Synopsis of the flamboyantly evil sea witch known as Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid.
The Little Mermaid Franchise[]
Origins[]
Ursula.
Ursula belongs to a race of creatures known as Cecaelia. She states through a monologue that she once lived in the royal palace with King Triton and the royal family, the king of the underwater city of Atlantica. She boasts that her previous life was lavish and included such spoils as "fantastical feasts.
By the time of The Little Mermaid, Princess Ariel's story, takes place, she is an exiled subject of King Triton's royal sea court. She was banished from the kingdom of Atlantica after it was rumored that she was trying to overthrow him. When Triton found this to be true, Ursula was forced to live in the abandoned outskirts of the ocean, away from the rest of the Seafolk and the Mer-Civilization.
As a way to survive, she took up the skills of dark magic and secretly spy on Triton and his people via her magic cauldron, all in efforts to one day take over his kingdom and become the ruler of the ocean. Ursula made her home in the belly of a giant dead leviathan with her "pet" seaweed-like eels called polyps, which are forever imprisoned into the ground in her underwater "garden" (which is at the entrance of her chambers).
The polyps are usually seen crying in agony, hoping others could avoid their fate and even wrapping themselves around the limbs or wrists of new visitors who are interested in making a deal with Ursula (as they did with Ariel, although Ariel managed to get free). Occasionally, they are fed dead fish by Ursula. After Ursula was killed by Prince Eric they were freed from her polyp curse.
Over the years, Ursula has become one of the most popular and iconic of all of the Disney villains, and is one of the franchise's official members. The character has been compared to Madame Medusa from the 1977 animated Disney film, The Rescuers, in terms of style, dramatics, and choice of minions. Her character is also based upon "Divine", an American performer, actor, singer, and Drag Queen, who was associated with the legendary independent filmmaker, John Waters.
TV Series[]
Ursula in The Little Mermaid series.
Ursula is the overarching antagonist of the TV series based on the movie (though clearly set before its events), appearing in four episodes as the main antagonist ("Against the Tide," "Tail of Two Crabs," "Heroes," and "Ariel's Treasures"), still opposed to Ariel and her allies. The show somewhat contradicts the events of the film in which Ariel confronts Ursula directly, when they only meet in the film.
In "Against the Tide", Ursula is having trouble with one of her spells which she believes is because of a Sea Creature that is said to cause bad luck whenever it's around, so Ursula decides to destroy the creature though unfortunately for her, Ariel rescues the creature, as she believes it to be harmless. Eventually, the creature's whereabouts have been relocated to Triton's palace. So, in order to get rid of the creature, Ursula invades the castle during King Triton's homecoming. She nearly kills the creature using Triton's stolen trident, but Sebastian swapped it out with a fake on unknown to Ursula who flees after believing she destroyed the creature.
In "Tail of Two Crabs", Ursula takes advantage of Sebastian's jealousy towards his rival Zeus the Crab. She offers Sebastian a wish as his supposed Fairy God Crab only if he can recover a rare artifact holding great power. Sebastian delivers, and Ursula uses the artifact to turn King Triton, Flounder, and Ariel into sea worms. Unfortunately for her, Zeus the Crabe is able to subdue Ursula and revert her curse foiling her plan and causing her to retreat.
In "Heroes", Ursula decides to revive her old army in an attempt to dominate Atlantica once more. However, Apollo who had previously defeated Ursula and her army before returns to Atlantica, and prevails with the help of the fire-breathing Sea Dragon.
in "Ariel's Treasures", Ursula enchants the human items in Ariel's grotto, in an attempt to wreak havoc on Atlantica in order to pretend to stop her own spell to make herself a “heroine” and gain the crown of the kingdom, athough her plan fails once again thanks to Ariel and her friends.
The Little Mermaid[]
Ursula is the cunning, loathsome, and treacherous Sea Witch who makes deals with Seafolk and Mer-People. If they succeed, they get their heart's desire, but if they fail, she adds them to her "Garden", which is a collection of pitiful looking humanoid sea creatures who have grown into the floor.
Ursula throughout the film watches over Ariel believing her to be the key to Triton's undoing. Eventually, she is proven correct as Ariel falls in love with a human named Prince Eric which is against Triton's rules. Once Triton destroys Ariel's entire collection of human world artifacts she orders Flotsam and Jetsam to lure Ariel to her lair. Once Ariel arrives, she claims that only she can help make the princess' dreams of living on the surface, beside her true love, a reality.
Ursula singing "Poor Unfortunate Souls".
Via her song "Poor Unfortunate Souls", she offers Ariel the chance to be human for three days. If she can get the prince to give her "the kiss of true love" the condition of being human would be permanent, but otherwise she would be Ursula's property. Ariel thought that Ursula was there to help her, but in reality the thing that Ursula cared about was returning to Atlantica and revenge on Triton.
Ariel accepts the deal, and Ursula, true to her word, turns her human right then and there, at the cost of her beautiful singing voice. Later in the movie, Ariel is "too close" to accomplishing her goal, so Ursula decides to "take matters into her own tentacles".
Ursula in her human disquise Vanessa.
And by using her powers, she sabotaged Ariel and disguised herself as a beautiful dark-haired woman named "Vanessa", and uses her magic to put Prince Eric in a deep zombie like trance, misdirecting him into believing she saved him from the shipwreck forcing him to marry her. Ariel and her friends crash the wedding, and though they managed to stop it and release Ariel's voice from Ursula's enchanted necklace, Ariel is too late.
Ursula reverts back to her natural form and kidnaps the mermaid. Her father King Triton, who had been warned earlier by Ariel's friend Sebastian, tries to stop Ursula, but Ursula hides behind the contract, demonstrating that it is "legal", "binding", and completely unbreakable, even for someone as superior and powerful as Triton.
Ursula obtaining King Triton's crown and Trident.
The heartbroken King Triton saves Ariel and agrees to take her place, and while Ariel is released, Triton is now Ursula's prisoner. Ursula finally accomplishes her goal of being the unquestioned ruler of the seas. She almost aims the trident at Eric and vaporizes him, but an angry Ariel attacks her. However, Ursula is shocked when Ariel causes her to aim the trident at Flotsam and Jetsam and vaporize them by pulling on her hair.
Ursula mourning for Flotsam and Jetsam out of remorse after accidentally killing them.
After momentarily mourning the loss of Flotsam and Jetsam, she then becomes enraged and grows into a giant monster that reaches the surface and causes a big storm in the ocean, which brings lightning, rain, fierce waves and strong tides. She then traps Ariel in the bottom of a whirlpool she has made and shoots bolts of energy at the mermaid in attempts to destroy her. Luckily Ariel manages to dodge her aim twice.
Ursula's death.
Thankfully, just as she is about to at last vaporize and destroy Ariel thinking she would never be able to kiss Eric, Ursula is impaled on the bow of a sunken ship piloted by Eric, which prevents her from firing the energy blast. The shipwreck conducts a lightning strike, painfully electrocuting and killing Ursula, who disintegrates into a gelatinous mass. After Ursula is deceased, all of the merpeople she kept under her spell, including the king, were transformed into their rightful forms and released from Ursula's lair. Her spells were broken forever, her contracts had lost their validity, and her wrath and dishonesty were put to an end for good and Ariel would finally have the chance to be a human and kiss Eric for the first time ever.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea[]
Ursula's picture that Morgana hangs on her wall.
Due to her death, Ursula doesn't physically appear in the sequel, but is mentioned several times and is seen in a picture. Plus, she is revealed to have a sister named Morgana (also voiced by Pat Carroll), who acts as the main antagonist of the movie. It is revealed that Ursula was far more powerful than her sister, and as such was the family favorite. Morgana has been trying to come out of Ursula's shadow her entire life.
Despite their strained relationship, Morgana vowed to avenge Ursula's death by claiming the trident for herself. When Morgana finally claims the trident and forced all sea creatures and merfolk (including Triton) to bow down to her as the ruler of the seas, she cries to the skies to her late mother that she is now the favored daughter. However this was short-lived, as Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody manages to steal the trident back and tosses it back to Triton, who promptly declares Morgana and Ursula's family won't threaten his family again before he encases Morgana in a small iceberg. As she sinks to the bottom of the ocean, the picture of Ursula (at which Morgana regularly threw darts) slowly sinks down with her
In the deleted song a younger Ursula makes a brief appearance in the form of a flashback, alongside Morgana and their mother. The scene also gives a visual representation of Ursula's past and relationship with Morgana. In their youth, Ursula wears a purple bow tied to her hair.
In Other Media[]
The Little Mermaid (Broadway musical)[]
Ursula in the musical.
In the musical, Ursula remains largely the same. Her evil nature is still present, she is still a cruel sadist who delights in the suffering of her "clients", and she is a very powerful witch. However, there are some key differences as well, the largest being that she is now thin and attractive.
She is also Triton's sister, making her Ariel's aunt (an unused plotline for the movie). Her conch is no longer a necklace, but is rather kept on a stand. She still gives Ariel her human legs, still tries to sabotage her, and still seduces Eric to try and ruin her chances.
However, the Vanessa subplot was removed, and instead of crashing the wedding, Ariel dances for Eric as her entry in his singing contest. Before he decides to be with her and drop is search for "the voice", Ursula crashes the contest and attacks everyone. She obtains Triton's trident and conquers the ocean, but is destroyed when Ariel smashes her conch shell, the source of her power. Originally, in the stage show, she was portrayed by the veteran Broadway actress, Sheri Renee Scott.
Descendants 2[]
Ursula appears in Descendants 2, making only a voice over cameo, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg. She unleashes one of her tentacles on the pirate gang and begs them and her daughter Uma be quiet and tells them that these dishes are not going to have themselves washed. She often likes to stay home and watch soap operas.
Reflections of Ursula[]
Arsulu (Ursula in disguise) as seen in Reflection of Ursula.
Although Vanessa herself doesn't appear in the short story, Disney's The Little Mermaid: Reflection of Ursula, she is subtly referenced with Ursula's disguise of Arsulu, a blond mermaid with a red tail and magenta shells which she adopted to infiltrate Atlantica. Just like Vanessa, mirror reflections reveal "Arsulu's" true identity as Ursula, which Ariel later exploited.
Once Upon A Time[]
- Main article: Ursula (Once Upon a Time)
Part of Your World: A Twisted Tale[]
- Main article: Ursula (Part of Your World)
Kingdom Hearts[]
| “ | Why don't we turn him into a Heartless HAHA! That'll settle things quick enough | „ |
| ~ Ursula suggesting turning Sora intio a heartless |
Ursula as seen in Kingdom Hearts.
Ursula was one of the Disney villains who was recruited by Maleficent.
Ursula watches Sora defeat the Guard Armor in Traverse Town from her post in Hollow Bastion. She suggests that Maleficent should turn him into a Heartless, and it'll "settle things quick enough". After the defeat of the Opposite Armor, the Hellfire Club is beginning to dwindle. Ursula is still her ally, and appears alongside Oogie Boogie and Jafar, reminding Maleficent of the Princesses of Heart.
She returns to her homeworld of Atlantica where she uses Ariel and Sora to find the world's keyhole, as well as the trident. Once she obtains it, she battles the heroes in her cave, and when she is defeated there, she grows giant like in the movie. However, she is defeated again, and destroyed for good.
As in the movies and the TV series, she was voiced by Pat Carroll.
Kingdom Hearts II[]
Ursula as seen in Kingdom Hearts II.
Ursula appears again in Kingdom Hearts II, revived by unknown means. Her role in the game is largely similar to her role in the movie, however, due to the fact that Atlantica is a musical based world in Kingdom Hearts II, she is defeated during the song "Ursula's Revenge". Like in the movie, she grows into a giant and attacks Ariel and Eric. Sora knocks the trident out of her hands only for Eric to throw it right through her, killing her.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[]
Ursula as seen in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
Ursula reappeared again in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. While Sora and Riku were going through the Mark of Mastery, they had to travel to sea. While they were traveling a terrible and destructive storm started to occur. Then suddenly, a whirlpool appeared, and a revived Ursula emerged from the seas. Ursula replied that someone knew where Sora and Riku were. With their combined effort, Sora and Riku were able to defeat Ursula. However, when Ursula was defeated, Sora and Riku got sucked into the whirlpool, resulting in them ending up at the keyhole to Traverse Town.
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse[]
Ursula makes a guest appearance in the episode "Keep on Rollin'" alongside Peg Leg Pete and two of the Beagle Boys. The villains proceed to evict Mickey and his friends while taking over the roller rink.
Later, they enter the rink again, where they confront Pete and his gang. Mickey uses some sort of magic of disco, giving him and friends disco clothes and fixing up and restyling the rink. Using their moves and magic, they manage free everyone and scare off Pete and his gang.