The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008) (V)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Peggy Holmes

Writers:

Robert Reece (writer)
Evan Spiliotopoulos (writer)

Release Date:

26 August 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Every Story Has a Beginning, But Only One Begins Under the Sea

Plot:

The plot explores the story of Athena, Ariel's mother, through the narration of Ariel. |

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Sequel | Direct To Video Sequel To Theatrical Movie | Music Box | No Opening Credits

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Nov. 16

10:30 AM

DISN

Cast

Jodi Benson	...	Ariel (voice)
Samuel E. Wright	...	Sebastian (voice)
Jim Cummings	...	King Triton / Shelbow (voice)
Sally Field	...	Marina Del Ray (voice)
Parker Goris	...	Flounder (voice)
Tara Strong	...	Adella / Andrina (voice)
Jennifer Hale	...	Alana (voice)
Grey DeLisle	...	Aquata / Arista (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Benjamin / Guards (voice)
Kari Wahlgren	...	Attina (voice)
Lorelei Hill Butters	...	Queen Athena (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	Cheeks / Ray Ray (voice)
Rob Paulsen	...	Ink Spot / Swifty (voice)

Directed by
Peggy Holmes

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Reece		writer
Evan Spiliotopoulos		writer

Produced by
Kendra Halland	....	producer
Mary Thorne	....	unit producer

Original Music by
James Dooley

Film Editing by
John Royer

Art Direction by
Tony Pulham

Production Management
Bill Bloom	....	production manager
Peiyu H. Foley	....	post-production supervisor
Kip Lewis	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pieter Lommerse	....	unit director

Art Department
Peter J. DeLuca	....	workbook artist
Nicholas Filippi	....	storyboard artist
Holly Forsyth	....	storyboard artist
Michael Gorospe	....	background supervisor
Chris Hubbard	....	storyboard artist
Dana Landsberg	....	characters designer
Steve Lumley	....	workbook supervisor (as Stephen Lumley)
Tron Mai	....	storyboard artist
Armen Melkonian	....	workbook artist
David Prince	....	storyboard artist
Donald Reich	....	workbook artist
Tom Shannon	....	workbook artist
Ray Shenusay	....	storyboard artist
Robert Souza	....	storyboard artist
Colette Van Mierlo	....	location designer
Marty Warner	....	prop designer

Sound Department
James Ashwill	....	foley mixer
John T. Cucci	....	foley artist
Mark D. Fleming	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ryan Heiferman	....	dialogue recordist
Nancy MacLeod	....	foley editor
Donald J. Malouf	....	supervising sound editor
Dan O'Connell	....	foley artist

Visual Effects by
William Allen Blyth	....	animator
Noe Garcia	....	animator
Dan Lund	....	effects designer
David 'Joey' Mildenberger	....	animation supervisor
Mark Myer	....	animator
Amanda Normington	....	effects assistant (as Amanda J. Talbot)
Masa Oshiro	....	animator
Marvin Petilla	....	effects director
Philip Pignotti	....	animator
Van Shirvanian	....	effects assistant
Phillip Vigil	....	animator

Animation Department
Carol Berke	....	digital ink & paint
Jamie Kezlarian Bolio	....	character design cleanup
Brook Bonus	....	animator
Omar Cinco	....	animator
Dan Haskett	....	character designer
Cynthia Javier	....	animator
Chris Keene	....	cg modeler
Dana Landsberg	....	character designer
Christina Long	....	color stylist
Gabriel Mase	....	animator
Armen Melkonian	....	layout artist
Jenny North	....	supervising color stylist
Scott T. Petersen	....	animator
Donna Prince	....	background artist
Eugene Salandra	....	character designer
Steven K. Thompson	....	character designer
Noel Villano	....	animator
Andreas Wessel-Therhorn	....	animation co-supervisor
Theresa Wiseman	....	timing director

Casting Department
Jason Henkel	....	manager of talent casting
Benjamin G. Malbrough	....	casting assistant
Jamie Thomason	....	voice casting
Ned Lott	....	additional casting (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Currin	....	assistant editor
Karen Hathaway	....	second editor
Timothy Vila	....	assistant editor (as Tim Vila)
Jim Passon	....	color timer (uncredited)

Music Department
Kevin Babuder	....	orchestrator
Dominick Certo	....	music editor
Rossano Galante	....	orchestrator
Steven Gizicki	....	music supervisor
Kevin Globerman	....	digital score recordist
Greg Hayes	....	assistant music engineer
Andy Kay	....	assistant to composer
Andrew Kinney	....	orchestrator
Matthew Margeson	....	additional music arranger
Matthew Margeson	....	composer: additional music
Dana Niu	....	supervising orchestrator
Jason Poss	....	music transcription
Peter Rotter	....	music contractor
Dennis S. Sands	....	music scoring mixer
Brad Warnaar	....	orchestrator
Nathan Whitehead	....	assistant to composer

Other crew
Carla Arcuri	....	production coordinator
Kirk Bailey	....	adr loop group
Ranjani Brow	....	adr loop group
Lorelei Hill Butters	....	production secretary
Kristen Combs	....	adr loop group
Jim Cotton	....	production accountant
David Cowgill	....	adr loop group (as Dave Cowgill)
Amy D'Alessandro	....	title designer: end title layout
Dee DeLeon	....	production associate
Erin Donovan	....	adr loop group
Kerris Dorsey	....	adr loop group
Eddie Frierson	....	adr loop group
Spencer Lacey Ganus	....	adr loop group (as Spencer Ganus)
Jackie Gonneau	....	adr loop group
Bridget Hoffman	....	adr loop group
Wendy Hoffman	....	adr loop group
Janette Hulett	....	continuity checker
Charles Luce	....	technical director
Asia Mechikoff	....	production coordinator
Scott Menville	....	adr loop group
Kristina Pace	....	technical director
Sean Reed	....	story coordinator
Cecilie Stuart	....	choreographer
William Sy	....	production assistant
Hans Tester	....	adr loop group
Jamie Thomason	....	dialogue director
Lenlen Tolentino	....	production coordinator
Ariel Winter	....	adr loop group

Production Companies

• DisneyToon Studios
• Toon City Animation

Distributors

• Audio Visual Enterprises (2008) (Greece) (DVD)
• Buena Vista International (2008) (Argentina) (all media)
• Gativideo (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Little Mermaid III (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

Argentina:70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:G | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:All | Singapore:G

Company:

DisneyToon Studios

Goofs:

Continuity: Around the time when Ariel is back from the club the sisters are wondering why she was gone, Andrina says "Was it a boy?" and Adella gets crazy. "I'm two years older than you and the only one I've coming close to kissing is Stevie!" In the first movie the order of ages are in the song: "Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, Alana." But in this movie they states that Attina is the oldest and that Adella is two years older than the youngest, Ariel. But according to the game along with the DVD, the Vanity game the order goes like this: "Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, Andrina and then Ariel". Which mean Ariel is 15 at the time and Adella is 19, not two years older as aid in the film.

Quotes:

Marina Del Ray: Can you feel it, Benjamin? The sweet taste of power! Filling, yet oddly minty!

Movie Connections:

References Oliver! (1968)

Soundtrack:

Part of Your World

A Great Prequel

This movie was remarkably refreshing and entertaining. The overall appearance of the film was pleasant. I really enjoyed the character design and animation; the film was very true to the original designs portrayed in the first Little Mermaid, and included just enough of modern 3d animation techniques to give additional depth to the 2d creations without spoiling its 2d nature. The story had a solid plot that supported other Little Mermaid films, as well as giving the viewer a touching glimpse of Ariel's mother and a deeper understanding of King Triton's character. The songs, while not as moving or masterful as Menken and Ashman's work on the first Little Mermaid film, were decent and fit in well with the overall theme of the movie. The movie flowed easily between the musical numbers and non-musical moments.

This is definitely one of those "Movie #3"s that rises well above the awful direction (plot, character, music, etc) that most sequels seem to follow.