Known for her confidence, flamboyance, and theatrical performance, Ursula is probably one of the most well-known villains of Disney. For kids who grew up with her, their adult selves can probably summon her iconic cackle or voice in their heads on a whim. Or is that just me?
With Ursula being based off a minor character in the original fairytale, her character in The Little Mermaid is basically all Disney’s version.
She’s been in more than The Little Mermaid, making appearances in the Kingdom Hearts series, in The Little Mermaid’s prequel television series, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, House of Mouse, Once Upon a Time, the Disney Princess magazines, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusions, Descendants: Isle of the Lost, and Kingdom Keepers.
That is a ton of content to appear in! This may have to do with the fact that The Little Mermaid kick-started what was known as the “Disney Renaissance,” where every movie they released was a smashing hit. Ursula’s song, “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” may also be one of the best villain songs there is! She’s also one of the few villains with an alternate form used for trickery. Who doesn’t love that?
But there are still some things I did not know about Ursula, despite being a Disney fan. Here is a list of some facts fans may have missed about this bigger-than-life villainess.
25 A Relative Problem
A lot of fans could not help but hear the line in Ursula’s song about once being in the palace with the rest of the mermaids. What’s up with that? Did she get exiled? The answer was found in 2006 when a platinum edition DVD release showed deleted scenes from The Little Mermaid.
It was revealed that there was an early concept idea for Ursula to be King Triton’s sister.
Despite this concept not being used in the final film, it’s treated as canon information in much of the spin-off material, such as in the Broadway version. This feels like a big deal, because then wouldn’t she be the first villain to have a blood-relation to the protagonist? I think Scar from The Lion King currently holds that title as far as Disney is concerned.
24 Scientific Approach
Half-octopus seemed like the right answer for what Ursula is, until you actually count the amount of tentacles she has! There are only six!
Does this make her half squid? If she’s half squid, then my entire childhood is now different. However, if we count her arms, then she does have eight limbs. So I guess she’s an octopus?
Official Wiki material states that she’s an octopus, but that her tentacles were reduced to six for financial reasons. I can’t make this out to be solid proof, but it’s something I am willing to believe. She certainly moves like an octopus, anyway. Maybe eight wouldn’t have just been more expensive, but also far more difficult to animate.
Art was done by Izabella.
23 Origin Stories
In Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale of The Little Mermaid, Ursula was not a bad character. She wasn’t even called Ursula and she played a much smaller role. She was simply known as “the Sea Witch,” and played a neutral role in the story.
Han Christian Andersen’s Sea Witch just helps the Little Mermaid achieve her dream to be with the prince.
The Little Mermaid still trades her tongue and voice for legs, but the prince falls in love and marries a different woman, who is Ursula in this version. Unable to return to the sea, the Little Mermaid finds herself in a bad situation where she will now turn into sea foam instead of marrying her love. The Sea Witch tries to help the Little Mermaid one last time, but the mermaid chose sea foam as her fate.
Art was done by UlaFish.
22 Divine Resemblance
Ursula’s physical appearance was based off the famous drag queen Divine, whose real name was Glenn Milstead! Unfortunately, Divine passed away in 1988 while The Little Mermaid was still in production, so he never got to see himself as an awesome sea witch. The sea witch’s animated demeanor is also a spot-on imitation of Divine’s movements and frame.
Ursula projects a fabulous carefree air of superiority, and it’s interesting to see the real-world inspiration.
According to Milstead’s documentarian Jeffrey Schwarz, the drag queen would’ve loved to play the part of Ursula himself. They certainly do resemble each other in the pictures!
The Vintage News wrote a perfect description: “Overarched eyebrows obviously drawn on with a thick black pencil. Garish blue eyeshadow. Show-stopping red lips set off by a mole. Gravity-defying upswept white hair.Who is this? An animated villainess, or a man mockingly impersonating a garish woman? The correct answer, of course, is both.”
21 A Skinny Ursula?
It was revealed in the book Disney Villains: The Top Secret Files that Ursula used to be skinnier. The palace food was just too good, though! She may have overindulged a little and therefore got the larger look we all know and love.
I feel like exile or being far from the palace would’ve made it difficult for her to find food, some but I guess not. The sea is bountiful and Ursula knows magic, so who knows?
Didn’t she say something about missing the lavish meals at the palace in the musical? What do mer-people eat anyway? Shrimp, seaweed, fish, oysters? If so, Sebastian needs to watch his back. At least we know they don’t eat people like some mermaids, right? Ariel must have lost her mind when she ate something that wasn’t sea food, like pasta or something.
Art was done by TerinCat.
20 A Butterfly Name
The name Ursula takes on when she is disguised as a human is also the name for a type of butterfly. Also it was an ingredient for the potion Ursula used to turn herself into her Vanessa alter-ego, which is interesting.
If you knew that, you must be some kind of butterfly-Disney genius, because this feels like a far out detail to me. Also, how did Ursula obtain a butterfly? Butterflies don’t just flutter over the ocean! Even if they do, did Ursula’s hand just rise out of the sea and clutch a butterfly and drag it down? That’s comical. I wonder what process she actually used to get one.
Then Triton was like, “I bet that’s for crime,” and exiled her.
19 Big Changes
Early concepts area a treasure trove of surprises when it comes to the stories and characters you love and are familiar with. For Ursula, she was half of many other kinds of sea creatures before she became half-octopus. In early concepts, she was portrayed as part lionfish or a mermaid that had spines and spikes.
I think Disney made the right choice with her final design because it wasn’t just about her look, but about her movement! An octopus has its own specific movement, and that’s what makes Ursula so fantastic to watch.
Also the dark colors, white hair, and lavender skin make her look more beautiful and witch-like to me. I don’t think I could’ve taken a lionfish version of Ursula quite as seriously. This concept art looks more clownish that witchy.
18 Faithful Pets
The moray eels that live and help out Ursula seem to be more than just sidekicks or your typical Disney henchmen. We see in The Little Mermaid that Ursula actually cares about them. She nicknames them her “babies”, and it’s their end that ultimately made Ursula strike out at Ariel.
Most villains are shown to be cold and calculating and they usually don’t care about their henchmen and minions.
Ursula proves different! I’d like to know how she found Flotsam and Jetsam. This could actually be a sweet and humanizing short story for the villain. Did she have them in the palace with her or did she meet them after getting exiled? Are Flotsam and Jetsam siblings and Ursula adopted them? Where is their biological mom?
Art was done by DarkSunRose.
17 Golden Girl
The first choice for Ursula’s voice was Bea Arthur, the actress known for her role in The Golden Girls comedy show. Pat Carroll is the voice of Ursula that we know, but I can actually imagine Bea Arthur taking the voice role as well. The voice somehow works!
Apparently the idea for the actress to voice Ursula was rejected by Arthur’s agent. The agent disliked the idea of Arthur playing a sea witch so much, and it was possible she did not even show the actress the part! That’s purely speculation, of course.
I wonder if the agent now regrets not giving Arthur the part the same way some agents have to live with the fact they rejected Rowling’s Harry Potter series. If I were an agent, I’d always be paranoid of being the guy who rejected The Beatles or Harry Potter.
16 A Venusian Name
Vanessa is not just the name of a certain kind of butterfly, but also is a Latin name for Venus. Venus is symbolic of fertility, beauty, and desire. All those aspects sort of suit the whole persona of Ursula’s human disguise, don’t they?
Venus is basically the Roman counterpart to the Greek goddess Aphrodite.
Ursula’s human form is very seductive in nature and uses beauty and desire to achieve her goals. In a way, Ursula is wiser and more jaded than Ariel in these matters, due not just to her magic, but to her maturity and experience.
The name Vanessa is symbolizing all those aspects. It’s a divine name, so it also symbolizes power and command. This whole name even fits into something I’ll discuss later, which is about how Ursula can also be seen as a feminist character.
Art was done by OlchaS.
15 The Magic Necklace
The Little Mermaid Comic Adaptation, also known as The Little Mermaid: Under the Sea, added a little more knowledge as to the rules of Ursula’s magic.
More than once, we see Vanessa able to sing without the necklace where she keeps Ariel’s voice. I suppose this means she doesn’t need to wear the necklace in order to use Ariel’s voice. As long as the jewelry simply exists, she can use the captive voice.
I wish I could use things without having them with me: my phone, my kitchen, and my computer. There are other minor changes in the comic, such as not having the songs from the movie, not getting a tour of Eric’s castle, and Chef Louis and Sebastian don’t have that awesome epic battle between chef and crab.
14 Quite An End
I did not really remember how Ursula is defeated in The Little Mermaid, but after researching how it happened, I am really wondering why. Some people are saying it’s the most intense ending to happen in an animated Disney movie, even if it concerns a villain.
She is attacked by the ship Prince Eric sails in the middle of the storm. We even see pieces of her sinking in the ocean along with the trident after her defeat.
I guess I was sort of a jaded kid, so it did not faze me. I still think Clayton’s defeat in Tarzan may be my top most memorable ending Disney scenes, along with this one. I wonder if Disney could get away with a scene like that today? Ah, they’re Disney. They can get away with anything, because they can buy anything.
13 Big And Beautiful
Ursula is big, stylish, and cool. She stands as the first notable female Disney character that is plus size while also being shown as beautiful. The way she dances, her confidence, and her self-care and comfort in her own body is something pop culture often dodges when it comes to plus size women.
Though Ursula is a villain, there still is a lot about her that is inspirational.
In fact, a lot of my generation finds more to connect to with villains than heroes. Writers tend to make villains more of what they consider to be flawed, and that actually just humanizes them more and makes us more willing to connect with them and see the world through their viewpoint. Like, don’t pretend that if Ursula and Ariel switched places as the hero and villain, the movie wouldn’t have been more interesting!
Art was done by LightningLizard.
12 Antiquated Traditions
Speaking of being big and beautiful, Ursula also knows how to use her femininity to survive. She uses Ariel’s internalized gender issues to get what she needs. When she asked for Ariel’s voice and Ariel hesitates, she literally tells her: “You have your looks, your pretty face. Yes, on land it’s much preferred for ladies not to say a word. It’s she who holds her tongue who gets a man!"
The gender debate the song suggests is actually very interesting! From Eric’s point-of-view, was Ariel more likeable because she couldn’t speak? This is something that is explored is critical current movies like The Shape of Water!
The song, “Poor Unfortunate Souls” describes how men prefer women that are submissive, quiet, and attractive rather than opinionated, talkative and educated. Like whoa Ursula! Are we sure this movie was for kids?
11 Sharing A Voice
Pat Carroll not only voiced Ursula, but he voiced her sister Morgana as well. Morgana is the villain of The Little Mermaid II, and is Ursula’s sister. Does that also make her Ariel’s aunt? Her personality is sort of funny because she hates being compared to Ursula, saying Ursula was known to be the sibling who got more attention.
I think it’s funny because it’s The Little Mermaid II, so it’s no doubt that Ursula actually gets more attention in real life since she’s in the actual famous movie.
Was Morgana’s jealousy of her sister just the writers and producers all projecting their anxiety of the sequel being compared to the original? She also is just worse at magic than Ursula, though she does get the trident for a little longer, I guess.
Art was done by kweekwee.
10 Octopus Innards
If Ursula having only six tentacles bothered you, then you probably won’t be happy to also hear that she has a skeleton. We see the villainess’s skeleton during her defeat when she is attacked by Prince Eric’s ship.
You don’t have to have a biology degree to know that octopi don’t have skeletons.
Disney was a little sneaky with just showing Ursula’s human half skeleton. I suppose she would need bones or else she’d just be a floppy woman who couldn’t accomplish anything.
But wouldn’t having just an upper skeleton make it impossible to move out of the water like she does? Her upper half would be too heavy for her bottom half to hold without the water’s buoyancy. Okay, maybe we too need biology degrees to discuss that question.
9 Latin Spell
After Ariel signs the Ursula’s contract, Ursula casts her spell to take Ariel’s voice and give her legs. She says a lot of what I considered to be gibberish. However, she was actually speaking Latin!
Her spell contains Latin references to “throat,” “voice,” and “fish.” I haven’t obtained the manuscript of the actual words, though there is plenty of footage of her casting the spell and saying these words. She even clutches her throat for part of the spell, so I’m guessing that’s when she is saying the Latin word for throat.
“Throat”, “fish”, and “voice” are basically the three key words for the entire movie, aren’t they? The Latin spell probably sounds way cooler than if it was in English, so the animators made the right call there.
8 A Momentous Entrance
The sea is hard to animate. I’m no animator, but I can imagine that something that moves so much might require extra work. This is especially considering that the animators for The Little Mermaid had to study other Disney scenes involving the ocean to perfect their craft of sea animation.
One such scene they studied involved Monstro, that giant whale villain from Pinocchio. They used the whale to help animate large things in the ocean such as the shipwreck, and when Ursula becomes a behemoth with the king’s trident.
Though between huge Ursula and Monstro, I have to say I’m more worried by Monstro. Maybe it’s the style he’s drawn? They somehow made him feel more like a Megalodon to me than a whale. Man, the sea has too many monsters.
7 Magic Spells
You want to know how dedicated people are to their movie? Pause it whenever there is something in writing and read it to see if it makes any sense. For a fraction of a second, we do get to see the entirety of Ursula’s contract that Ariel signed. Exciting! What does it say?
“I hereby grant unto Ursula, the witch of the sea… , one voice, in exchange for byon once high, Dinu*gihn thon Mueo serr on Puur-qurr I rehd moisn petn r m uenre urpti m srerp monk guaki ,Ch rich noy ri imm ro mund for all eternity. signed.”
Oh good, sounds reasonable! There is a hidden Mickey in the document too! See it? Right around “rehd moisn.” It’s almost like they wanted us to do this. It’s actually a little funny to think that even the Disney animators like to slip in a joke every here and there, it makes them look more human. However, a lawyer did take a look at the real legal grounds of Ariel’s contract, and analyzed them for the good of the internet.
6 How To Win The Game
Vanessa, Ursula’s human form, went through a ton of changes in her story arc. According to a leaked script online, Eric originally had more free will when he chose for Vanessa to be his bride than in the final script.
In the drafted script, Eric’s emotions were not suppressed and he could show more decisive will. Though he was still hypnotized by Ursula, he still had some range of will and choice. I think this would have been more interesting because it goes more into deception rather than physical force.
I mean, it was kind of boring to see Eric just become emotionless.
It would’ve been much more interesting to see him struggle with the room Ursula would allow him. However, I can see how that would cause some questions as to whether he even deserves Ariel after willingly choosing Vanessa.
Art was done by taratjah.
