“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.”
The answer to this one might surprise you unless you take the time to count her tentacles, but Ursula is a squid — not an octopus.
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.
Ursula is a morbidly obese octopod, classified as a cecaelia (half human, half octopus). She has light lavender skin, short white hair, and her body, from the waist down, is black with six tentacles dotted by violet suckers.
Rather, Ursula's appearance is radically different from her family, and she sports tentacles that look like a permanent black dress. It's possible Ursula is not a mermaid in appearance because she and Triton did not have the same mother or father. If they're half siblings, Ursula's tentacles make more sense.
Ursula is a squid – not an octopus
Ursula's original design was inspired by many different sea creatures, including scorpion fish and manta rays, before director Ron Clements decided to base the character on an octopus.
Ursula the Sea Witch was one of the main antagonists of the second half of the fourth series of Once Upon a Time. She was portrayed by Merrin Dungey as an adult and Tiffany Boone as young. Ursula is also the only daughter and child of King Poseidon, god of the seas.
Ursula herself confirms she is Triton's sister several times in The Little Mermaid. In the Disney movie, she convinces Ariel that her father lied about her being a “sea witch,” and said she formerly lived with Triton in the castle before he unfairly cast her out.
Sebastian (full name Horatio Thelonious Ignacious Crustaceous Sebastian) is a crab and one of the main protagonists in Disney's 1989 hit film The Little Mermaid, its prequel film, its TV series, and its sequel.
Ursula is a feminine name of Latin origin, imploring caution against quick assumptions. Translated from the Latin ursa, Ursela means "little she-bear"—adding a notable vulnerability to an otherwise ferocious being.
“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.”
To tell them apart, all you need to do is count their numerous appendages. Octopuses have eight arms with sensitive suckers arranged all the way to the tip. Meanwhile, squid have eight arms plus an additional pair of limbs with suckers just at the ends.
Originally thought to be an octopus because it lacks the two long tentacles that usually extend past a squid's eight arms, the vampire squid possesses characteristics of both squid and octopi, and occupies its own order in taxonomy (scientific classification).
According to animator Rob Minkoff, Ursula was originally described in the script as a Joan Collins–like figure, resulting in character designs that depicted a thin, bony woman with lionfish- or manta ray–inspired features.
Ursula hated Triton for being ruler of the sea and she wanted his reign and powers. Hence, she used his land / human curious, naïve, and rebellious daughter Ariel to overtake his throne.
In the original film, she is called Vanessa to separate her from Ursula's sea witch form. In The Little Mermaid remake, Jessica Alexander plays Ursula's human form Vanessa who may look innocent on the outside, but she also seems a little peculiar.
This crimson sea crab is the owner of the Krusty Krab in Bikini Bottom where he serves as boss to his employees, SpongeBob and Squidward.
Rainbow lobster. Tropical rock lobster (Panulirus ornatus) is a large spiny lobster with 11 larval stages. It migrates annually from the Torres Strait to Yule Island in the Gulf of Papua in order to breed. After the migration the sexes segregate by water depth.
Instead of being a male seagull Scuttle is now a female Northern Gannet diving bird to participate in underwater scenes. According to the Northern Audubon Society the Northern Gannet is one of the largest sea birds in the Northern Atlantic.
Ursula's drag roots
Specifically, Divine, the drag alter ego of Harris Glenn Milstead. Rob Minkoff, the original movie's animator, told Vogue that it seemed like a “funny and quirky idea” to “take (Ursula) and treat her more like a drag queen.”
Morgana is a villainess who appears in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. She is the younger sister of Ursula and the older sister of Ulyana, but Ursula is worse than Morgana. She was loved less than her older sister Ursula, because Ursula had more powers than Morgana did.
Triton, in Greek mythology, a merman, demigod of the sea; he was the son of the sea god, Poseidon, and his wife, Amphitrite. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, Triton dwelt with his parents in a golden palace in the depths of the sea.
Ursula makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human for three days ("Poor, Unfortunate Souls"). Within these three days, Ariel must receive the 'kiss of true love' from Eric; otherwise, she will transform back into a mermaid on the third day and belong to Ursula.
If you accept that Ursula is Disney's Triton's sister, then Hades would be her grand-uncle.
Yes, Ursula dies in The Little Mermaid.
However, the most significant difference is that Ariel is the one who's responsible for her death by impaling the witch's abdomen with a splintered bowsprit, unlike in the animated movie where it was Eric's merit.