Shelly first encounters Ursula at the aquarium owned by the Anderson family, and afterward has sleeping and waking nightmares of Ursula offering her a deal where that Shelly can be the "fastest swimmer ever", if Shelly does her a small favor in return. Poor souls with no one else to turn to. [49] Dundes and Dundes also observed that Ursula reverts to being feminine once she is impaled. In this novel, Ursula is King Triton's younger sister who was betrayed by him as a child for choosing a tentacled form instead of a mermaid's tail, and grew up as a human in the town of Ipswich with an adoptive human father. [29] However, Minkoff had been drawing the character with a shark's tail at the time. "[57] Describing Ursula as "Bejeweled and lip-pouting like an overweight, over-rich, over-pampered, over-the-top society hostess gone mad," Smith perceived the character as "all flair, flamboyance, and theatricality mixed with a touch of con-artistry", citing wrath as her only genuine emotion. [18], Revered as a fan favorite,[46] Ursula has established herself as one of Disney's most iconic characters;[93][94] she is widely regarded as one of the studio's "classic" villains. [29] Additionally, Ursula's face was also inspired by that of Madame Medusa from Disney's The Rescuers (1977). [71], In 2016, Rebel Wilson performed the role of Ursula at a stripped-down concert version of The Little Mermaid at the Hollywood Bowl, which featured the songs from the film and four songs from the Broadway musical. That's what I do. Smith concluded, "Earlier we may have chuckled at her villainy; at this moment, there is no laughter ... only genuine fear. Praised for being humorous and frightening, the character has garnered positive reviews from film critics, some of whom dubbed her Disney's strongest villain in decades.

[18] Despite their strong working relationship, Carroll described working with Ashman and composer Alan Menken as a "brutal" experience because of the songwriters' "military" approach; she would often return home from recording sessions with blown vocal chords. Actress Pat Carroll and the Ursula animators pump astonishing gobs of rotten-flirty menace and perversity into Witch Ursula, who looks a bit like the late actor Divine pasted over with an evil Jack Nicholson leer and squeezed into a cleavage-popping black evening gown, tailing off startlingly into eight squiggling black octopus tentacles. I admit that in the past I've been a nasty They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch [32] Thus, Keane was replaced by Ruben A. Ursula was gifted with a beautiful voice, which Poseidon wanted her to use to lure pirates to their death, in order to avenge the murder of Ursula's mother at the hands of an unnamed pirate. Poor souls with no one else to turn to.

", "15 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE LITTLE MERMAID", "9 Ways The Original 'Little Mermaid' By Hans Christian Andersen Is Actually Seriously Disturbing", "10 Disney Characters Who Were Almost Voiced By an A-Lister", "5 Disney Villains Who Deserve Their Own Movies", "17 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Disney's "The Little Mermaid, "10 Totally Mind-Blowing Facts About 'The Little Mermaid, "11 Things You Might Not Know About 'The Little Mermaid, "50 things you might not know about your favorite Disney films, 1989-1997 edition", "Why (For) Pat Carroll wasn't actually Disney's first choice to voice Ursula in "The Little Mermaid, "John Musker Question Countdown – Number 7", "Which 1980s TV Favorites Almost Voiced Ursula the Sea Witch for Disney's The Little Mermaid", "Making Of...The Little Mermaid Behind The Scenes", "This 'Little Mermaid' Has Legs: Disney Legend Jodi Benson Looks Back on 25 Years of Voicing the Character of Ariel", "Ranking the 12 most famous Disney villains from worst to best", "Melissa McCarthy in Talks to Play Ursula in Live-Action 'Little Mermaid' (EXCLUSIVE)", "Melissa McCarthy Talks Becoming Ursula for Disney's Live-Action "Little Mermaid, "Read This: How Divine inspired Ursula The Sea Witch", "(WATCH) Things you probably didn't know about "The Little Mermaid, "17 Things You Didn't Know About 'The Little Mermaid, "The Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition DVD Review", "10 Things You Didn't Know About Disney's 'The Little Mermaid, "Happy 26th birthday to The Little Mermaid! Life's full of tough choices, isn't it?

[31] Felix Vasquez of Cinema Crazed believes that Ursula "is evil just for the sake of being evil".

[43] Identifying Ursula as Ariel's binary due to the character's experience and authority, Collision of Realities: Establishing Research on the Fantastic in Europe author Lars Schmeink described Ursula as a "more complex and mature character" than Ariel, embodying everything that the mermaid can potentially become. [39] Divine never lived to see his own likeness appear in The Little Mermaid; the actor died in 1988, one year before the film's release.

ARIEL Can you do that? [28], About.com's David Nusair observed that "There’s no limit to how low Ursula will stoop to achieve her goals";[40] the character often relies on a combination of sorcery and deception to achieve them. In the episode "Best Laid Plans" flashback it was shown that she and Cruella were sent from Enchanted Forrest before Dark Curse to World Without Magic because of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas). [112] HelloGiggles believes that "Ursula has the most positive body image" out of all of Disney's villainnesses: "She may not be a size zero, like the other villains and heroines, but she’s equally as confident. [20] Thus, Ashman pursued Broadway veteran Elaine Stritch, of whom he had been a long-time fan. ", "Why Ursula From 'The Little Mermaid' is the Scariest Disney Villain", "Ranking the Top 10 Animated Disney Villains", "The Little Mermaid: Not as Sexist as You Thought It Was", "Disney's 9 Most Wicked Animated Villains", "Back To The Drawing Boards Disney Regains Form With 'Mermaid' Tale", "8 Disney villains who are better than the heroes", "It's Time to See 'The Little Mermaid' as a Feminist Film", "Why Disney Female Villains Are Iconic Feminists", "Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch", "Serena Valentino (official website): Poor Unfortunate Soul", "How Glenn Casale Helped The Little Mermaid Find Her Feet After This Disney Stage Show Stumbled on Broadway", "L.A. Theater Review: 'The Little Mermaid in Concert' at the Hollywood Bowl", "Rebel Wilson Is The Ursula We Always Wanted In 'The Little Mermaid Live, "Little Mermaid' Live Starring Auli'i Cravalho Set at ABC", "THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989) (3D Blu-ray combo)", "6 Disney Villains With More Movie Potential Than 'Maleficent, "Angelina Jolie's 'Maleficient' Premiere Is Upon Us: Gear Up With Our Top 10 Favorite Villains", "The Little Mermaid (1989) Review/Film; Andersen's 'Mermaid,' by Way of Disney", "Why My Kids Will Not Be Watching The Little Mermaid", "12 valuable lessons Disney villains taught all children", "6 Disney Villains That Should Get Their Own Movies", "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Little Mermaid' Makes Big Splash", "A Definitive Ranking Of 25 Classic Disney Villains", "11 Classic Disney Villains, Ranked By How Well They'd Survive In Jail", "The 30 greatest Disney villains of all time", "THE TOP 15 DISNEY VILLAINS RANKED FROM BAD TO WORST", "Disney Villains: Ranking the Top 30 of All Time", "Bad and Drawn That Way: The Seven Best Animated Female Villains", "THE DEFINITIVE RANKING OF THE MOST SINISTER DISNEY VILLAIN QUOTES", "A Definitive Ranking Of The Most Horrific Disney Villain Deaths", "7 DISNEY VILLAINS WHO WOULD MAKE THEIR OWN PRETTY WICKED MOVIES", "5 Disney villains who should get their own movies", "6 Disney Villains Who Deserve Their Own Movie", "6 Life Lessons I Learned From Disney Villains", "Queen Latifah, Olivia Wilde become Disney characters", "Disney Villains: Ursula Gets Slimmed Down For The New 'Designer Collection, "The Little Mermaid's Ursula gets controversial makeover", "5 Reasons We Love the Disney Animation/'Chicago' Masup Video 'Spell Block Tango, "Disney villains sing 'Chicago' parody 'Spell Block Tango, "The 16 Disney characters you had no idea were gay", Disney's The Little Mermaid Activity Center, Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ursula_(The_Little_Mermaid)&oldid=981378807, The Little Mermaid (franchise) characters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 October 2020, at 23:23. [15] Similarities were first drawn between the character and the actor after animator Rob Minkoff sketched "a vampy overweight matron", to which Ashman responded, "She looks like a Miami Beach matron ... playing Mah Jong by the pool.”[28] The character shares Divine's signature eye makeup, jewelry and body type while originally sporting a Mohawk,[28] the last of which was borrowed from the actor's Pink Flamingos (1972) character Babs Johnson. According to the December 1992 issue of the fanzine Nova Lepidoptera, "Ursula (The Swansea Song)" was written about the same thing as "Someone There You Know" - a failed love affair - and at a particularly traumatic time in Wolstenholme's life. [18] Carroll explained that she continues to sign autographs "Dear Sweetlips: I hug you with my tentacles. "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. The men up there don't like a lot of blabber They think a girl who gossips is a bore! URSULA The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself. [46] According to Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Daily News, Ursula is similar to businesswoman Leona Helmsley. In the film, her daughter Uma is the main antagonist, portrayed by China Anne McClain.

Other actresses who played the role are Heidi Blickenstaff and Faith Prince. Take a gulp and take a breath

"[88] Dave Smith of the Disney Archives wrote, "When anger does bring out her true emotion, the effects are staggering. Chance The Rapper - LYRICS. Yes I do.

Stepping into the world of Rob Marshall, it’s like a fever dream, I just went to London for a week, I was like, ‘I don’t get to go to dance camp for a week.’ All day he’s like, ‘Do you want to slide down this 40-foot clam shell?’ I’m like, ‘Yes!

accused Ursula of "assur[ing] Ariel that human men prefer their women to be silent". [5] Among Clements' ideas to alter the story, the filmmaker decided to "make the witch more of a villain", describing Ursula as "a fun character to develop" into such. Oh, and there is one more thing. Ursula, Cruella and Rumplestiltskin then trick their way into entering the magical town of Storybrooke.

[17] Carroll was not the filmmakers' first choice for the role; Clements, Musker and Ashman had long debated who should voice the villainess,[18] the casting of whom was long and tedious, spanning an entire year. Larengix glaucitis To those poor unfortunate souls [55][77] Film critic Roger Ebert dubbed Ursula Disney's "most satisfying villainess since" Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Evil Queen, who debuted in 1937. "[51] In her book Emerson Goes to the Movies: Individualism in Walt Disney Company's Post-1989 Animated Films, author Justyna Fruzińska claimed that "the masculine rule of Triton is presented as positive and opposed to the negative, feminine rule of Ursula".

Ariel uses this ability to visit Prince Eric at his castle, where he is having a ball honoring Ursula.