There’s plenty of mythology surrounding how the animated villain of 1989’s “The Little Mermaid,” written and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, came to be. This is the name Ursula uses as her alter-ego. This leads to the question, did Ursula tamper with all of her “clients” and thus everyone she dealt with ended up in her garden?ĭon’t forget to check out my Instagram, Annie and Ursula are over there recreating a rather intense scene.More than three decades after Ursula, the buxom sea witch of Atlantica, first slithered her way onto the big screen, the underwater mistress of mayhem is back to tempt the seas in the new live-action version of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” In celebration of her return, everyone from comedian Melissa McCarthy, who’s playing the conniving nemesis of King Triton, to film historians, are taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the legendary drag queen who inspired Ursula’s unwholesome ways: Divine. The butterfly she uses is of the genus known as Vanessa. When Ursula is making the potion for her transformation into human, she uses a butterfly. Who are some of your favorite villains you just love to hate? But I have a pretty intense system when ranking Disney villains. Ursula is also in my definite top three favorite Disney villains, and when considering just how wickedly evil and fun, she’s probably number 1. We didn’t realize the theme until we picked up our bibs, and how appropriate that The Little Mermaid would shadow our mini Girls weekend. We bought matching sweatshirts on our very first trip to Disney World and this past DisneyRun, which, due to circumstances my dad couldn’t join us. The Little Mermaid is a very special film for my mom and me. Ursula is one the few to get a more visual and gruesome death, along with Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Scar from The Lion King and Clayton from Tarzan. Poor Unfortunate Souls kicked off a new tradition, paving the way for Be Prepared, Friends on the Other Side and Mother Knows Best, to name a few. Most Disney characters are killed off screen, such as Gaston and Mufasa falling to their deaths. Less threatening villains, such as Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee sung by Honest John and Gideon in Pinocchio and protagonists, like songwriter Roger Radcliffe’s Cruella Deville. Usually such songs were sung by henchmen, such as The Siamese Cat Song from Lady and the Tramp. Ursula is the first main antagonist to have her very own villain song in a Disney film. She went on to play Ursula’s sister Morgana in the The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. Carroll later stated that it was a dream come true to be able to play a Disney character. Eventually Pat Carroll was cast as Ursula. Elaine Stritch was eventually chosen, however, her acting turned out to be incompatible with Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s lyrical style. While the character was being written Bea Arthur was in mind, but she turned the role down due to her commitment with The Golden Girls. Sadly, Divine passed away in 1988 during the film’s production. Ursula’s basic appearance, however, was based on John Waters casting favorite and well-known Drag Queen, Divine. Which coincidentally, is the last Disney film to be nominated for an Academy Award. Her appearance, actions as well as her choice in lackeys were also based on another Disney villainess, Madame Medusa from the 1977 film, The Rescuers. Ursula is not something Disney made up, her appearance comes from an actual species from folklore known as a cecaelia. But once the production team watched a documentary on octopi, they realized their multiple arms added to their commanding and ominous appearance making for the perfect Sea Witch. They thought she should have a snake like appearance with lots or spikes. She was also thought to be another sea creature, such as a rockfish or lion fish. Originally, Ursula was to be King Triton’s disgruntled sister. Disney decided to make Ursula a more traditional villain and the main antagonist. Ursula is there, though she’s refereed to only as the Sea Witch and is more neutral than a real villain. Ariel is the youngest daughter of the Sea King who wishes to live on land…that’s where it kinda veers off course. The original story is much like the Disney version. The Little Mermaid was the first fairy tale adapted Disney film since Sleeping Beauty over 30 years prior. Let’s start this week off with a villain we love to hate,
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