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The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea [Special Edition] by Jim Kammerud (Director) and Brian Smith (Co-Director)
 Review by Charles Mohapel
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DVD  ISBN/ITEM#: B001G2S3X2
Date: 28 December 2008 List Price $29.99 Amazon US / Amazon UK / Show Official Info /

I must confess to having a longstanding fondness for Disney animation and I also find it makes for a wonderful change of pace from the action-packed or dark brooding movies and TV shows I frequently watch or review.

It occurred to me in a moment of whimsy that if this film wasn't already titled The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, one might chose to refer to it as "The Little Mermaid: The Next Generation". Regardless of what you choose to call it, it was definitely a DVD I wanted to get my hands on.

While I can't tell you what additional features appeared on the original Direct-to-DVD and VHS release in 2000, I can tell you that the Special Edition has some technical advancements over the original release.

DVD (2000):

    Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC

    Special Edition DVD (2008):
    Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen

    On the Special Edition DVD (2008):
    Promo for Disney on DVD and Blu-ray

    The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea
    While The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea was enjoyable in and of itself, it falls into the trap of being a sequel that doesn't quite measure up to the original. I remember enjoying some episodes of the TV version more than I enjoyed this, but to be fair, The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea is on a par with the majority of the episodes.

    Bonus Features:
    Deleted Song: "Gonna Get My Wish"

    Games & Activities

      - Underwater Mer-venture Challenge Game
      - The Little Mermaid II Trivia Game
      - The Little Mermaid II DVD Storybook
      - "What Am I?" Game
    Perfect for the pre-schoolers in your family.

    Bonus Short:
    Merbabies - animated short from 1938 (9 minutes)
    Considering this 70 year old short comes from Disney's Nine Old Men, the fabled core animators who created much of the classical Disney library, including this lesser known short.

    Sneak Peeks:

      Pinocchio 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition
      The Princess and the Frog
      Space Buddies
      Oliver & Company 20th Anniversary Edition
      The Cheetah Girls One World
      Disney Movie Rewards
      The Secret of the Magic Gourd
      Beverly Hills Chihuahua
      Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
      Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
      School House Rock" Earth
      Promo for Wizards of Waverly Place (TV)
      "Think Fast" - videogame for Nintendo Wii system

Pinocchio is a timeless classic that you should rush out and buy when it becomes available. I like to think of Beverly Hills Chihuahua as "Revenge of the Chihuahua" and a fitting "tribute" to Gidget, the Taco Bell Chihuahua famous for saying "Yo quiero Taco Bell" - she passed away in 2007. Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too takes Pooh, Tigger, and their friends from 2-D to 3-D characters.

If you have pre-schoolers in your family and don't already own a copy of The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea, I would recommend going out and buying a copy of the Special Edition.

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