However, Ursula is determined to sabotage Ariel's and Eric's budding romance at any cost; when she realizes that Ariel and Eric are actually falling in love, Ursula transforms herself into a beautiful young woman named "Vanessa" and hypnotizes Eric, tricking him into agreeing to marry her instead.
The name of Ursula's human disguise, "Vanessa", is derived from the Latin word "Vanitas", meaning "Vanity", "Worthlessness", "Emptiness" and "Nothingness".
[The Little Mermaid] (1989): Ursula's pseudonym, Vanessa, was an intentional reference. "Vanessa" was a name made up by Jonathan Swift (that's not an important part) for a character based on a woman named Esther Vanhomrigh, "Van" from her surname and "Essa" being a then-common pet name form of Esther.
Although The Little Mermaid live-action confirms Ursula is Triton's sister, the Sea Witch does not have a mermaid's tale like Ariel. Rather, Ursula's appearance is radically different from her family, and she sports tentacles that look like a permanent black dress.
Ariel kills the Sea Witch at the end of the movie.
At the end of the 1989 animated film, Eric saves the day and kills Ursula. But in the new movie, Ariel is no longer the damsel in distress. She takes matters into her own hands and kills Ursula herself.
Melissa McCarthy's version of Ursula is revealed to be King Triton's sister. The sea witch was banished and wanted power and revenge on her older brother, as well as his trident.
Suddenly, the festivities are put on hold as Ursula's sister Morgana arrives, with a shark named Undertow. Morgana claims she's here to exact revenge for the death of her sister, threatening to feed Melody to Undertow.
Vanessa is Ursula's human alter ego from The Little Mermaid film. She is an extremely beautiful and seductive woman who brainwashes Prince Eric into loving her instead of Ariel.
The video goes on to talk about how this original concept for Ariel was too close to the Splash mermaid and the designers wanted to differentiate Ariel, so her red hair was born. We can't imagine Ariel without her red hair, but not everyone felt the same way back in the 80s.
While it is known that her mother perished, there is no story attached to the event. However, much later, in 2008, an animated The Little Mermaid prequel revealed that Ariel's mother was crushed by a pirate ship during an altercation between humans and merpeople.
The sea-witch octopus, originally voiced by Pat Carroll and modeled after drag queen Divine, is the epitome of a classic Disney baddie: unabashedly evil and self-serving, with a campy anthem to boot.
Vanessa being able to sing with Ariel's voice cinched the spell, as Prince Eric had been searching for the woman behind the voice all along. It made his sudden proposal to Vanessa appear valid.
In addition to being the god of the sea, Once's Poseidon is also the father of Merrin Dungey's Ursula, a concept omitted from Disney's The Little Mermaid in 1989, though later included in the Broadway musical.
Scuttle is not only changed from male to female but is also now a diving bird instead of a seagull. "This was done specifically so that Ariel would only meet Scuttle underwater, because, at the start of our story, Ariel has never dared go above the surface," director Rob Marshall said in production notes.
Andrina, Ariel's blonde sister, also shines as she swims with her pretty pink and orange tail; and Aquata, Ariel's brunette sister, flaps a lustrous blue and pink tail.
Of course, the animated mermaids are the daughters of King Triton and Queen Athena, but that may change in the live-action version with the implication that Ariel's sisters have different mothers.
But in a desire to re-market these ladies to a chic clientele, it appears that they decided to shave more than a few pounds off of Ursula the Sea Witch and Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Because in order to be fashionable, you must be thin. The fact is, Ursula was fashionable.
Ursula reverts to her true form and kidnaps Ariel. Triton appears and confronts Ursula, but cannot destroy Ursula's contract with Ariel. Triton chooses to sacrifice himself for his daughter, and is transformed into a polyp. Ursula takes Triton's crown and trident, which was her plan from the beginning.
Queen Athena was the wife of King Triton, and the mother of Ariel and her six older sisters. She was the Queen of Atlantica, and beloved by her family and subjects.
“There's so much you can do with tentacles. They give a creepy feeling,” supervising animator Ruben Aquino told Premiere magazine in 1989, adding the team ultimately decided to make her look like an octopus.
During the song "Poor Unfortunate Souls", Ursula asks Ariel for her voice, saying that men only want silent and obedient women, but secretly in an attempt to make sure Eric won't be able to recognize her or fall in love with her, to which Ariel agrees, and signs a contract.
