WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY, THE: SABRINA DOWN UNDER (TV)

Summary

One of this series of Disney movies presented under the umbrella title "The Wonderful World of Disney." This film, based on the television series "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," details Sabrina's vacation in Australia and her efforts to save a colony of imperiled merfolk.

Sabrina and Gwen go to a resort on Hamilton Island off the coast of Australia for a vacation. Sabrina is particularly interested in seeing the Great Barrier Reef, as she has acquired an interest in marine biology. Unbeknownst to Sabrina, Salem has secretly arrived at the resort as well, using a ruse to make the resort staff believe that he is the pet of one of the guests. On the beach, Sabrina and Gwen befriend a local named Jerome before Sabrina meets Dr. Julian Martin, a marine biologist whose work she is familiar with. He proves to be gruff at first but is impressed by Sabrina's interest in the reef, of which he is highly protective. He invites Sabrina and Gwen out on a diving expedition the next day. Meanwhile, Salem spots another cat staying at the resort and finds himself instantly attracted to her.

Out on the reef, Sabrina and Gwen explore around before Sabrina transforms herself into a fish to get a closer look. Salem deduces that the other cat is a witch sentenced to be trapped in the body of a cat, similar to him. She introduces herself as Hilary and turns him away, showing no interest in him. Sabrina discovers what appears to be a supposedly extinct fish swimming along the reef. Gwen encounters a young man who introduces himself as Barnaby swimming along the reef as well, and notices that he has an odd rash on his shoulder. Sabrina surfaces and Barnaby disappears. She tells Dr. Martin about her sighting the fish and he finds it interesting, and makes arrangements for the sighting to be verified. He tells her about a recent epidemic amongst marine mammals near the resort, which he believes is the result of illegal toxic waste dumping on the other side of the island. However, he has no proof of any illegal activity, otherwise the resort would likely press charges.

Later, Sabrina and Gwen discover a beached merman, and Gwen recognizes him as Barnaby. A mermaid and her pet dolphin observe them from the water as they magically teleport themselves and Barnaby back to their room, where they try to clumsily hide him from the other guests. In the midst of all this Sabrina encounters Salem, much to their mutual surprise. They decide to hide Barnaby in Salem's room and keep him alive in Salem's hot tub. They soon awaken him and he explains that he was seeking help for himself and his fellow merfolk, as they are suffering from the same illness that has befallen other sea creatures in the area. The last group he encountered proved hostile, and he was able to escape to the beach. Sabrina and Gwen reveal that they are witches and cast a spell on Barnaby to transform his tail into a pair of human legs for 48 hours in order to conceal his identity.

Barnaby adjusts to his new legs and encounters the mermaid and dolphin from earlier; he introduces them as Fin, his sister, and her pet Spout. Fin detests humans and is disgusted by what Sabrina and Gwen have done to Barnaby, refusing to speak to them any longer. Meanwhile, Dr. Martin receives aerial photos of Barnaby from the reef, although he is skeptical as to their veracity. Sabrina and Gwen bring Barnaby in to see Dr. Martin and he treats Barnaby's rash with an ointment he has developed, although he is puzzled by it occurring in a human being. They leave and Dr. Martin realizes that the photos seem to match Barnaby's appearance, further stoking his curiosity.

Hilary finally agrees to date Salem out of boredom. Sabrina treats Barnaby with the ointment and they decide to spend some time together having fun around the resort. Later they attend a talent show where Jerome has entered in a shoddy mermaid costume. Sabrina, Gwen, Barnaby, and Jerome all go out dancing afterwards. Sabrina and Barnaby's romantic interlude is interrupted by the arrival of Spout, who tells Barnaby that Fin is succumbing to the illness, and her days may be numbered. Since the spell granting Barnaby legs has not yet fully elapsed, Sabrina offers to take the ointment to Fin and help her. The next morning, Sabrina sneaks into Dr. Martin's office to get more ointment, but he catches her. She makes up an excuse as to why she needs it and he provides more, but also secretly places a tracking device in her backpack. She meets Gwen, Barnaby, and Salem at the docks before being spirited away to the merfolk colony by Spout. Gwen tries to summon up a dolphin of her own so she can help, but instead accidentally transforms Salem into a catfish.

Sabrina arrives at the secret merfolk lagoon, and the inhabitants flee in terror when she arrives. Dr. Martin is able to determine the location of the lagoon via the tracking device. Fin tells Sabrina that she is not wanted there, but Sabrina convinces her to allow her to lend aid. Fin relents when Sabrina promises her that she will not allow any harm to come to her, Barnaby, or the merfolk colony. Sabrina returns to shore and reunites with Gwen and Barnaby. Salem is caught by a pair of fishermen and brought ashore. Sabrina, Gwen, and Barnaby decide that they need Dr. Martin's help to save the merfolk colony and plan to reveal its existence to him. Meanwhile, Dr. Martin devises a plan to enter the merfolk lagoon and capture one of them; he is overheard by Hilary, upset that Salem has not yet arrived for their date. Sabrina discovers that Salem has been caught by a restaurant's catch of the day tank and magically restores him to his cat form, although not in time for him to make his date.

The next morning Salem makes it up to Hilary by taking her to the other side of the island to photograph her against the backdrop of the rising sun. In the process he inadvertently manages to photograph the ship responsible for the illegal ocean dumping. Before Sabrina can talk to Dr. Martin, she discovers the tracking device he slipped into her backpack and goes to confront him over it. Her accusations have no effect on him and he is determined to continue, but Sabrina stops his boat by magically summoning a powerful storm. However, her lack of caution results in her getting struck by lightning, forcing Gwen to teleport herself and Sabrina back to their room. Salem and Barnaby rush to lend aid by hijacking a truck, although Barnaby's lack of driving experience makes it rough going. Sabrina awakens relatively unharmed, but Gwen determines that the electric charge from the lightning will make Sabrina temporarily unable to use her magic. The spell on Barnaby wears off and he reverts to his merman form in the middle of driving the truck, nearly running over Dr. Martin. He spills out of the driver's seat, revealing his true form to Dr. Martin.

Dr. Martin sequesters Barnaby in the resort's swimming pool, and rumors of a captured merman soon draw a large crowd and news reporters. He plans to have Barnaby kept in an aquarium, while the resort manager hopes to use all the media attention for his own personal gain. Sabrina accuses Dr. Martin of being no better than the poachers he swore to oppose. With Salem and Hilary's aid, Sabrina and Gwen secretly switch Barnaby for Jerome in his mermaid costume, discrediting and humiliating Dr. Martin in front of the assembled crowd. Sabrina and Gwen manage to get Barnaby back in the ocean, but Dr. Martin is one step ahead of them and has his team set up a large fishing net to recapture Barnaby. Spout arrives again to take Sabrina out to Dr. Martin's boat, and Fin arrives to try to save her brother. Fin frees Barnaby but gets herself captured instead while Sabrina tries to unfasten the net. Sabrina tries to convince Dr. Martin that what he is doing is wrong, and Spout fetches her the supposedly extinct fish she found earlier to help her set up an analogy. After a tense standoff, Dr. Martin ultimately decides to allow Fin and Barnaby to go free.

Back on shore, Sabrina tries to save face in front of the assembled news crews by claiming that Dr. Martin's important discovery was actually the fish. Seeing an opportunity, Dr. Martin notes that because the fish is an endangered species, the entire eastern side of the island must by law be designated as a preservation zone, off-limits to all visitors except for scientific research. Salem plans to ask Hilary to marry him, but her sentence expires and she returns to human form. She is unwilling to wait until Salem's sentence expires and leaves the resort, leaving Salem heartbroken. At a press conference, Dr. Martin and the resort manager announce that due to the photographic evidence secretly supplied by Salem, they have been able to prosecute the ship engaging in illegal dumping, and arrests have been made. Sabrina and Gwen release the fish back into the wild and go on a tour of the reef with Barnaby and Fin. Includes commercials.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: September 26, 1999 7:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:58372
• GENRE: Comedy, fantasy/science fiction
• SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy, fantasy/science fiction
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1997-2008
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV – Commercials – "Drive Me Crazy" motion picture
  • TV – Commercials – "My Favorite Martian" home video
  • TV – Commercials – "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" motion picture
  • TV – Commercials – Aetna financial services
  • TV – Commercials – Carnival cruise line
  • TV – Commercials – Charmin toilet paper
  • TV – Commercials – Chevy automobiles
  • TV – Commercials – Chex Mix snacks
  • TV – Commercials – Claritin allergy medication
  • TV – Commercials – Clean & Clear face wipes
  • TV – Commercials – Disney theme parks
  • TV – Commercials – Dryel dryer sheets
  • TV – Commercials – Fancy Feast cat food
  • TV – Commercials – Febreze fabric cleaner
  • TV – Commercials – Furby toys
  • TV – Commercials – Jif peanut butter
  • TV – Commercials – Johnson's baby shampoo
  • TV – Commercials – KFC restaurants
  • TV – Commercials – Kodak cameras
  • TV – Commercials – Lysol disinfectant spray
  • TV – Commercials – Mazda automobiles
  • TV – Commercials – McDonald's restaurants
  • TV – Commercials – Mitsubishi automobiles
  • TV – Commercials – Nestle candy
  • TV – Commercials – Pantene shampoo
  • TV – Commercials – Payday candy bars
  • TV – Commercials – Pringles potato chips
  • TV – Commercials – Sprint phones
  • TV – Commercials – Stouffer's pizza
  • TV – Commercials – Sunny Delight orange juice
  • TV – Commercials – Taco Bell restaurants
  • TV – Commercials – Tide laundry detergent
  • TV – Commercials – Toys 'R Us toy stores
  • TV – Commercials – Welch's grape juice
  • TV – Commercials – Youth For Understanding foreign exchange program
  • TV – Commercials – www.playmusic.org music program
  • TV – Promos – "Annie"
  • TV – Promos – "Boy Meets World"
  • TV – Promos – "Dharma & Greg"
  • TV – Promos – "Disney's One Saturday Morning"
  • TV – Promos – "H.E. Double Hockey Sticks"
  • TV – Promos – "Odd Man Out"
  • TV – Promos – "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"
  • TV – Promos – "Snoops"
  • TV – Promos – "Spin City"
  • TV – Promos – "The Hughleys"
  • TV – Promos – "The Practice"

CREDITS

• Paula Hart … Executive Producer
• Melissa Joan Hart … Producer
• Barbara Gibbs … Line Producer
• Kenneth R. Koch … Director
• Daniel Berendsen … Writer
• Archie Comics … Based on characters appearing in
• Jonathan Schmock … Based on the television series "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" developed by
• Nell Scovell … Based on the television series "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" created by
• Michel Colombier … Music by
• Melissa Joan Hart … Cast, Sabrina Spellman
• Tara Charendoff (See also: Tara Strong) … Cast, Gwen
• Scott Michaelson … Cast, Barnaby
• Lindsay Sloane … Cast, Fin
• Peter O'Brien … Cast, Dr. Julian Martin
• Nick Bakay … Cast, Voice, Salem
• Rebecca Gibney … Cast, Voice, Hilary
• Conrad Coleby … Cast, Jerome
• Steve Harman … Cast, Dr. Martin's Assistant
• Victor Parascos … Cast, Pilot
• Ronan Stoliar … Cast, Reef Diver
• Enrico Mammarella … Cast, Resort Manager
• Scott McLean … Cast, Sea Wasp Crewman
• Thomas Fountain … Cast, Maitre D'
• Dave Nemeth … Cast, TV Newscaster