The Catfish Club Band are a quartet of characters who appear only in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. They are the house band of the Catfish Club, the underground music club in Atlantica that existed in opposition to King Triton's ban on music. Their band leader and vocalist is Sebastian, who also plays maracas. While these specific characters make their début in Ariel's Beginning, similar characters did appear in the Under the Sea sequence in the first movie.
Appearances
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
They first appeared when Ariel followed Flounder to the club, where they sang "Jump in the Line (Shake Senora)" with Sebastian. At first they were afraid of her because they thought she would tell King Triton, but when she sings "I Remember" they come out of hiding and sing with her and welcome her into the club and give her the nickname "Red". The next night Ariel brought her sisters to come and Arista got to play Cheeks's saxophone. However, Marina spotted Sebastian and told King Triton, who locked them, Sebastian, and Flounder in the dungeon. Ariel freed them and started to run away and sang "Shake Shake Senora" again. Once they arrived at the shadowy place where Ariel found her mother's music box, they couldn't go back to Atlantica with Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian because they didn't want to be sent back to jail. However, when they returned to save Flounder and Ariel from Marina's Electric Eels, they and Ariel were trapped by the eels. They were able to escape when Flounder tied the eels into a knot. King Triton arrived and took Ariel home, then they got a group hug. They arrived at King Trition's annoucement and bought back music and welcome Arista into the band and danced in the dancing train.
Members
- Ray-Ray (Kevin Michael Richardson), is a sky-blue manta ray, who plays a bass. He is resident womaniser in the band. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson with a deep voice.
- Cheeks (Kevin Michael Richardson), is a green blowfish, who plays a saxophone. He has a deep raspy voice. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
- Ink Spot (Rob Paulsen), is a violet octopus, who plays a piano. He releases black ink when scared and he's the most cowardly member. He has the highest voice and is voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- Shelbow (Jim Cummings), is a teal sea turtle, who plays drums (including his own shell). He is the calmest member. He is voiced by Jim Cummings, who also took over the late Kenneth Mars' character King Triton for this movie and voices Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.
Trivia
- Ink Spot is claustrophobic, and unlike normal octopuses (octopi), he does not display the ability to squeeze through small spaces or change his colour but he calms down when he squeezes a ball.
- The Catfish Club Band will meet SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends in SpongeBob's Adventures of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
- The Catfish Club Band will meet Simba, Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa in Littlefoot's Adventures of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
- The Catfish Club Band will meet Littlefoot and his friends in Littlefoot's Adventures of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
- The Catfish Club Band will meet Aladar and his family in Aladar's Adventures of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.
- Due to the fact that Pooh's Adventures of The Little Mermaid already marked the first time Pooh and his friends had met the main characters from The Little Mermaid franchise and Bloom's Adventures of The Little Mermaid will mark the first time Bloom and her friends will met the main characters from The Little Mermaid franchise, The Catfish Club Band will reunite with Ash Ketchum, Littlefoot, Simba, SpongeBob, Aladar, and their friends and meet Winnie the Pooh, Bloom, and their friends for the first time in the sixth season of Pooh's Adventures of Once Upon a Time, in which they will visit Storybrooke from The Land of Untold Stories.