Let's take a closer look at Sebastian's Party Gras, the follow-up to Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree from 1992. From what I can tell, this was a more low-key release than its predecessor, with international distribution, if any, being more limited - I was unable to find any evidence that the sequel was ever released in the UK and had to import my copy from the US. Like the original, this special went hand-in-hand with an audio release of the same name, but according to Discogs, only appeared in cassette format (Jamboree also got a CD release). I mean, I'm assuming that the original did reasonably well if they even bothered making a sequel at all, so I'm going to attribute this decreased enthusiasm to the then-recent success of Beauty and The Beast, which had surpassed The Little Mermaid at the box office by a significant margin and went on to be nominated for Best Picture, confirming that the Disney Renaissance was indeed well underway. The Little Mermaid had served its purpose but was now yesterday's news, and promoting a weird little Mermaid spin-off like Sebastian's Party Gras was likely no longer a top priority for Disney (which is not to suggest that Ariel was entirely forgotten in 1992 - that's when her spin-off cartoon debuted on the Disney Channel, after all). In my opinion, though, this is easily the better of the two Sam Wright/Sebastian spin-offs, chiefly because it's more a lot more focused on Sebastian than Jamboree, where the cartoon crab had only a supporting role. Party Gras attempts to be more story-orientated than its predecessor, which didn't consist of a whole lot more than Wright singing, dancing and occasionally exchanging words with Sebastian on the side. In both cases, all of the animation used is 100% recycled from the original feature, meaning that the efforts to give Sebastian his own story were severely limited to what could be cobbled together from existing footage. The result looks goofy, is goofy, is entirely aware of how astoundingly goofy it is. Party Gras makes no attempt to cover the sheer ludicrousness of its central scenario, and the whole thing is tremendously good fun.
Once again, we have Caribbean crooner Samuel E. Wright teaming up with his cancrine counterpart Sebastian to put on a calypso-flavoured show at Walt Disney World, Florida. This time, however, the proceedings are complicated by the interference of Sebastian's boss King Triton (Kenneth Mars), who's none too thrilled to learn that his crab underling has been hanging out with a human, mortal enemy of all things marine, and demands that Sebastian break off his partnership with Wright. This crushes Sebastian, who's grown to look upon Wright as his tightest of chums. Triton permits him to work with Wright one more time, at tonight's Disney World concert, but instructs him to let Wright know that they can never be together again. There's a certain air of soap opera melodrama to their exchange, which almost makes it seem as if Triton is commanding Sebastian to break off a romantic relationship out of sheer jealousy, and Mars's hilarious performance plays right into the spirit of this - compared to the movie proper, where Triton could be genuinely threatening, here he's been given a distinctly campy edge which enhances the wonderfully ridiculous tone.
Meanwhile, Wright kicks off Party Gras as he did in Jamboree, by touring various Disney World locations with a young team of back-up dancers in tow. For the most part, this functions as a shameless bit of "Come to Disney World! We have palm trees and studio lots!" promotion, although there is a great bit where Wright fools around with a creepy-looking "mannequin" at a ticket kiosk (I'm confused - is this based on something you can actually see at Disney World?). Before the concert itself gets underway, Wright has a brief backstage meeting with Sebastian, who's still struggling over how to break the unfortunate news to his human friend. Wright and Sebastian don't actually interact all that much this time round - in fact, once Wright goes on stage Party Gras turns into a fairly straightforward concert film, with Wright performing for a crowd and not much else. Once again, Wright turns a spirited selection of Caribbean classics and pop covers (including a delightful reggae-themed take on The Beatles' "Octopus's Garden") and his energy and charisma go a long way, although visually there's not really anything here to match some of the eye-popping weirdness seen in some of the sequences of Jamboree (the strangest moment involves a floating brass ring that appears at the end of one song). Some might therefore find it a little duller than its predecessor, but what keeps it consistently hilarious throughout is that underlying story thread involving Triton - throughout the concert, he's watching Wright perform on a magical all-seeing bubble (wasn't that Ursula's toy in the original film? Hmm) and regularly makes comments between songs on how much the kids seem to love Wright, ergo he's maybe not such a bad guy. Finally, he reaches the startling conclusion that, "That Sam is alright."
Sebastian, totally unaware that his tyrannical boss is having an unexpected change of heart, decides that he cannot break the news to Wright in person and leaves him a note after the show. Before Wright gets a chance to read it, he's approached by this Disney World suit (not sure who he really is, as he's not credited at the end) who congratulates him on putting on one of the best concerts of all-time and invites him to be the grand marshal of the Disney World Party Gras parade. Sam cannot wait to share this news with Sebastian, and is consequently crushed when he reads the note and realises that his cancrine comrade has permanently left him.
Under the sea, meanwhile, Triton is having to admit to Sebastian that Wright is a pretty cool guy, and if Sebastian wants to carry on performing with him, he has his royal blessing. Overjoyed, Sebastian goes swimming back to Wright; before he can impart the good news, however, Wright tries to assure him that he understands why they can no longer be together and begs Sebastian not to try to explain. Again, there's the inescapable air of two lovers having to go their separate ways. Finally, Sebastian gets a word in edgeways and tells Wright that they can be together after all. Wright is over the moon, and suggests that he and Sebastian go celebrate their reaffirmed union at the Party Gras parade. We then get a glimpse of this parade as the end-credits role.
There were no more Sebastian/Wright concert films after this - understandably so, as they probably had stretched the concept (not to mention all that recycled animation) about as far as it could go with this one, and I'm quite happy to leave things on that note of warm reassurance that nothing under the sea or above can possibly come between Sebastian and Wright. Today, Jamboree and Party Gras still hold up as wonderfully endearing products of their time, and even if The Little Mermaid did end up being somewhat put in the shade by the Best Picture-nominated success of Beauty and The Beast, we Mermaid fans can take solace in the fact that Lumière never got a video half as cool, let alone two.
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