The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea is a 2000 animated direct-to-video musical fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, and the second installment in The Little Mermaid trilogy. Directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith, the story of the film takes place 12 years after the original, and focuses on Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody, a human princess who longs to swim in the ocean despite her parents' law that the sea is forbidden to her.

Many voice actors from the original film reprised their roles, including Jodi Benson as Ariel, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, and Buddy Hackett as Scuttle in his final film role before his death in 2003. Pat Carroll, who voiced Ursula in the first film, returned as Ursula's sister Morgana, the sequel's new villain. Tara Charendoff joined the cast as Melody, with Rob Paulsen replacing Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric. Ben Wright, the original voice of Grimsby, died four months before the first film was released and was replaced by Kay E. Kuter. Additionally, Cam Clarke portrayed a now adult Flounder, previously voiced by Jason Marin.

The film received largely negative reviews, with criticism directed at the screenplay and rehashed plot points, though the characterization of Melody and Charendoff's performance thereof were praised. In 2008, Disney released a third film, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, which is a prequel to the first film.

Plot
Ariel and Eric celebrate the birth of their daughter Melody on a ship at sea. Ariel's father King Triton presents Melody with a magic locket. The party is interrupted by Ursula's sister Morgana, who threatens to have Melody fed to her pet tiger shark, Undertow, unless Triton surrenders his trident to her as part of her plan to avenge Ursula and take over the ocean. Ariel and Eric work together to foil Morgana's plan, and Triton shrinks Undertow to the size of a piranha. Morgana escapes, eluding the attempts of King Triton's forces to capture her and declaring that she will someday exact her revenge on both Ariel and Triton and avenge Ursula's death. Fearing Morgana and remembering Ursula, Ariel decides that, until Morgana is captured, they will have to withhold all knowledge of the sea world and her heritage from Melody to protect her. Triton tosses the locket into the ocean, and a massive wall is built to separate the royal castle from the sea. Triton assigns Sebastian to watch over Melody.

Twelve years later, Melody remains unaware of her mother's mermaid heritage and is forbidden from going into the sea. However, she sneaks out of the castle regularly to swim, and one day finds the locket. Seeing her name on the locket, Melody questions her mother about it, but Ariel forbids her to go into the sea. Frustrated with her mother's refusal to answer her questions, Melody steals a small boat and sails away from home. Melody is discovered by Undertow, who leads her to Morgana. A desperate Sebastian tells Ariel and Eric Melody went out to the sea. Meanwhile, Melody meets Morgana, who reveals that Melody's background is marine, and uses the remains of Ursula's magic to transform Melody into a mermaid. Triton prepares search parties and is convinced by Ariel and Eric to use his trident to transform Ariel back into a mermaid in order to help in the search for Melody. Ariel searches the sea for Melody, regretting not sharing her heritage with her, while Melody explores her newfound abilities as a mermaid, and has a strong feeling that she was meant to be part of the sea.

Later, Morgana tells Melody she can only make the spell permanent if she retrieves Triton's trident. Melody decides to get the trident, and during her search befriends Tip and Dash, a penguin and walrus duo who join her. After Melody steals the trident, Ariel implores her not to give Morgana the trident. Frustrated by Ariel's decision to lie to her, Melody instead gives the trident to Morgana, who reveals her true intentions and traps Melody in a cave by sealing the entrance with a thick layer of ice. Soon afterward, Morgana's spell on Melody wears off, causing her to revert into a human and nearly drown. Tip and Dash manage to free her and drag her to the shore.

Morgana uses the trident's magic to lord over the ocean, rising to the surface to gloat. Scuttle, Triton, Sebastian, and Eric arrive, and a battle ensues against Morgana and her minions. Melody grabs the trident and throws it back to Triton, who encases Morgana in a block of ice, which sinks underwater. Melody reunites with her family, and Triton offers his granddaughter to become a mermaid permanently. Melody instead uses the trident to destroy the wall separating her home from the sea, reuniting the humans and the merpeople.

Voice cast

 * Tara Charendoff as Melody
 * Jodi Benson as Ariel
 * Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian
 * Pat Carroll as Morgana
 * Buddy Hackett as Scuttle
 * Kenneth Mars as King Triton
 * Max Casella as Tip
 * Stephen Furst as Dash
 * Rob Paulsen as Eric
 * Clancy Brown as Undertow
 * Cam Clarke as Flounder
 * René Auberjonois as Chef Louis
 * Kay E. Kuter as Grimsby
 * Edie McClurg as Carlotta
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Cloak and Dagger
 * Frank Welker as Max

Release
The film was released directly to video on September 19, 2000. It was released on May 7, 2001, in the UK. On November 6, 2006, the film was released in a bundle together with the original film in the Region 2 release. The original DVD release was later discontinued and a special edition DVD with a deleted song, "Gonna Get My Wish", and a new game was released on December 16, 2008. A package called The Little Mermaid Trilogy, which includes all three Little Mermaid films, was released on the same day. This film, along with The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, was released in a 2-Movie collection on DVD and Blu-ray on November 19, 2013.

Critical reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 17% of 6 critics gave the film a positive review, and the average rating is 3.8/10. In 2011, Total Film ranked it as 27th among the 50 worst children's films ever made.

Unlike the film and even her mother Ariel, for whom the latter was generally mixed, Melody, the main character, was generally well received by both critics and Little Mermaid fans, who praised her emotional relationship with Ariel, character growth, likability, and Tara Charendoff's performance. In 2019, Screen Rant put her at #9 on Disney's Unofficial Princesses, Ranked. Melody is one of Charendoff's favorite characters to voice, as she was a big fan of the 1989 film growing up.

Home video sales
The film was the tenth-most-successful direct-to-video release of 2000, with retail revenues of $121 million. The film sold 6 million VHS and DVD units in 2000.

Soundtrack
The film's official soundtrack was released on September 19, 2000, and again on October 31, 2000, in a special edition double pack with the original film's soundtrack. Additionally, two limited-edition two-track samplers were released on CD as a promotion for the soundtrack.

Note: * These tracks were originally recorded for the album Sebastian: Party Gras!.

The film's ending credits play a new recording of Part of Your World, performed by country singer Chely Wright. Another version of the song, performed by Ann Marie Boskovich, was used in some international releases of the film.

Legacy
When asked about a possible sequel for the 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, stars Halle Bailey (Ariel) and Jonah Hauer-King (Eric) mentioned Return to the Sea and considered a similar plot with Melody's character. In the same interview, Bailey added that she "loves" the sequel, while Hauer-King suggested that Eric, too, be transformed into a merman in the potential sequel as well.