Ursula is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist 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 usurp King Triton's position as ruler of 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.
During production of The Little Mermaid, Ursula's design evolved and transformed dramatically.
Animator Glen Keane's earliest sketches of Ursula were drawn to resemble Rae, specifically based on the actress' audition for the role.
The short-lived casting of Stritch as Ursula and her subsequent performance eventually inspired the animators to design the character as "a tall, thin regal-looking sea witch" based on manta rays and scorpion fish, complete with a long cape.
At one point, Ursula had also been drawn with spikes to resemble a spinefish.
Ursula's appearance was largely inspired by American actor and drag queen Divine, who was best known for his frequent appearances in several films directed by filmmaker John Waters.
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
This is a 1980s PHOTO COPY from DISNEY ANIMATION RESEARCH Dept. and NOT ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 28th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the 1837 Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen.
The film tells the story of a teenage mermaid princess named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.
The Little Mermaid was written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Musker and Howard Ashman, who also wrote the film's songs with Alan Menken. Menken also composed the film's score. The film stars the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, and Buddy Hackett.
The Little Mermaid was released to theaters on November 17, 1989, to critical acclaim, earning praise for the animation, music, and characters. It was also a commercial success, garnering $84 million at the domestic box office during its initial release,[ and $235 million in total lifetime gross worldwide.
After the major success of both the 1986 Disney animated film The Great Mouse Detective[ and the 1988 Disney/Amblin live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid is given credit for breathing life back into the art of Disney animated feature films after some films produced by Disney were struggling.
It also marked the start of the era known as the Disney Renaissance.The film won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song ("Under the Sea").
Item in FAIR as seen CONDITION with some minor age wear
Please see photos
Multiple Similar PURCHASES PAY ONLY ONE MAILING FEE.