and hides, believing Ariel will tell her father about them. Ariel sings a song explaining her love of music and the remembrance of her mother, and she joins the club with an oath.

Ariel returns to the palace and her sisters confront her over her disappearance, she explains where she was and the following night the girls go to the club to have fun, Marina finds them and she later reports their activities to Triton, who destroys the club with his trident. Sebastian, Flounder and the band are sent to prison, while Marina gets the job she wants. Triton confines his daughters to the palace and Ariel says that her mother would not have wanted music forbidden. She swims to the bedroom, with her sisters following, and everyone is unhappy, aside from Marina. That night, Ariel frees her friends and leaves Atlantica. Sebastian leads them to a deserted place far away from the palace where Ariel finds Athena's music box, as Sebastian hoped. In the kingdom, Marina happily talks to Triton about her new job, but one of Ariel's sisters informs Triton that Ariel is not in Atlantica, while Triton orders his guards to find her, angering Marina. In her lair, Marina tells Benjamin that she releases her electric eels from the dungeon. Marina is about to finish the job to have Sebastian killed and Ariel eliminated from the palace. Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian decide to return to Atlantica to bring the music box to Triton, hoping that it will change his mind, as he has not remembered how to be happy after Athena died.

On the way back, they are confronted by Marina and her eels. Before music is restored back into Atlantica, the final battle begins when Ariel is banned from Atlantica by Marina. Marina wants to stop them so she will retain her position of power, and a struggle ensues. Flounder and Ariel are rescued from Marina's electric eels by the band. While Triton arrives in time seeing that Ariel has helped the band defeat the eels by having them tangle themselves. Marina barrels towards Sebastian and tries to kill him, but Ariel pushes her away, getting hit in the process. Triton witnesses the incident and blames himself. He sings the lyrics of "Athena's Song", and Ariel recovers. Triton apologizes to her for not listening to her and sends her home to the palace before he orders his guards to place Marina under arrest. On the next day, thanks to Ariel, Triton restores music to Atlantica and appoints Sebastian as Atlantica's first official court composer, much to everyone's delight. Everyone, including Ariel and her sisters and their friends Flounder and Sebastian, rejoices except Marina; who is sent to jail.

## Voice cast

* Jodi Benson as Ariel
* Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
* Jim Cummings as King Triton and Shelbow
* Sally Field as Marina Del Rey
* Parker Goris as Flounder
* Tara Strong as Adella and Andrina
* Jennifer Hale as Alana
* Grey DeLisle as Aquata and Arista
* Kari Wahlgren as Attina
* Jeff Bennett as Benjamin the manatee and the Swordfish Guards
* Andrea Robinson as Queen Athena (singing voice)
* Lorelei Hill Butters as Queen Athena (speaking voice)
* Rob Paulsen as Ink Spot the octopus and Swifty the shrimp
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Cheeks the blowfish and Ray-Ray the manta ray

## Production

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The film's working title was *The Little Mermaid III*, and it was originally scheduled for a mid-2007 release.[*citation needed*] When John Lasseter took over Disney Animation, more resources were spent on completing *Cinderella III: A Twist in Time*, and attention only returned to this film in July 2006 after the wrap up of *Cinderella III*.[*citation needed*]

A teaser trailer and musical preview of the film (an alternate version of "Jump in the Line") were attached to the Platinum Edition DVD of *The Little Mermaid*, which was released in October 2006. At the time, the working title *The Little Mermaid III* was still being used.

## Soundtrack

The score to the film was composed by James Dooley, who recorded the score with a 72-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony, as well as a big band, at the Sony Scoring Stage.[1] The film features new songs written by Jeanine Tesori, along with covers of previously recorded calypso songs that were arranged by Dooley. No soundtrack has been released yet for the film.

The songs featured in the film are:

* "Athena's Song" - Performed by Andrea Robinson (Queen Athena)
* "Just One Mistake" - Performed by Sally Field (Marina Del Rey)
* "I Remember" - Performed by Jodi Benson (Ariel)
* "Jump in the Line (Shake, Shake, Shake, Señora)"[2] - Performed by Samuel E. Wright (Sebastian) and chorus
* "Jump In The Line" (Shake, Shake, Shake, Senora) A cappella version - Performed by Parker Goris (Flounder), Samuel E. Wright (Sebastian), Jodi Benson (Ariel) and chorus
* "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" (instrumental only)
* "Just One Mistake" (reprise) - Performed by Sally Field (Marina Del Rey)
* "I Will Sing" - Performed by Jeannette Bayardelle

## Release

The film was released on Region 1 DVD in the United States on August 26, 2008, and on Region 2 DVD in the United Kingdom and Europe on September 22, 2008. The DVD contains special features including deleted scenes, a production featurette hosted by the director, games and activities, and a featurette hosted by Sierra Boggess (who played Ariel on Broadway) about the Broadway musical.

On December 16, 2008, the film was released in a "The Little Mermaid Trilogy" boxed set that includes *The Little Mermaid* (Platinum Edition) and *The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea*. On November 19, 2013, it was released on Blu-ray as a 2-movie collection alongside the sequel.

## Reception

The DVD became the top-selling DVD for the week ending August 31, selling 980,237 copies.[3] Reviews of the film from audiences were largely positive, though the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics (33% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 6 reviews). The new villain, Marina Del Rey, has been criticized as being a poor follow-up to Ursula.[4][5][6] The animation quality of the film has been praised as being "impressive" for a direct-to-video and comparable to that of the original film.[5][7] A mildly negative review has described that in the film "goofiness often gets buried too often underneath a blah story that's much too run-of-the-mill to allow the emotional oomph of the characters' plights to truly impact".[8] The music has also been criticized as being unmemorable, with one review stating that "to label this a musical would be false advertising".[6][7]

## Censorship in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the word "spastic" was cut from an interactive game in the extra features of the DVD and Blu-Ray releases by the BBFC to achieve a "U" rating. An uncut version was available rated "12".[9]

The word however appears uncensored in all versions of the full-length feature.[10]

**Television:** *Little Mermaid's Island* • *The Little Mermaid: The Series* • *A Poem Is...* • *The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live!*
**Video games:** *NES game* • *Sega Genesis Game* • *Ariel's Story Studio* • *Kingdom Hearts* • *Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories* • *Kingdom Hearts II* • *The Little Mermaid 2: Pinball Frenzy* • *Disney's The Little Mermaid: Magic in Two Kingdoms* • *Disney Emoji Blitz* • *Disney Heroes: Battle Mode* • *Kingdom Hearts III*
**Books:** *Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch* • *Official Comic Adaptation* • *Disney Comics* • *The Little Mermaid's Treasure Chest* • *Disney Princess Beginnings* • *Marvel Comics*
**Music:** *Soundtrack* • *The Legacy Collection* • *Sebastian from The Little Mermaid* • *Sebastian: Party Gras!* • *The Little Mermaid: Songs from the Sea*

**Entertainment:** Animagique • Disney's Dreams: An Enchanted Classic • Disney's Wishes • Disney Pirate or Princess: Make Your Choice • Fantasmic! • Feel the Magic • Golden Fairytale Fanfare • King Triton's Concert • Mickey's Magical Celebration • Mickey and the Magical Map • Mickey and the Wondrous Book • Summer Blast • The Golden Mickeys • Villains Tonight! • Voyage of the Little Mermaid
**Restaurants:** Ariel's Grotto
**Parades:** Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade • Disney's Magical Moments Parade • Disney Carnivale Parade • Disney on Parade • Disney Stars on Parade • Festival of Fantasy Parade • Mickey's New Year's Eve Parade • Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It! Street Party • Mickey's Soundsational Parade • Paint The Night Parade • SpectroMagic • Stitch's Summer Dance Bash • The Wonderful World of Disney Parade • Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams
**Fireworks:** Believe... There's Magic in the Stars • Celebrate the Magic • Disney Dreams! • Disney in the Stars • Disneyland Forever • Fantasy in the Sky • Happily Ever After • Ignite the Dream: A Nighttime Spectacular of Magic and Light • Magic, Music and Mayhem • The Magic, the Memories and You • Once Upon a Time • Remember... Dreams Come True • Wonderful World of Animation • World of Color
**Halloween:** Disney's Not So Spooky Spectacular • Happy Hallowishes • Let’s Get Wicked • Re-Villains! Halloween Parade • The Villains World • Villains Night Out! Chapter 2

**Sequel:** Melody • Tip and Dash • Morgana • Cloak and Dagger • Undertow • Hammerhead Shark • Flounder's guppies • Baby Penguin • Ursula and Morgana's mother
**Prequel:** Queen Athena • Marina Del Rey • Benjamin • The Catfish Club Band • Stevie • Electric Eels
**Little Mermaid's Island:** Sandy • Scales
**TV Series:** Urchin • Gabriella • Ollie • Dudley • Pearl • Pearl's mother • Manta • Little Evil • Daniel • Moray • Simon • Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp • The Sorceress • Glowfish • Ebb and Flo • Empreror Sharga • and the Sharkanians • Octopid • Brain Sponge • Zeus • Spot the Killer Whale • Crab Scouts • Hans Christian Andersen • Lucky • Thor • Augustus • Stormy the Giant Seahorse • The Magical Wishing Starfish • Howling Hairfish • Apollo • Archimedes • Seaclops • Neptune
**Comic Book:** Indigo • Marlin the Magician • Jenny

**Season Two:** "Resigned to It" • "Calliope Dreams" • "Save the Whale" • "Against the Tide" • "Giggles" • "Wish Upon a Starfish" • "Tail of Two Crabs" • "Metal Fish" • "T'ank You For Dat, Ariel"
**Season Three:** "Scuttle" • "King Crab" • "Island of Fear" • "Land of the Dinosaurs" • "Heroes" • "The Beast Within" • "Ariel's Treasures" • "A Little Evil"

**TV Series:** Just a Little Love • You Got to be You • The Edge of the Edge of the Sea • The Lobster Mobster's Mob • The Beddy Bye Blues • Sing a New Song • In Harmony • This is the Life • Never Give Up • You Wouldn't Want to Mess with Me • The Sound of Laughter • Daring to Dance • Just Give Me a Chance • Evil Lullaby
**Musical:** She's in Love • Human Stuff • Positoovity • I Want the Good Times Back • Daddy's Little Angel • Her Voice • The World Above • The Contest • If Only • Beyond My Wildest Dreams • Sweet Child • One Step Closer • All Good Things Must End
**Songs from the Sea:** The Sea Kingdom • What's It Like to Be a Mermaid? • The Scuttle Strut • There's Only One Ariel • He's a Friend • At the Mermaids' Ball • Party With Me • My Room in the Sea • Dreaming • H2O, What a Feeling! • We Share the Earth • Where Mermaids Dwell
**Deleted:** Silence is Golden • Gonna Get My Wish
**Other:** One Dance