Ornament Review: Under the Sea - 2013 Hallmark Ornament

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good sculpt and fun sound clip

Cons: Too big and tips forward when hung

The Bottom Line:

Yes, size matters here

Sebastian just looks too big

Still fun ornament

Is Sebastian in Search of a Greener Christmas Tree?

While I'm not a die hard fan of Disney's The Little Mermaid, I absolutely love the music from the film.  So how could I pass up Hallmark's 2013 ornament Under The Sea?

The ornament focuses on Sebastian the crab in a big way.  In fact, the ornament is pretty much just Sebastian.  He's standing on a closed oyster shell with his right hand sticking straight out and his left hand up in the air.  His mouth is open like he's singing, which makes sense since this is a magic ornament.

Yep, that's right.  Just add the two button batteries, and you get to hear Sebastian sing "Under the Sea."  It's about a 20 second clip from the first chorus of the song.  (And yes, I do know the song well enough to know that.  The laugh at the end was the final clue, but I suspected already.)  It's short as far as sound clips go, but anything longer would just lead to a weird cut off at the end.  And the battery hiding compartment?  In a fun twist, it's actually in the back under Sebastian's shell.

Despite the fact that Sebastian is sitting on a shell, this ornament does a pretty good job of sitting on any flat surface.  It's will rock a bit, and it wouldn't take much to knock him over, but if you set him on a shelf or other sturdy flat surface, he's not going anywhere.

Unfortunately, he tips forward quite a bit when you hang him.  There's a loop in the back of his head, and the tip you get when you hang him is noticeable.  Once he's at eye level, he looks okay, but if he's down near the bottom of your tree at all, you'll notice.

But I have a bigger problem with Sebastian himself - his size.  Don't get me wrong, this is a great sculpt of a great character, and the sound clip is very, very fun.  And ornament is about the same size as most Hallmark ornaments.  However, for just Sebastian by himself, he turns out to be too big.  I wouldn't want him as small as a Hallmark mini ornament, but somewhere between half his current size and three fourths of his current size would have been much, much better.

Yes, size matters, but I couldn't pass up this chance to own Sebastian in ornament form, especially with the added fun of the Under The Sea sound clip.  While not perfect, I really like this ornament.

Original Price: $17.95