Product Description

A mermaid decides to drink a magical potion that will turn her tail into legs so she can be with the sailor she has fallen in love with.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31787 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-11-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 51 minutes

Customer Reviews

a true FAERIE TALE THEATRE classic
FAERIE TALE THEATRE's touching and tender recreation of THE LITTLE MERMAID (the second-last in the series) is one of their best efforts.

Pearl (Pam Dawber) is a beautiful young mermaid who lives with her father King Neptune (Brian Dennehy) and her sisters Coral and Anemonie (Donna McKechnie and Laraine Newman) in a kingdom at the bottom of the ocean. When Pearl comes of age and is allowed a brief glimpse of the world above the sea, she falls in love with a handsome Prince (Treat Williams) whom she saves from drowning when his ship has a fatal explosion.

She makes a bargain with the Sea Witch (Karen Black): her voice in exchange for a pair of legs and hopefully the love of the Prince. Once on land Pearl quickly returns to the Prince, though he only has eyes for the lovely Princess Emilia (Helen Mirren).

What follows is a heartbreaking story of selfless love and sacrifice, as Pearl risks everything for true love...

Pam Dawber leads a strong cast. Karen Black is amazing as the Sea Witch; Newman and McKechnie are a delight as Pearl's sisters and Treat Williams fills the role of the Prince admirably. A true gem in the series

One of the better episodes
QUOTED FROM M REINKING -""One also must note the ending, which tries to change the sad ending of the original fairy tale where the Mermaid turns into seafoam, and that's the end of that. But here, they make her a "Spirit of the Air", so she can watch over her Prince. Blah. A bad ending to a bad film.""

M. Reinking obviously did not read the original story by Hans Anderson. Yes the mermaid did start to turn to sea foam, but that was not the end of that. in the book she was transformed into a "Daughter of the Air" and given a second chance at obtaining an eternal soul. So M Reinking doesn't even know what they are talking about.

As for the film, Yes, the special effects would be laughed at by kids today spoiled with amazing looking films like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Where the film still stands strong though is in the story and performances by Pam Dawber, Treat Williams and the always admirable Helen Mirren. Shelly Duvall did a great service for kids in the 80's with her series of Faerie Tale Theaters. Sure today we have films and series of better quality but I would hope that everyone who grew up with these can still appriciate them the way they did when they were kids.

The Little Mermaid
I enjoyed this movie very much. It met all of my expectations for a Faerie Tale Theatre film. It was great. It followed the original faerie tale version, so the end was a little sad (I almost felt like crying). But it taught a good lesson and did end on a happy note.