Yeah, that as well. Not to mention there are also massive continuity problems with Ariel's Beginning as well, extending even to the original film. There's how Ariel's sisters' birth order was swapped around, or how Triton seems to blame music over the humans most directly responsible for the death of his wife (thus utterly ruining what would have been a perfectly valid explanation for his genocidal hatred for humans in the original film), not even instituting a surface ban, or how Ariel didn't seem to even HAVE a discernible interest in human stuff in that movie. The Little Mermaid II may not have been a very good movie, but at least it actually TRIED to keep continuity to the film and even to some extent the TV series, and even the changes in characterization there were somewhat justified. And don't get me started about how Flounder was made completely unrecognizable in terms of personality for no real reason, nor do they even effectively develop him to ensure he becomes the worrywart we know and love. They even nearly warped Ariel as well. The only reason she even HAS her rebellious personality at all in the film is because Jodi Benson pushed for it. Otherwise, she would have been depicted like the protagonist of many teen sitcoms in the late 2000s.
So far as The Little Mermaid II, I don't exactly have that many fond memories of the film, since I walked out before it even reached half-way out of disgust, not to mention it as well as Kids WB's sock party ad are partially responsible for my trauma-induced hatred of singing. However, even I won't go so far as to say it's the worst TLM entry out there (Ariel's Beginning takes the cake there, as aforementioned), let alone the worst Disney sequel. I know Hunchback of Notre Dame II was much worse (the trailer told me ALL I needed to know about how bad that film was, especially the "diamond underwear" line). And from what I've heard of Mulan II, Pocahontas II, and Belle's Magical World, they probably made TLM II seem like an Acadamy Award winner (at least the general conception of it making a really good movie). Besides, the rerelease actually improved on some things, which actually IS a pretty good thing. To be honest, I view Melody and Ariel with an immense amount of respect, so I have little reason to hate her, and let's face it, at least they in their respective films actually DID have a reason to complain anyhow, and even Ariel in the sequel at least had a far more justified reason for sheltering Melody from the other world than Triton did (at least with Ariel's actions, there was a very definite threat, so Melody's effectively under witness protection. Triton just hated humans for reasons that can best be described as racism). And I'm probably one of those few people who actually saw the strategic reasoning behind the wall, anyhow, so I can't complain about that. If anything, the songs aside, I actually hated Morgana's portrayal in the film. Though at least the rerelease did actually fix Morgana's character somewhat by actually SHOWING her motivation.
In a way, TLMII has come a long way, since it's recently been voted one of the best sequels. Besides, it certainly had a far better plot and characterizations than Beauty and the Beast did, and I certainly can understand why Ariel and Melody did what they did, while with Belle, well, I really can't follow her now, especially not when she sold Beast and his servants out to the mob despite knowing full well what Gaston's like and then acting all surprised when they just decide to kill them. Such a shame that TLM II led to the cancellation of the Disney Sequels, though. They were getting better, and besides, I could have settled for an actual sequel for Beauty and the Beast, one actually set during the French Revolution I should add, since quite frankly, that film needed it especially in light of rather negative implications of Belle's future if you've studied up on the history of that time period (and I don't mean her dying at the hands of the French Revolutionaries, I mean her actually JOINING those revolutionaries and basically pulling a Nibelheim Incident on France).
Maybe someday, I'll confront my past demons and watch TLM II again. I have the special edition, so it should be safe.
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