The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (also known as The Little Mermaid III) is a 2008 American animated direct-to-video fantasy film produced by DisneyToon Studios, and a prequel to Disney's 1989 animated film "The Little Mermaid". Directed by Peggy Holmes, the film's story is set before the events of the original film and acts as a pilot to the television series, "The Little Mermaid: The Series", when Ariel is still young, and where all music has been banned from the underwater kingdom of Atlantica by King Triton, and Ariel attempts to challenge this law. Jodi Benson
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) cut from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" when appealing to Katzenberg. Keane pushed for the song to remain until the film was in a more finalized state. During a second test screening, the scene, now colorized and further developed, tested well with a separate child audience, and the musical number was kept. The film was originally released on November 17, 1989, followed by re-release on November 14, 1997. After the success of the 3D re-release of "The Lion King", Disney announced a 3D re-release of "The Little Mermaid" scheduled for September 13, 2013, but this was cancelled on January 14,