Two more marine animals were considered to represent the Sea Witch in ‘The Little Mermaid’
To help tell the story of Princess Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’, both the original tale written by the DanishHans Christian Andersen in 1837, when the animation of the disney released in 1989, include one of the darkest malevolent antagonists of all time: Ursula, the sea witch who uses her spells and dishonest dealings to get what she wants.
In the animated version of the story, the character appears “essentially [como] a mixture of bea arthurcharacter from ‘Dynasty’, by Joan Collinsin divine and an octopus”, as stated by the film’s directors, john musker It is Ron Clements in an interview given to the Huffpost portal in 2014, but what few know is that the character could be represented by a very different marine animal.
That’s because, in the same chat, musker revealed that Úrsula went through some adaptations until she reached her iconic look, since before that, she had already been described as a poisonous lion fish, and also, as the great manta ray, which, according to the Mantas do Brasil portal, is an animal that can reach eight meters in wingspan and weigh more than two tons.
Ursula started out in different ways,” Musker said. “At one point she was a lion fish, a manta ray and an octopus, and when she came to life, it was cool to see how they could use their tentacles to play the villain.”
The choice could not be more accurate, after all, octopuses, in addition to being described by scientists as one of the most intelligent animals in the world, can also change the color and texture of their skin to avoid predators, so much so that one of their species , the imitator octopus, may have its own characteristics such as its shape, movements and behavior, so that it resembles 15 other species of marine animals, as stated by the BBC.
The actions of the octopuses can be symbolized by Úrsula through her transformations, since in addition to her human form, she grows absurdly in the final battle of the feature, as well as it is also possible to notice the intelligence of the animal in her tactics to make the deals are signed.
MORE ABOUT URSULA’S CREATION
The great inspiration behind Ursula’s look was the drag queen divine. The persona, which was lived by the actor Harris Glenn Milsteadwas suggested by the head of the music department Howard Ashmanwho according to information published by Huffpost, knew divine through the films john waters that began to emerge in the 1960s.
We described her as vampire and over the top, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, she’s like Joan Collins,'” Clements said. “So when we wrote our script, John was picturing Bea Arthur and I was picturing Joan.”
The person responsible for creating the look was the animator Rob Minkoffwhich at the time, designed the villain in a somewhat different way from the one that reached the big screen at the end of the 80s, since she wore striking eye makeup, lots of jewelry, a pink mohawk and a shark tail in place of her classics tentacles, as revealed by the Gente do IG portal.
Furthermore, divine should be the villain’s official voice, but Glenn Milsteadended up dying of heart failure before receiving the invitation, so the actress Pat Carroll was responsible for this feat, as stated by the official Disney website.
It is also worth remembering that the antagonist should earn her version in flesh and blood soon, since the live-action of ‘The Little Mermaid’ should hit theaters on May 26, featuring the actress Melissa McCarthy in the role of the villain. Remember the trailer!
Source: Recreio
