Response
The DVD became the top-selling DVD for the week ending August 31.[5] Reviews of the film have generally been positive, though the new villain, Marina Del Rey, has been criticised as being a poor follow-up to Ursula.[1][6][7] 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.[8][6] 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".[9] The music has also been criticised as being unmemorable, with one review stating that "to label this a musical would be false advertising".[7][8]
Production
This 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.
Release
The film was released on Region 1 DVD in the USA on August 26, 2008, and on Region 2 DVD in the UK and Europe on September 22, 2008. The DVD contains the special features including deleted scenes, a production featurette hosted by the director, games and activities, and a featurette hosted by Sierra Boggess about the Broadway musical.
On December 16, 2008, the film will be released in a "The Little Mermaid Trilogy" boxed set, which will include The Little Mermaid (Platinum Edition) and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (Special Edition).
Voice cast
- Jodi Benson as Princess Ariel
- Sally Field as Marina Del Rey
- Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian the crab
- Jim Cummings as King Triton and Shelbow the sea turtle
- Parker Goris as Flounder the fish
- Kari Wahlgren as Princess Attina[1]
- Jennifer Hale as Princess Alana[1]
- Grey Delisle as Princess Aquata and Princess Arista[1]
- Tara Strong as Princess Adella and Princess Andrina[1]
- 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
Note: Lorelei Hill Butters is also the film's production secretary.
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