Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula's green moray eel minions appear. Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel in the animated film, cameos as a market vendor who hands Ariel a fork during her tour of the kingdom.
Flotsam and Jetsam are the secondary antagonists of the 2023 musical fantasy film The Little Mermaid, the live-action remake of the 1989 animated feature film of the same name. They are a pair of moray eels with electrical powers who serve the sea witch Ursula.
Flotsam and Jetsam are Ursula's minions. They're widely agreed to be moray eels. Real life moray eels might look a bit sinister to some, with their unblinking eyes and their mouths nearly always open.
Animated by Ruben A. Aquino, Ursula's original design was inspired by several different sea creatures, including manta rays and scorpion fish, before Clements finally decided to base the character on an octopus; her number of tentacles was reduced from eight to six for financial reasons.
Flotsam and Jetsam are Ursula's green moray eel minions, voiced by Paddi Edwards in the 1989 film. Both of them look and sound exactly identical and are only able to be told apart by their eyes; that being Flotsam's right eye is yellow and the other white, while Jetsam's left eye is yellow.
Come meet Ursula and her two eels Flotsam and Jetsam in The Little Mermaid Jr! #thelittlemermaid #disney #musical #musicaltheatre | By Orangeville Music Theatre | Facebook.
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.
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.
A squid has six arms, which is probably why Pat Carroll, the late voice actress who portrayed Ursula in the original film, claimed she was a squid. But Carroll didn't mention that most squid also have two tentacles and two legs—used for moving and swimming—while their arms are for grabbing and feeding.
[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.
Morgana is a villainess who appears in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. She is the infamous younger sister of Ursula and the older sister of Ulyana, but Ursula is worse than Morgana.
“Many people call her an octopus and I'm so knowledgeable I have to correct them,” Carroll explained in the documentary “Treasures Untold: The Making of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid. '” “She's not an octopus, she's a squid. … She has six tentacles instead of eight.”
(MORE: 'Little Mermaid Live': Who will play Ariel, Ursula, Sebastian and more!) Queen Latifah stars alongside actress Auli'i Cravalho who will play Ariel and reggae singer Shaggy who will play Ariel's friend, Sebastian.
In the animated film, Ursula was a villain who enjoyed messing with people and getting what she wanted. In The Little Mermaid live-action, however, Ursula's backstory gets an adjustment — she is upgraded to Triton's sister and Ariel's aunt, making her revenge and motivations all the more sinister.
How much did Halle Bailey get paid for The Little Mermaid?
It's believed that Bailey made about $1.5 million for her role as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, but that number could increase depending on how well the film performs opening weekend and beyond.
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.
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.
One theory is that each of Ariel's sisters represents different oceans that are home to various cultures and ethnicities. It's pretty problematic to have mermaids who all look the same representing such an expansive underwater world.
The names of Ariel's sisters in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid were changed, along with their role in the underwater world's royalty, thus expanding their roles even if slightly. Princess Mala (Karolina Conchet) represents Princess Attina from the animated movie, Triton's firstborn daughter.
He says they were looking for the best actor for the role of any ethnicity who could not only sing but convey traits such as strength, passion, beauty, joy and intelligence, which they found in Bailey.
