DVD Review-The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning

I have never been a big fan a sequels or prequels or anything other than the first movie. I usually like the original movie but not much past that and this is especially true when it comes to animated sequels. These mostly straight to DVD movies that never actually see the inside of a movie theatre have never really appealed to me. But Disney sure loves their sequels and apparently it is a big business. My kids love the sequels or at least they think they do and I usually indulge them.

My three year old, Annabella, would give her left arm if she only had a fin. She so desperately wants to be Ariel the mermaid that she once wore the costume for four days straight. We could not get it off of her. However with the same cheapness that apparently all dress up clothes are made, the costume actually started to unravel and come apart. So I snuck it one night while she was sleeping and with fingernail clippers, secretly cut the rest of the seams. She woke up to two pieces of the dress. She came out crying and I told her that we would have to buy her a new one. That was it. Harsh? Maybe but she smelled. Enough was enough.

So you can probably imagine the fervor in my house building up to the release of The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning. My child, did I mention that she was three? She cannot even read but everyday she asked me if it was August 26th yet. Disney marketing reigns supreme on many channels and she had memorized that commercial word for word. She even does the Ariel singing, “ Ahhhhhh, ah, ah. Ahhhhhhh, ah, ah.”

On release day, we went and bought the movie. We watched it. Three times. It was a little scary at first when the pirate ship captured Ariel’s mother but we never really found out her fate. This movie actually surprised me because it was pretty good. There was singing, music, happiness and a few great lessons to learn even though this movie had no prince. Not a bad move for Disney to stray away from their typical formula. We liked The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning in this family! I guess that I had better replace that costume now.

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