The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning and Samuel E. Wright reprise their roles as Ariel and Sebastian respectively, while Sally Field voices the film's new villain, Marina Del Rey, and Jim Cummings replaces Kenneth Mars as King Triton, as Mars had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was unable to reprise the role. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on August 26, 2008. The film contradicts certain events of the television series, implying that it is an independent installment of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" franchise. King Triton and his wife, Queen Athena, rule over the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, filled with music
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) way, "Mermaid" was slated as the next major Disney release. More money and resources were dedicated to "Mermaid" than any other Disney animated film in decades. Aside from its main animation facility in Glendale, California, Disney opened a satellite feature animation facility during the production of "Mermaid" in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (near Orlando, Florida), within Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World. Opening in 1989, the Disney-MGM facility's first projects were to produce an entire Roger Rabbit cartoon short, "Roller Coaster Rabbit", and to contribute ink and paint support to "Mermaid". Another first for recent years was the