A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Metal Fish (The Little Mermaid Episode Review)

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and after having looked at an unproduced Little Mermaid TV show earlier in the week, we now move onto an episode from the TV show that did make it to air as we look at the episode, Metal Fish.  With that outta the way, let's begin. 



The Plot



The plot for this one can be summed up in one sentence.   Ariel meets Hans Christian Anderson.  There is more to it that, yes.  But that is the main gist of this episode.  Now, there are other plots going on here but that is the main hook of this episode.  We actually start out with Ariel and Flounder meeting with a mermaid that studies anthropology and unlike Scuttle,  he actually knows the names of human objects.    The human (he's not referred to as Hans Chrisitan Anderson until the very end of the episode) and wants go to exploring the underwater life and is especially fascinated by merpeople, who the rest of the humans think is myth and legend.   But the audience knows better, so we follow the human in his submariner and explore the deep sea.   There's also a subplot about Sebastian taking his Crab Scouts on a camping trip and it doesn't really add a whole lot to the episode. 


The plots converge when the submariner enters the world of the sea and goes exploring and is spotted by the characters, first being spotted by Ariel and her friends and she wants to follow it as she is so fascinated by humans.   Sebastian sees it and goes to warn King Triton about the human being there. 


The human soon runs into trouble as there is a leak in the submariner and wants to help the human but she can't figure out how.   After having been told by Sebastian of the issue, Triton shows up to the location of the human and shows up furious but Ariel and her merman friend, Archimedes are able to convince Triton just this once that not all humans are bad and he begrudgingly helps save the human and lifts him back to the surface.


The episode ends with Mr. Anderson reading his story of The Little Mermaid to the children of the village as Ariel looks on. 

This pose is such a great tribute as this is based on the real-life Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

It's a small touch but it is such a great way to work in a great part of the history of this classic story.   Kids watching it may not have picked up this when they first saw it but I think that things such as the reference to the statue and the inclusion of Hans Christian Anderson show a great deal of respect to the work that the original movie was based on.  Some might argue that this is a lazy idea but the metanarrative of authors meeting their characters is nothing new.   It just depends on the execution,  I think it's handled well here.  It can be done poorly,  cough *To Boldly Flee* cough. 


The people working on this show paid a great deal of respect to Anderson and it never felt awkward with him in the episode. 




Characters


There isn't a whole lot to say about the characters,  so I'm not going to waste much time talking about them here except for two.  Let me just go over my thoughts on the characters that I won't be going into great detail about there,  Ariel  is her great adventurous self,   Sebastian is like some Scout leaders I've seen in the past and Triton seems softer on humans here than he was in the movie but I chalk that up to this being made after the movie, even if it takes place before the movie.



Archimedes voiced by Rod McKuen

Archimedes was such a great and knowledgeable character.  It makes sense that the other merpeople would shun him for his fascination with the human world but I actually liked his knowledge there and I feel like he would have made a great mentor to Ariel,.   It would've been cool to see Ariel go to him over other things from the human world.


Hans Christian Anderson voiced by Mark Hamil

I liked Hans Christan Anderson in this episode, even if he didn't do much interacting with the characters but considering he was losing air in his submariner,  it's understandable.  I just really liked awe and wide-eyed wonder seeing the merfolk and taking it all in.




My Final Thoughts



This is a fun episode that does a great job of using the idea of the author interacting with the characters of his works and the team behind this episode went to great lengths to show respect to what came before and how more important Anderson is as a literary figure.   Join me next time as we look at Melody.  Peace!

A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Revisiting Little Mermaid's Island

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney as we continue our deep dive into Disney's mermaid history.   Years ago,  I gave my thoughts on the Jim Henson produced pilot Little Mermaid's Island.  A pilot that was meant for Disney Channel to air as a daily series.   This series would have been akin to shows such as Welcome to Pooh Corner and Dumbo's Circus.  However, the puppets were of a higher quality. 

However, at the time of my writing of that original article,  only a clip of this show existed on YouTube.   However, the two episodes that were shot but never aired of this show have been uploaded to YouTube in full.  I will provide links to these episodes here,  Sebastian's Birthday and To Tell The Truth. 


And after having watched both of these episodes, man.....   I really wanted to like this, I really did.   It had the makings of being something I could love.  Puppets that were done by Jim Henson based on characters from one of my favorite Disney movies. 


Let's start with the plots for the episodes.



Sebastian's Birthday


It's Sebastian's birthday and his friends are planning a surprise party for him and it opens with a song with Sebastian singing about it being his birthday.  And okay, there are way too many songs in this thing.  Almost every other scene has a character breaking out into song.   Ariel, Flounder and Flounder's sister,  Sandy (We will talk about her and some other characters in a bit)  tell Sebastian that they are too busy to play with him.   And this leads to the usual plot that you see in this kinds of episodes as Sebastian thinks that no-one cares about him but they meet up at their friend, Scales The Dragon's cave to celebrate his birthday. 


To Tell The Truth


This episode was okay and the lesson was a bit more on the nose of it was about not lying as Flounder breaks Ariel's pearls after she goes up to visit Grimsby, who has a special surprise and Flotsam and Jetsam convince Flounder and his sister to lie to Ariel about what happened.   And they end up taking some of Ariel's pearls.  Yeah,  it's not great but I think I liked this episode a bit more.



Characters


Ariel played by Marietta DePrima

Ariel felt off in this incarnation.  She's not bad but the jovial and adventurous spirit that Ariel has in the movie doesn't seem to be present.   I thought at first that her presence in this show equated mean but the more I think about it,  the more I think that's not the case and I think the word that I was looking for was stern.  Consider that Triton and Ariel's sisters are not present in this show.  So, in a way that made have to be the adult of the group.   Which could have worked and while I did enjoy what Ms. DePrima did with the role to make it different from Jodi Benson,  it felt off.


Sebastian  voiced by Samuel E. Wright

Sebastian was easily one of the best characters in this show and I contribute that highly to getting Samuel E. Wright back to voice him for this show as he felt like Sebastian all the way through. And he was the most enjoyable part of the first episode.


Flounder and Sandy - Unknown

Again,  Flounder felt off and I think part of the problem with that comes from the introduction of his sister, Sandy as his character was reduced from a guppy, a loyal guppy that truly cared for Ariel as his best friend and would do anything for her.   Just listen to his voice,  when he asks

Ariel, are you okay? 

As you can feel the sincerity in his voice for his friend but in this show, his role was reduced to "boy"  and Sandy was just"girl"  or girl Flounder. 


Scuttle voiced by Buddy Hackett

Scuttle was the other great highlight of this show as again,  it was Buddy Hackett playing him and you can't go wrong there as he was just so great in this role. 




Grimsby played by Clive Revill 

In another interesting change with this show,  Grimsby is a jovial sea captain that already knows Ariel and her friends.  And while this is a huge and I mean a huge departure from the character in the movie,  I liked this character as he was just so fun.  Granted,  the Disney nerd in me did find it weird that Ariel already knew him and that Eric was never mentioned throughout either one of these episodes.   And speaking of,  Grim was Max's owner in this show and I should bring this up for Henson fans.

The puppet used for Ambrosius in Labyrinth was recycled as Max the sheepdog.

Scales The Dragon voiced by Jim Cummings,  performed by Michael Thompson

Hi Jim Cummings!   This character felt superfluous as he rarely interacted with any of the other cast members except for Grimbsy and I think Scuttle or Sebastian but he really added nothing of value to the show.  To be honest, when I wrote my original article on this show,  I had no idea that this character existed and I think that's for a good reason as he's perhaps the least interesting part of the show.



My Final Thoughts


Jim Henson sadly passed away two months after filming these episodes was completed and that does kinda put these in a different light a bit.  As you could see what he was going for with this show and if had survived,  maybe something could have come from it.  At the end of the day,  it is just an interesting footnote in Jim Henson and Disney history of a what could've been.  I liked the idea of what I saw in these two episodes and I think if this show had gone forward, this would probably be one of the better puppet/live-action shows that aired on Disney Channel in that era.  I do hope that you guys take the time to watch these two episodes as they are fun to look back at if you are a fan of Jim Henson or if you love Ariel.   Join me next time as we look at an episode of The Little Mermaid TV series...

A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Melody

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney as we continue our Mermaid event and just as we did with Ariel's Beginning,  I am foregoing an old rule that I set up years ago to not look at the direct-to-video cheapquels.  However,  this will not be a full review as there really isn't a whole lot I have to say about this movie.  It's not bad and it's perfectly serviceable.   I am talking about The Little Mermaid II: Return to The Sea.  Instead of doing a whole review of this okay sequel,  I wanted to talk about its main character, Melody and attempt to state why I think she is a pretty decent character.  You'd be shocked but Melody has a pretty large fanbase.


Voice Actress


Tara Strong

Melody was voiced by popular voice actress, Tara Strong and this was actually my introduction to Ms. Strong.   It's funny going back and hearing her in this role as you do get a hint of some of her later roles but that is probably just my brain playing tricks on me.  I gotta say that I really like Ms. Strong in this role.   And according to all the sources that I've read,  she has stated that Melody is her favorite role that she's ever played.  As stated on the DisneyWiki

Despite the unpopularity of the sequel, Melody's actually a pretty popular character with a relatively large fanbase. In fact, Tara Strong has said that, out of all the characters that she has voiced, Melody is her favorite.

And I think that is one of the biggest things that makes it work as you can feel her enthusiasm for the role and that is what makes Melody rather likable. 




First Appearance

Melody is first seen at the beginning as a baby girl and she is really sweet and this is where we get our first look at this movie's confusing villain, Morgana.  Ursula's crazy sister that both resents Ursula and wants revenge against Ursula.   and because of her attacking the baby,  we are treated to one of the dumbest decisions in this movie, Ariel decides that to protect her daughter, that she can never know the truth of merpeople or Atlantica. 



Personality



Now  if I'm, to be honest, and fair,  I will admit that critique that this movie is the original in reverse is a valid complaint and that is seen somewhat in  Melody in how she is a bit more awkward and feels like more of an outcast at 12 than her mother did in the original  movie.  She is also a bit sassy and tomboyish and of course, there is the obvious thing that she collects items from the sea as a contrast to her mother collecting things from the land.   And this brings me to one of the biggest issues with this movie, the relationship between Ariel and Melody and it can be summed up with this meme. 

This pretty much sums Ariel in this movie as she becomes her dad somewhat in regards to how she treats her daughter in much the same vein, she was treated. Granted, it is softened a bit but it just felt off.   




Biggest Desire

To be a Mermaid



That's all there is to her grand desire.  They attempt to throw in things about her feeling out of place in the human world and thinking that she could fit better in the land of the sea.   It's not a bad idea but more could be done with it if the movie had a longer runtime than the average direct-to-video movie. 




Song


For a Moment





Man, if Melody could have more moments like this in the movie than she could have been an even better character than the hint of what we were shown at first.  This song shows that there was something there to work with as you really get to see understand her excitement in this number and this number is better than anything else in the movie.




Sidekicks

Tip & Dash

Man, these two bring the movie down a whole lot.   How we do go from Sebastian, Flounder & Scuttle in the original to these two?  I just look at these two and think that whoever worked on this movie and saw that Timon and Pumbaa were popular in The Lion King and wanted a comedy duo in that vein but forgot any of the charm. 




Is Melody a Good Character? 


Good would be generous but considering the batch of uninspired characters that came out of the cheapquels,  she is a bit better than most.  I'd take over someone like Quasimodo's live interest in the Hunchback sequel and I do think that her character shows that you can tell fun stories about children of Disney characters unlike a certain franchise *cough* Descendants *cough.*    Really,  the problem with Melody lies in the execution.  She's not a bad character by any stretch of the imagination, she just could have used a stronger story. 

A Look at Disney Swims with Mermaids: Disney Princess (Free Comic Book Day)

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and we continue our swim through mermaid merchandise from Disney as we look at a comic that was put out as a part of Free Comic Book Day 2018 and it was something that I had to get my hands on as I am both a fan of the character featured in this comic and one of the writers that contributed to this comic, Amy Mebberson.   I first came across Mebberson's work thanks to her excellent webcomic,  Pocket Princesses.   And if you haven't checked it out, you really should. 


Oh,  and this comic comes from Joe Books LTD.  Which appear to be a smaller publisher that seems to specialize in the licenses for Disney that other companies such as IDW haven't scooped up. 




Cover

This is great cover as it perfectly captures Ariel's inquisitive nature as she is exploring these treasures that she has come across.    Oh, and hi Lumiere cameo.  I have no real place to put this but I do have one complaint to bring up regarding this comic but there is one complaint that I have, you have to turn the comic on it's to read it.  Not just one page but the whole comic. 

This is something that bugged me a little bit.  Now, this isn't my first time reading a Disney Princess comic as I bought the Rapunzel issue out of curiosity on Comixology last year.  But since I was reading that digitally, this wasn't a major concern.





As for the content in this book, that's a bit harder to talk about as the Disney Princess comics are anthology books that collect stories that are akin to joke strips and not everyone will land for each person.  There are ones about Ariel trying out instruments or meeting an ambassador that gets clammed up because he's a clam.   The art is consistent and adorable for each strip. 

This is but one example of how good the art can be for this book.  Really, you gotta decide whether or not, something like this is for you or not.   I will say that I do appreciate that the different comics do allow for Ariel's large supporting cast a chance to shine. However, this does bring me to the most pedantic complaint that someone could have. 


I like that they include strips that show moments with Ariel after she got to be with Eric, however sandwiching them between strips where she is still a mermaid seems like a weird flow choice.  I understand that this is not unique to this comic as the Rapunzel issue sandwich short brunette haired Rapunzel strips in between those that featured long blonde hair Rapunzel.  Doing something such as this felt a bit jarring and I thought it would have made more sense to leave the comics with human Ariel towards the end but again,  it's a minor complaint. 




My Final Thoughts


It's pretty clear that this comic is intended for a younger audience and people that enjoy a breezy read.   It's an enjoyable book if you want something light.    I'm glad to have it as I love Ariel and it also serves as a great reminder of the first year that I got to take part in Free Comic Book Day.  Join me tomorrow as we dive into a YA Novel that puts the Sea Witch at the forefront as we look at...


Poor Unfortunate Soul

Knowing Who You Are In The Face of Epilepsy

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney, anyone that has read any of my past blogs knows that I have brought up my epilepsy in the past such as when I discussed Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, that was the basis for that article. It's been years since I first wrote that article and almost 8 years since I've had a seizure but the fear of having one will never subside and after listening to my favorite song from Moana,   I've somewhat realized that this song can help me to express what it feels like for me at times.







And while I understand that was not the intent of the song,  it does help me to express what it feels likes.  With that, I want to look at some of the lyrics from this song and explain how they have helped me to somewhat cope with that this is a part of my life.

I have crossed the horizon to find you
I know your name

When Moana uses these lines to calm Te Ka down and show the goddess compassion,  I am reminded of all the times, that whenever I would go into one of my seizures (Sometimes up to 20 a day), I always had a support system there for me as my mom and dad would come to my aid and look after me until I had calmed down and everything had returned to normal. This is the easy part to talk about. 

They have stolen the heart from inside you

And this is where things get a little harder to talk about, while I never had my heart taken from me a la Te Fiti, I did feel as though that for the longest time,  epilepsy had stolen part of my life away from me at times.  And I'm sure that others might have felt that way and for people living with something that they cannot control, this is a common feeling.  As there were times, I wanted to view my seizures as something physical that I could take my frustrations out on and just make them leave me alone that way.  Sadly,  things don't work that way.

But this does not define you

This is not who you are

You know who you are

And this is where the things get the hardest to talk about as I mentioned in the opening,  the fear of my seizures will never go away and that also ties into the biggest fear that I have, people treating me differently because of my seizures.  I was always afraid in high school that if someone found out, I had epilepsy, that is all they would see and not a person.  It's been ten years since I graduated high school but there are still days, I have those thoughts at.   It's hard but just as Moana states here, I have to remind myself that they do not define me.  Instead, they are just a part of my life that like to pop up every so often. 

Being older, I am able to see that they do not define me but as a kid growing up with epilepsy, that is how it felt at times.   And even if I do fall into that thought process, this song is there to remind that they do not define me. 


I hope that you've enjoyed this more personal blog but this is something that I really had to write.  Peace!