In the Disney+ short The Simpsons: Welcome to the Club, Ursula and other Disney villains welcome Lisa Simpson to "Disney Villain Land," and persuade her to become evil. Starting in this short, she is now voiced by Dawnn Lewis, due to Pat Carroll's sudden death happening during the short's production. [97] Books [ edit ] Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch [ edit ] a b Pinsky, Mark I. (2004). The Gospel according to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust. United Kingdom: Westminster John Knox Press. p.140. ISBN 9781611644272.

About.com's David Nusair observed that "There's no limit to how low Ursula will stoop to achieve her goals"; [53] the character often relies on a combination of sorcery and deception to achieve them. [54] "A bargainer of the worst kind", [55] Ursula only agrees to help the less fortunate when she's confident that she can gain something from them in return. [56] Identifying Ursula as Ariel's binary due to the character's experience and authority, Collision of Realities: Establishing Research on the Fantastic in Europe author Lars Schmeink described Ursula as a "more complex and mature character" than Ariel, embodying everything that the mermaid can potentially become. [57] To Ariel, Ursula represents "the matronly image" who "instigate[s] the young princess' epic journey" as she longs to achieve the witch's " sage-like knowledge and power". [57] Ursula teaches Ariel about womanhood, a theme From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture author Elizabeth Belle noticed is absent in Anderson's story. [40] According to Bell, "Ursula can retrieve Ariel from her destined alliance with patriarchy", observing that the witch actually "teaches Ariel that performance and voice and manifestations" are "liberations of gender". [40] Teen Ink's Emma James believes that Ursula's death ultimately prevents Ariel from experiencing and learning from the consequences of her actions, concluding, "Ariel never really owns up to all the mishap she caused." [11] Observing that Ursula actually warns Ariel about the consequences should she fail to earn a kiss from Eric, Laura Stampler of Time described the character as a "savvy contract negotiator". [58] Writing for Collider, Dave Trumbore identified Ursula as the film's "Crossroads Demon". [59] According to Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Daily News, Ursula is similar to businesswoman Leona Helmsley. [60]King Triton appears in the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, portrayed by Javier Bardem. In this version, like the stage musical, Triton is Ursula's brother. [10] In addition, he is depicted as being less grumpy. The source of King Triton's distaste for humans is that his wife was killed by one of them. In 2016, Rebel Wilson performed the role of Ursula at a stripped-down concert version of The Little Mermaid at the Hollywood Bowl, which featured the songs from the film and four songs from the Broadway musical. [90] Wilson was praised for her performance, which was described by The Huffington Post as "pitch perfect." [91] Carlotta (voiced by Edie McClurg) works in Eric's castle in a role suggested to be similar to a housekeeper, though it is not stated outright. She reappears in the sequel, apparently continuing her role after Eric and Ariel are married and have a daughter of their own.

Ursula appears as the 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. Evry, Max (December 10, 2020). "Little Mermaid Cast, Plus Pinocchio & Peter Pan Films Go to Disney+". Comingsoon.net . Retrieved December 11, 2020. With Arthur eliminated, Clements and Musker were forced to audition several other popular television actresses of the decade, including Nancy Marchand, Charlotte Rae and Roseanne Barr, [22] the last of whom had originally auditioned for the supporting role of chambermaid Carlotta. [13] Amused by her nasal voice, Howard invited the comedian to read for Ursula, but concluded that her approach was ultimately not suitable for the character. [23] Jazz singer Nancy Wilson also auditioned. [24] Meanwhile, Ashman himself had been similarly unsuccessful in recruiting Collins because Dynasty producer Aaron Spelling feared that the actress' reputation would be jeopardized should she voice an animated character. [24] Thus, Ashman pursued Broadway veteran Elaine Stritch, of whom he had been a long-time fan. [22] The audition process for Ursula required each hopeful to both recite a scene from the film and perform a Broadway-style song of their choice. [23] The finalists became Clements and Musker's Rae versus Ashman's Stritch, [24] the latter of whom ultimately won the role over Rae with her preferred rendition of Ursula's song " Poor Unfortunate Souls". [22] Musker described Stritch's approach to Ursula as "an eccentric, loopy reading". [24] However, Stritch and Ashman soon began to experience creative differences over "Poor Unfortunate Souls" because the actress refused to follow the lyricist's "very specific directions". [22] After refusing to perform the song at Ashman's preferred tempo (combined with her alcoholism), [24] the songwriter fired Stritch from the project, [23] thus forcing Clements and Musker to find a replacement with yet another round of auditions. [22] a b Kit, Borys (July 1, 2019). "Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina in Talks for Disney's Live-Action 'Little Mermaid' ". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 1, 2019.a b Duca, Lauren (January 28, 2014). "A Definitive Ranking Of 25 Classic Disney Villains". The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc . Retrieved April 26, 2016. Haring, Bruce (July 31, 2022). "Pat Carroll Dies: Veteran Actress Of Stage, TV, Film And Voice Of Ursula In 'The Little Mermaid' Was 95". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 31, 2022. Eric makes cameo appearances in three episodes of the prequel television series: "Thingamajigger" (a non-speaking appearance), "Scuttle", and "Ariel's Treasures". Reese, Kyle (June 11, 2009). "20 Gre Gans, Andrew (April 21, 2008). "Young Frankenstein Tops Outer Critics Circle Awards Nominations". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008 . Retrieved April 23, 2008.