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Little Mermaid 2
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
The fact remains that kids seem to enjoy whatever Disney puts out, even the many direct-to-video releases. Where I, as an adult, go "great, another Disney quick video release", kids enter a world of entertaining characters and stories that they can enjoy.
There are a couple of ways of looking at "Little Mermaid 2". From the adult perspective, the animation here certainly isn't as detailed as the original, and looks somewhat Saturday morning cartoonish at times(although not to the level that Disney's other recent direct-to-video "Buzz Lightyear" did). The story is not too much different from the first one, but it's very nicely voiced by the cast, many of which are from the first film.
Here, the sister of the sea-witch from the first film, Morgana plots to control Ariel's daughter Melody, who doesn't know about her roots as a mermaid. Although this isn't bad compared to some of Disney's other recent video releases, it is similar to those films in the way that this sequel loses a bit of spirit in comparison to the first film. The songs aren't half bad, and the vocal talent is ok, but in the end, what it is is simply Disney trying to get as much as possible out of these characters. Kids may (and probably will) enjoy it, but adults will likely find this thin.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Little Mermaid 2" appears in this edition in the film's original aspect ratio of about 1.66:1 and it's not anamorphic (appearently, the D in Disney stands for a Homer Simpson-like "D'Oh!"). Still, the picture on this dual-layer disc will satisfy most viewers. Sharpness is good, although the picture seemed a bit soft at times. Detail is fine, and clarity is never lacking.
Colors pop off the screen, looking well-saturated and bold, with no visible problems. Aside from a bit of softness, I didn't see any other problems with the presentation. No shimmering, no pixelation, and the print used, as one would expect from a new film like this one) is completely free of any marks, scratches, etc.
The film should have been anamorphic, but still, there are definitely no major problems with Disney's presentation of "Little Mermaid 2".
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio exceeded my expectations, if only mildly. It's not "Armageddon", but there are some scenes where the surrounds do provide some nice, subtle effects. The score also gets a very strong presentation, sounding dynamic and clear; the surrounds do occasionally offer the score as well. Sometimes, the audio on these straight-to-vid kids films (as well as some kids films in general) get an audio presentation that's lacking; it's nice to see that the creators of this film added a nice sense of dimension to the proceedings. Dialogue is clear and easily heard, as well. For a kids film, good stuff.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds. The usual from Disney, who really could do more with the menus of their titles.
EXTRAS: Nothing suprising here, either. The usual game(here, we get 2), storybook and older Disney short film, "Merbabies".
Final Thoughts: Certainly, "Little Mermaid 2" is going to sell well anyways, but there are better kids films out there right now. I give this title a "recommended" because the target audience (kids) is probably going to enjoy this film and want to watch it over and over - and that's cheaper in the long run than renting it over and over.
The fact remains that kids seem to enjoy whatever Disney puts out, even the many direct-to-video releases. Where I, as an adult, go "great, another Disney quick video release", kids enter a world of entertaining characters and stories that they can enjoy.
There are a couple of ways of looking at "Little Mermaid 2". From the adult perspective, the animation here certainly isn't as detailed as the original, and looks somewhat Saturday morning cartoonish at times(although not to the level that Disney's other recent direct-to-video "Buzz Lightyear" did). The story is not too much different from the first one, but it's very nicely voiced by the cast, many of which are from the first film.
Here, the sister of the sea-witch from the first film, Morgana plots to control Ariel's daughter Melody, who doesn't know about her roots as a mermaid. Although this isn't bad compared to some of Disney's other recent video releases, it is similar to those films in the way that this sequel loses a bit of spirit in comparison to the first film. The songs aren't half bad, and the vocal talent is ok, but in the end, what it is is simply Disney trying to get as much as possible out of these characters. Kids may (and probably will) enjoy it, but adults will likely find this thin.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Little Mermaid 2" appears in this edition in the film's original aspect ratio of about 1.66:1 and it's not anamorphic (appearently, the D in Disney stands for a Homer Simpson-like "D'Oh!"). Still, the picture on this dual-layer disc will satisfy most viewers. Sharpness is good, although the picture seemed a bit soft at times. Detail is fine, and clarity is never lacking.
Colors pop off the screen, looking well-saturated and bold, with no visible problems. Aside from a bit of softness, I didn't see any other problems with the presentation. No shimmering, no pixelation, and the print used, as one would expect from a new film like this one) is completely free of any marks, scratches, etc.
The film should have been anamorphic, but still, there are definitely no major problems with Disney's presentation of "Little Mermaid 2".
SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio exceeded my expectations, if only mildly. It's not "Armageddon", but there are some scenes where the surrounds do provide some nice, subtle effects. The score also gets a very strong presentation, sounding dynamic and clear; the surrounds do occasionally offer the score as well. Sometimes, the audio on these straight-to-vid kids films (as well as some kids films in general) get an audio presentation that's lacking; it's nice to see that the creators of this film added a nice sense of dimension to the proceedings. Dialogue is clear and easily heard, as well. For a kids film, good stuff.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds. The usual from Disney, who really could do more with the menus of their titles.
EXTRAS: Nothing suprising here, either. The usual game(here, we get 2), storybook and older Disney short film, "Merbabies".
Final Thoughts: Certainly, "Little Mermaid 2" is going to sell well anyways, but there are better kids films out there right now. I give this title a "recommended" because the target audience (kids) is probably going to enjoy this film and want to watch it over and over - and that's cheaper in the long run than renting it over and over.
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