Ursula (The Little Mermaid) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ursula |
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| The Little Mermaid character | |
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| First appearance | The Little Mermaid (1989) |
| Created by | Ron Clements John Musker |
| Portrayed by |
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| Voiced by |
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| Based on | The Sea Witch from the Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Vanessa (human alter-ego) |
| Species | Cecaelia |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Sorceress, faustian bargainer |
| Affiliation | Disney Villains |
| Title | The Sea Witch |
| Relatives | Unnamed father (deceased) Unnamed mother (deceased) Morgana (younger sister) Uma (daughter) |
| Nationality | Atlantican |
Ursula is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 28th animated feature film The Little Mermaid (1989). Voiced by American actress Pat Carroll, Ursula is a villainous sea witch who offers a mermaid princess named Ariel a temporary opportunity to become human so that she may earn the love of Prince Eric within three days. However, Ursula is, in fact, determined to sabotage Ariel's chances so that she can ultimately replace King Triton as ruler over the oceans.
Created by directors and screenwriters Ron Clements and John Musker, Ursula is based on the sea witch character who appears in the 1837 fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen. However, her minor role was greatly expanded into that of a much more prominent villain for the film. Disney had struggled to cast Ursula for a year, during which the role was well sought after by several coveted television actresses at the time. Clements and Musker disagreed with lyricist Howard Ashman about who should voice the character. While the directors had written the role with Bea Arthur in mind, Ashman intended to offer it to soap opera star Joan Collins; both actresses rejected the part. When Ashman cast his second choice, Broadway actress Elaine Stritch, as Ursula, both stage veterans disagreed about the manner in which Ursula's song "Poor Unfortunate Souls" would be performed, and Pat Carroll was finally hired to replace Stritch after Ashman fired her. Deepening her own voice for the role, Carroll based her performance on a combination of Shakespearean actresses and car salespeople.
Animated by Ruben A. Aquino, Ursula's original design was inspired by several different sea creatures, including manta rays and scorpion fish, before Clements finally decided to base the character on an octopus; her number of tentacles was reduced from eight to six for financial reasons. Ursula's appearance was also inspired by American actor and drag queen Divine. When The Little Mermaid was first released in 1989, Ursula was immediately embraced as one of Disney's best villains, and continues to be ranked highly among the studio's greatest by the media. 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. Meanwhile, Carroll's performance has garnered similar acclaim to the point that the role has eclipsed her previous body of work, ultimately becoming virtually synonymous with the character.
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Appearances
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Ursula debuted in the 1989 adaptation of The Little Mermaid (where she is voiced by Pat Carroll), as a sea witch who is scheming to take advantage of the ambitions of King Triton's youngest daughter Princess Ariel in order to usurp the throne and turning merpeople into polyps for her garden. When Ariel saves and falls in love with a human named Prince Eric much to her father's chagrin, Ursula temporarily grants Ariel's wish to live as a human for three days in return for her voice. If she successfully earns a kiss from Eric by the end of the third day, Ariel will remain human permanently; if she fails, she will turn back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula forever. However, Ursula is determined to sabotage Ariel's and Eric's budding romance at any cost; when she realizes that Ariel and Eric are falling in love, Ursula transforms herself into a beautiful young woman named "Vanessa" and hypnotizes Eric, tricking him into agreeing to marry her instead. Ariel manages to thwart Ursula and Eric's wedding. Eric realizes that it was Ariel who saved him when her voice returns to her and is about to kiss her, but as the sun sets Ariel transforms back into a mermaid and is captured by Ursula. Triton confronts Ursula and agrees to give up himself and his magical trident in return for Ariel's freedom. Ursula then uses the trident to expand into monstrous proportions and attempts to kill Ariel and Eric, but Eric manages to impale Ursula with the splintered bowsprit of a wrecked ship, and she dies. With Ursula defeated, her powers cease, the merpeople turn back to normal, Triton's power is restored, and Ariel marries Eric once she is permanently transformed into a human.
The Little Mermaid TV series
Ursula appears as the antagonist in four episodes of The Little Mermaid prequel television series: "Against the Tide", "Tail of Two Crabs", "Heroes" and "Ariel's Treasures". In all four episodes, she executes various plans to antagonize King Triton and take over Atlantica, but all fail.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Due to her death in the original film, Ursula does not appear in the direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, but she is mentioned many times, mostly by her younger sister Morgana (also voiced by Pat Carroll). Her image does appear in a photograph that Morgana has of Ursula. In the family portrait during the cut song "Gonna Get My Wish", Ursula was also depicted as a young girl with light green skin similar to Morgana and their mother.
In other media
Video games
In the Kingdom Hearts video game, Ursula appears as one of Maleficent's co-conspirators, using the power of the Heartless to attack Atlantica and gain power. In this version of events, the official walkthrough states that Ursula was King Triton's fortuneteller before she was banished. Ursula is eventually defeated by Sora, Ariel, Donald Duck and Goofy. In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, she appears as a facsimile created from Sora's memories. In Kingdom Hearts II, Ursula mysteriously returns through the powers of darkness and appears to Ariel, and recreates her film role. As the film's storyline is retold in the game, Ursula does not recognize Sora and company, and Ariel makes no mention of her defeat in the original Kingdom Hearts. In fact, when Ursula arrives to make the deal with Ariel, the latter reacts as though she has seen Ursula for the first time. Sora, however, does note that Ursula "got what she deserved" in the first game. At the story's climax, she is defeated when Eric hurls the trident straight through Ursula's chest, destroying her seemingly once and for all. However, she reappears in the Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, confronting Sora and Riku out at sea in her giant form from the end of the movie. The game gives conflicting hints on whether or not this Ursula is the "real one," and serves a very small role, providing the tutorial to the game's battle system and delivering a line that foreshadows the plot of the game's main antagonist, Xehanort. She is voiced by Pat Carroll in the games
She has appeared for the concept art from Epic Mickey in 2010. When Ursula tries to kidnap Gremlin Gus, Mickey comes to the rescue and saved him from trying to let go of her clutches.
Theme park attractions
Ursula appears in Disney park attractions such as the Fantasmic! show debuted in 1992 at Disneyland Park, as one of the Disney Villains summoned to destroy Mickey Mouse. A massive Ursula Audio-Animatronic appears in The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel's Undersea Adventure, a dark ride at Disney California Adventure, and Magic Kingdom. Ursula is a central character in the annual Halloween-themed fireworks show HalloWishes at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party "hard ticket" event. Ursula also appears at the tail end of the Little Mermaid unit in Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams at Disneyland.
Literature
Ursula has appeared in various Disney Press novels and tie-ins for the franchise. A comic book series, Disney's The Little Mermaid, was released in 1992, revolving around the adventures of Ariel living under the sea as a mermaid. Ursula appears in a few issues, notably "Serpent Teen", which depicts how Ursula obtained the sea serpent carcass that makes her home. My Side of the Story: Ursula (2004) retells the plot of the film from Ursula's point of view, and depicts Ursula having romantic feelings for Triton. The Villain Files (2005) depicts Ursula's youth living in Triton's castle while Ariel was a baby.
Ursula is a main character in the 2016 young adult novel Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch by Serena Valentino. The novel is the third entry of the "Villains" series, a shared universe that crosses over various theatrical Disney films including Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty. 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. Ursula returned to the sea when her adopted father was killed by the townsfolk for protecting her, befriending Athena, Queen of Atlantica, but was denied her inheritance by Triton and banished to the shadows. Ursula conspires with three other witches to steal Triton's soul and become ruler of all the seas, but is ultimately defeated.
Ursula is the villain in the 2020 children's horror novel Part of Your Nightmare by Vera Strange, which is the first book of the Disney Chills series. The novel's setting is modern day, in a beach city named Triton Bay where eleven-year-old Shelly Anderson has just moved to a new school. Shelly struggles to fit in and especially wants the approval of Kendall, the popular captain of their school's swim team. 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.
Broadway musical
In the musical version of the original film, Sherie Rene Scott originated the live role, which she played until January 25, 2009. Other actresses who played the role are Heidi Blickenstaff and Faith Prince.
In this version, Ursula is King Triton's sister, a concept for the original film that was eventually dropped. When Ursula and Triton's father died, the pair were given equal share of the sea plus two magical items: Triton received the trident while Ursula received the magic Nautilus shell. Though the two were meant to rule the seas together, Ursula's greed and use of dark magic to usurp Triton led to her being banished. The desire for revenge and power is her motivation for the show. The musical's plot is similar to the film, with the exceptions that Ursula doesn't transform into Vanessa, and she is ultimately defeated by Ariel rather than Eric, when the mermaid destroys the Nautilus shell that contains Ursula's power. In the revamped version of the musical developed by Glenn Casale in 2012, Ursula and Triton's backstory was changed, making them the seventh and eighth of eight siblings respectively. Ursula killed their older siblings one by one until she became a queen, and she forgot about Triton until he became old enough to depose her and become king. Ursula's motivation for revenge otherwise remains similar to the original book of the musical, with the addition that she was the one who killed Ariel's mother.
In addition to her song from the film, Alan Menken and Glenn Slater wrote new songs for Ursula: "I Want the Good Times Back", which introduces Ursula and her backstory, "I Want the Good Times Back (reprise)", where Ursula orders Flotsam and Jetsam to sabotage Ariel's attempt to get Eric to kiss her, and a reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls", where Ursula forces Triton to sign a deal and claims the trident. In the workshop stage, Ursula had a different introductory song: "Wasting Away", and its reprise featured Ursula preparing to transform into Vanessa. Emily Skinner provided vocals for Ursula in the workshop. In the 2012 revamped version of the musical, "I Want the Good Times Back" is replaced with a new song, "Daddy's Little Angel".
Disney's House of Mouse
Ursula appeared occasionally in the animated television series Disney's House of Mouse (2001) as one of Mickey's guests at the nightclub. In the feature film Mickey's House of Villains she participated in the musical number "It's Our House Now" alongside other Disney villains, and is one of Jafar's henchmen.
Once Upon a Time
| Ursula the Sea Witch | |
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| Once Upon a Time character | |
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| First appearance | "Heroes and Villains" (4.11) |
| Last appearance | "Best Laid Plans" (4.16) |
| Created by | Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz |
| Portrayed by | Merrin Dungey Tiffany Boone (young) |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Sea Witch |
| Species | Cecaelia |
| Title | Queen of Darkness |
| Family | Poseidon (father, arguably deceased/dead) Mother without name (deceased/dead) |
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Two live-action versions of Ursula appear in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time.
"The Sea Goddess"
Ursula the Sea Goddess appears in Season 3, where she is voiced by Yvette Nicole Brown. In the episode "Ariel", Ursula is described as a sea goddess whom no one has seen for a thousand years. According to Ariel, Ursula gave merfolk the ability to gain legs once a year, when the tide is highest. Ariel uses this ability to visit Prince Eric at his castle, where he is having a ball honoring Ursula. Later, the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) disguises herself as Ursula in order to make a deal with Ariel and trick her into capturing Snow White. This physical disguise includes short white hair and tentacles, similar to Ursula's animated appearance. Although the Queen considers Ursula to be "a long-dead octopus", she is shocked when the real Ursula possesses a statue and warns the queen not to impersonate her again.
- "The Sea Witch"
Ursula the Sea Witch is an antagonist who appears in the second half of Season 4, where she is portrayed as an adult by Merrin Dungey, and as a teenager by Tiffany Boone.
The episode "Poor Unfortunate Soul" contains further flashbacks to Ursula's youth, when she was a teenage mermaid living under the sea with her father King Poseidon (Ernie Hudson). 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. Ursula refused and instead befriended a pirate, Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue), who supported her desire for freedom. Ursula and Hook's friendship fell apart when Hook sealed Ursula's singing voice inside an enchanted shell, in order to punish Poseidon for destroying a weapon Hook wanted for himself. Ursula, angered and disappointed with both merfolk and humans, used Poseidon's trident to transform her tail into tentacles, emulating the ancient sea goddess that she was named after.
The episodes "Heroes and Villains" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" contain flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest past, where Ursula teamed up with fellow witches Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit). The three of them worked together to try to defeat the heroes and find their happy endings, but failed. In the episode "Best Laid Plans", while trying to rescue Maleficent's baby from Snow and Charming, Ursula and Cruella fell into a portal that lead into the non-magical world. Three decades later, in modern day New York, Ursula is working as a cleaner in an aquarium when she is recruited by Rumplestiltskin, who also reunites her with Cruella. Ursula, Cruella and Rumplestiltskin then trick their way into entering the magical town of Storybrooke. In the episode "Unforgiven", they resurrect Maleficent to join their group.
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).
In the episode's "Poor Unfortunate Soul" present time, a remorseful Hook makes a deal with Ursula to get her singing voice back. They are only successful when Ariel intercedes, bringing Poseidon to Storybrooke so that he and Ursula can reconcile, and the enchantment is broken. Having achieved her happy ending, Ursula then tells Hook the full plan Rumplestiltskin has for the heroes, and afterward returns to the sea with her father.
Descendants 2
Ursula makes an appearance in the 2017 television film, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg. In the film, her daughter Uma is the main antagonist, portrayed by China Anne McClain. During one scene, Ursula whips her tentacle out from the kitchen of her Fish and Chips shop and yells at Uma to stop singing and come to wash the dishes.
Twenty years prior to the film, Ursula had been banished on the Isle of the Lost with other villains. It is also revealed that Ursula and Maleficent had a rivalry over who gets to be the ruler of the island. Now, she has a daughter named Uma, who is feisty and manipulative just like her mom and she works at her mother's fish and chips shop. Uma and her archenemy, Mal, who is Maleficent's daughter, have a heated rivalry on the island. On Rise of the Isle of the Lost, Uma befriends with Harry, son of Captain Hook, who's also Uma's first mate at her pirate crew and Gil, son of Gaston, who is also in Uma's pirate crew. Uma, Harry, and Gil are on a quest to find King Triton's trident to get out of the island for good, until Mal retrieve it and Uma swears that she will get her revenge on Mal.
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse
Ursula will appear in an upcoming episode of the Disney+ series The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, with Carroll reprising her role.
The Little Mermaid (live-action film)
Ursula will be played by Melissa McCarthy in the upcoming film The Little Mermaid.
See also
In Spanish: Úrsula (Disney) para niños
