add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Little Rock AR Dentist - Little Rock Dental Care - Little Rock Dentistry... littlerockdental.com | Weight Loss Centre Mermaid Waters | Mermaid Waters Weight Loss Centre... goweightloss.com.au | Cosmetic dentist Santa Ursula find dental implants Santa Ursula or oral die-endverbraucher.com |
Ursula is an animated villainess who first appears in the 1989 Disney animated feature film, The Little Mermaid. She is voiced by Pat Carroll in the film, the spin-off television series and the Kingdom Hearts video games. Ursula is based on the "sea witch/sorceress" character in Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Little Mermaid". In the original story the sea witch is a neutral enabler, but for Disney's animated adaptation, the character was modified into a full-fledged antagonist and plays a larger role in the overall story. Ursula is a cecaelia sea witch who "helps" unfortunate merfolk to achieve her own goals. Her appearance is of an obese purple-skinned, white-haired female human with a facial mole, but from the waist down she has six black tentacles. Her overall design is based on the drag queen Divine[1].
[edit] Background and developmentDuring planning for the film, Ursula was not originally designed as a cecaelia. It was thought that she would be another sea creature, such as a rockfish-like mermaid[1]. The production team then saw a documentary about octopodes, and decided that their multiple arms and overall imposing appearance would be perfect for the character they were creating. Pat Carroll, who was cast to voice Ursula, envisioned the character as "part Shakespearean actress, with all the flair, flamboyance and theatricality, and part used-car salesman with a touch of con artist". Carroll, who is a contralto, deliberately deepened her voice for the role[2]. According to actress Sherie Rene Scott who recreated the character for the Broadway version, the film's lyricist Howard Ashman had been inspired by Divine and Joan Collins in developing Ursula[3]. [edit] Appearances[edit] The Little MermaidMain article: The Little Mermaid (1989 film) When Ursula first appears in the film, she states through monologue that she once lived in the royal palace of King Triton, the king of the underwater city of Atlantica. She was banished from Atlantica and made her home in the remains of a leviathan where she waits the chance to get her revenge on Triton and become Queen of Atlantica. The entrance to Ursula's leviathan home is lined with a garden of writhing polyps which are merfolk who had previously gone to Ursula for help, but found themselves unable to fulfill their side of the bargain, leading Ursula to claim them as her own. The garden of polyps are part of the original fairytale, where they are guards of the way to the sea witch's home, and not condemned merfolk. Ursula commands her minions, the twin moray eels Flotsam and Jetsam, to watch Triton's youngest daughter Ariel, who might be "the key to Triton's undoing". Ursula forms her plan to seize power around Ariel's forbidden love for the human Prince Eric. Flotsam and Jetsam persuade Ariel to go to Ursula's lair (against Sebastian's vehement protests), claiming that the sea witch is the only one who can solve her problem. Via the song Poor Unfortunate Souls, Ursula proposes a bargain in which she will turn Ariel into a human. However, there is a three-day time limit. If Ariel receives the "kiss of true love" from Prince Eric before sunset on the third day, her transformation will be permanent. If Ariel fails, she will turn back into a mermaid and be bound to Ursula forever. The price of transformation is Ariel's voice. Ariel agrees and signs a magical contract, then her voice is pulled into Ursula's Nautilus shell necklace, and her tail is split into legs. With the help of Flounder and Sebastian, Ariel swims toward the beach and is found by Eric. When Ariel comes "too close" to succeeding, Ursula decides to sabotage the bargain and takes the form of a beautiful human woman named "Vanessa". Ursula uses Ariel's voice to brainwash Eric into marrying Vanessa at dusk on the third day. Shortly before the wedding, Scuttle discovers that "Vanessa" is really Ursula in disguise and hurries to tell Ariel. While Sebastian goes back down to the sea to warn King Triton, Ariel and Flounder manage to make it to the wedding ship in time and Scuttle helps to ruin the wedding. Complete mayhem ensues, and Scuttle destroys Ursula's necklace, restoring Ariel's voice to its original owner. Ursula's control over Eric breaks, and he reunites with Ariel. However, the sun sets just before Ariel and Eric can kiss, and Ariel reverts back to her mermaid form. Ursula, who had transformed as well, takes Ariel back to the sea and is confronted by King Triton. Ursula reveals to Triton the deal she made with Ariel and that the contract she signed cannot be broken. Ursula forces Triton to hand over his power in exchange for Ariel's freedom. Ursula succeeds and Triton is transformed into a polyp. She then takes the crown and magical trident. Eric and Ariel intervene, and Ursula's wayward trident blast kills Flotsam and Jetsam. Enraged, she grows to titanic proportions and begins creating a massive oceanic storm. A battle follows, during which Ursula tries to kill Ariel, but is defeated by Eric, who drives a ship's mast into her belly. When Ursula is killed, all the merfolk that had been under her power, including Triton, are released from their bonds. In the 2006 Platinum DVD, deleted scenes revealed early concept ideas where Ursula is Triton's sister, making her Ariel's aunt. This concept was not used in the final film, however, it was used in the musical adaptation of the film. [edit] The Little Mermaid TV seriesMain article: The Little Mermaid (TV series) Ursula appears as a occasional 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. In the first two episodes, interaction between Ariel and Ursula is kept at a minimum, but in the later ones, Ariel and Ursula face each other more directly. [edit] The Little Mermaid II: Return to the SeaMain article: The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Ursula doesn't appear in this direct-to-DVD film, but she is mentioned many times, mostly by her sister Morgana (also a cecaelia). She is seen as a picture with a nice face in Morgana's lair, and this picture sinks with Morgana when she is encased in a block of ice by King Triton at the end of the movie. She (or rather, her younger self) also made a cameo in the Special Edition's song "Gonna Get My Wish" where she seemed to have a green hue to her skin, not unlike Morgana (this may be so, due to the fact it was an older photo, so might have been caused for the type of "camera" that took it, giving the hue, because even the background was the same color.) [edit] ExtensionOther materials were released as part of Disney's The Little Mermaid franchise, including books and comics, though these materials' place in the animated canon is arguable. In the first two issues of the official "The Little Mermaid" comic, Ursula appears briefly to negotiate with a race of eel-men for the carcass of a Leviathan which she would convert into the home seen in the 1989 film. In the Disney Princess magazines, Ariel's stories occasionally feature Ursula appearing in a villainous role. In the Disney Press book "The Villain Files", it is implied that Ursula is Ariel's aunt, a concept that is based on the abandoned story concept of the 1989 film (this concept is also used in the musical). [edit] Theme Parks[edit] Fantasmic!The Fantasmic! show debuted in 1992 at Disneyland Park, only a few years after The Little Mermaid debuted. Ursula appears in the villains sequence, summoning the powers of the sea to destroy Mickey Mouse, though she herself is ultimately beaten. Originally, a 20-foot Audio-Animatronic Ursula float traveled on the water, but currently the character is only featured via animation projected onto water screens. In the Disney's Hollywood Studios version, Ursula is once again among Disney's Greatest Villains who are plotting to destroy Mickey Mouse, but like the original she was defeated along with everyone else. [edit] Walt Disney's Parade of DreamsUrsula, also voiced by Carroll, appears at the tail end of the Little Mermaid unit in Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams at Disneyland. [edit] Happy HallowishesUrsula 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 along with Jafar, Oogie Boogie and Maleficent. [edit] Kingdom Hearts series[edit] Kingdom HeartsIn the video game Kingdom Hearts, for the PlayStation 2, Ursula appears as one of Maleficent's co-conspirators, using the power of the Heartless to attack Atlantica and gain power. Taking advantage of Ariel's desire to see another world, Ursula tricks Ariel into giving her Triton's trident. With its power, she transforms into a giant, but is defeated by Sora, Donald, Goofy and Ariel. She vanishes in a cloud of ink and then a ray of light, leaving nothing but the trident. In the first battle with Ursula she attacks by throwing potions into her cauldron to either cause either a whirlpool or blasts of magic to erupt from it. If she is struck while not stunned she will spin rapidly and hit Sora and his allies with her tentacles. Flotsam and Jetsom also assist her by attacking Sora with their tails. In the second battle she fires bubbles and a beam of lightning from her mouth. She also will attempt to draw Sora close to her mouth to bite him. When her health gets low she will begin creating a massive storm of lightning around her. In addition to this Sora must keep moving constantly as lightning will attempt to strike him every few seconds. In this version of events the official walkthrough states that Ursula was King Triton's fortuneteller before she was banished. [edit] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of MemoriesA facsimile created from Sora's memories in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, for the Game Boy Advance, Ursula takes Flounder hostage to force Ariel into giving her Triton's trident. Eventually, she is once again defeated by Sora. [edit] Kingdom Hearts IIUrsula recreates her film role loosely in Kingdom Hearts II. She mysteriously returns through the powers of darkness and appears to Ariel. Ursula offers Ariel a deal in which Ariel will give up her voice in order to gain human form, so that she may win over Prince Eric. However, if Ariel fails to kiss Eric in three days, she will belong to Ursula. Following this, Ursula disappears, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy, when not watching over Ariel's progress, spend the three-day time period searching for her in an attempt to force her to reverse the spell, to no avail. She returns on the third day in the guise of Vanessa, using Ariel's voice to hypnotize Eric. Departing from the film, Sora uses the Keyblade to destroy Ursula's seashell pendant containing Ariel's voice. However, the sun sets just before Ariel and Eric can kiss, with Ursula takeing Ariel back to the sea where she tricks Triton into signing away his power in exchange for Ariel's freedom. She then takes the crown and magical trident as Eric intervenes with Ursula growing to titanic proportions and begins creating a massive oceanic storm. A battle follows, during which Ursula tries to kill everyone until Sora knocks the trident out of her hand and onto Eric's rowboat, allowing Eric to kill her with it. For an unknown reason, Ursula does not recognize Sora and co., and Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ariel make 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. [edit] Stage musicalMain article: The Little Mermaid (musical) A stage musical version of the 1989 film debuted in Denver for a pre-Broadway tryout, and in January 2008 opened on Broadway. Actress Sherie Rene Scott originated the live role, which she played until January 25, 2009. Heidi Blickenstaff took played the role from January 27, 2009 to April 2009. Faith Prince took over the role April 7, 2009. In this version, Ursula is King Triton's sister. As revealed in the lyrics of Ursula's song "I Want the Good Times Back", when their 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 to rule the seas together, Ursula's greed and use of dark magic to usurp Triton led to her being banished. Need for revenge is her motivation for the show. Unlike the 1989 film, Ursula is depicted as being large but not obese, and the entire subplot where Ursula transforms into a human has been removed entirely. In the show's finale, Ursula is defeated simply when Ariel destroys her magical shell, as staging her becoming a giant and being stabbed in the heart by the stake of a sunken ship would be too complicated to do. Ursula sings new songs in addition to the film's "Poor Unfortunate Souls". These songs are "I Want the Good Times Back", in which Ursula reminisces over her luxurious past, a reprise of "I Want the Good Times Back", in which Ursula anticipates the sunset of the third day, and a reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in which Ursula 'negotiates' an agreement with Triton for Ariel's soul. Ursula also sings briefly at the end of a new sequence called "The Contest", in which Ariel's voice can be heard as the sun sets, but is then merged with Ursula's own voice. An earlier demo workshop contained different songs written for Ursula that were eventually removed from the production. Ursula's introductory song was "Wasting Away", though it was later replaced by "I Want the Good Times Back". A different reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was written for Ursula just before she transforms into Vanessa, but since the Vanessa subplot was removed, so was the reprise. Another song, "All Good Things Must End" features Ursula gloating on her victory over Ariel, but the song was removed entirely. Emily Skinner performed as Ursula in this workshop. [edit] International voice castingInternational dubs of the animated films feature other actrors in the role of Ursula. These include: [edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
