The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (also known by the working title, The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning or The Little Mermaid 3: Ariel's Beginning) is a 2008 American animated direct-to-video fantasy film produced by Disneytoon Studios, with the animation production being done by Toon City and DisneyToon Studios Australia. This film is the prequel to Disney's 1989 animated feature film The Little Mermaid, the third installment in The Little Mermaid trilogy, and the last direct-to-video sequel after John Lasseter took over as chairman for the Disney Animation Division. It is also the first in the chronology of the story running through the series and it is based on the fairy tale The Little Mermaid of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen and Disney's The Little Mermaid by Walt Disney Animation Japan and Walt Disney Television.

Plot

King Triton and his wife, Queen Athena, rule over the underwater kingdom of Atlantica, filled with music and laughter. They have seven young daughters: Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, Andrina, and the youngest of whom is Ariel. One day, while the merpeople relax in a lagoon above the surface, King Triton gifts Queen Athena a music box. However, the merfolk flee at the approach of a pirate ship. Everyone escapes except Queen Athena, who, while trying to recover the music box, is killed when the ship crashes into the lagoon. Devastated by his wife's death, Triton, having become bitter of music, throws the music box away and permanently bans music from Atlantica.