'The Little Mermaid II' a splash of rebellion

MOVIE TITLE: The Little Mermaid II, Return To The Sea

GENRE: Animated

RATING: ★★★

RUNNING TIME: 75 minutes

BONUS FEATURES: Little Mermaid II Trivia Game, Little Mermaid II DVD Soundtrack.

WHO'S IN IT: King Trident, Princess Ariel, Prince Eric and their daughter Melody, Sebastian the Crab, Flounder the guppy, the evil Morgana and her size-changing, toothy sidekick (so they are voiced by real people; who really cares that Samuel Wright is the crusty voice of the crabby crustacean?). All familiar faces from The Little Mermaid.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The union between man and part fish (Hmm. Don't take that the wrong way. Oops, I did it again...) is complete and Eric and Ariel present their baby, Melody, to the kingdom. Morgana makes a move and is thwarted by a combination of Ariel's rope slash and Eric's lunge to catch a falling Melody.

Fast-forward 12 years and there is a huge wall around the palace, blocking Melody from the sea - which she goes into, naturally, as pre-teen angst sets in. There is lots of singing and lots of swimming as the crabby Sebastian, her designated minder, tries to keep up with the half fish (y'know, Daddy from land, Mommy from sea). The plot is clear when Melody discovers a locket and Morgana, from her realm among the banished, lures her near and tricks the child who is depressed over a party that went really wrong (note to pee wee princesses: never talk to crabs in front of your wanna-be friends) into stealing the trident of power for her.

Coming along for the ride are a wavering walrus and a pugnacious penguin. Of course, Ariel comes a-swimming and flounders into Flounder along the way - better yet, an all grown-up Flounder and family. There is the expected moment of choice, Morgana or Mommy, with the expected (wrong) option exercised and it is trap and evasion, chase and lucky escape to the end, Melody braving danger to snatch the trident back just as Morgana seems set to really rule if not the world, then the Seven Seas. She falls from high, the walrus provides the cushion of his belly, the trident is returned to the king, all go 'ova de wall' (or under or through) for a jolly swim and sing along. Credits roll.

LONG STORY SHORT: It is a continuation of the land-and-sea story with a splash of rebellion tossed in. OK, so it is for a general audience, but the plot is so transparent a toddler would be pointing at the screen from early and gurgling "da dats nexsh" (Hmm. That could also be Elephant Man, come to think of it). The animation is great and the songs are pleasant ('ello, it's Disney), but I get the feeling somebody just said, let's see how much more money we can reel in.

THE REEL LOW-DOWN: If you liked (duh) The Little Mermaid, then you will at least tolerate this sequel.

- M.C.