‘Ariel’s Story’ Fuels The Imagination Game Lets Kids Create Their Own Storybooks

“Ariel’s Story Studio” Disney Interactive, $35

There’s an ocean full of activities to bring out your kids’ creativity in “Ariel’s Story Studio CD-ROM,” the first in a new “Story Studio” product line from Disney Interactive for Windows and Macintosh.

Designed for children ages 6-10, the CD-ROM uses the story of “The Little Mermaid” (the re-release is in theaters now) to fuel kids’ imaginations as they write, design and print their own storybooks, conduct an undersea orchestra and design virtual aquariums. Kids also can read and participate in a story that features original “Mermaid” voices Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Samuel E. Wright (Sebastian the Crab).

As kids explore “Ariel’s Story Studio,” they discover personalized pages and games they can create themselves, challenging activities and hidden surprises.

Kids can join Sebastian in conducting his aquatic orchestra while creating their own musical compositions based on four popular songs from the film; design living aquariums with a variety of different fish and aquatic life, then watch them interact; take photo-realistic pictures with a virtual underwater camera to create printable “Fun Fish Fact Cards”; and sing along to music from the movie, either with vocal tracks or karaoke-style.

Other activities include digging for buried treasure, turning a statue of Eric (Ariel’s love interest) into a jigsaw puzzle or mixing colorful potions to see “Little Mermaid” film clips. Plus, a fun thesaurus and dictionary help kids build their vocabulary skills with easy-to-remember poems and synonyms.

“Ariel’s Story Studio” was developed in conjunction with Media Station, which designs and produces interactive CD-ROM entertainment. Disney Interactive offers consumers a toll-free line for information or ordering, (800) 900-9234.

Ariel’s Story Studio CD-ROM

PC minimum system requirements: Pentium 90 or better, 16MB of RAM, VGA card with 256 colors, color monitor, 4X CD-ROM drive, sound card and speakers, 14.4 baud modem optional for network play, mouse, Windows 95.

Macintosh system requirements: Performa or better/33Mhz, 8MB of RAM, color monitor with 256 colors, 2X CD-ROM drive, QuickTime 1.6.1 or higher, System 7.0.1 or higher.