TWO QUICK CORRECTIONS: Apparently, the bishop mention's Vanessa's name in the wedding ceremony. This one is pretty easy to miss, although I'm not proud that I've basically repeated the mistake I made in the Pinocchio video where I didn't recall Foulfellow saying the Coachman's name. Also, "Chain of Memories" takes place in Sora's memories, not his dreams. I suppose the title should have been an indicator, huh? The only KH game I've fully played through is KHII, but I'll try to make sure I get this detail right in future videos. Thanks, everyone!
Funny enough, there IS a Kingdom Hearts game that takes place in Sora's (and Riku's) dreams, Dream Drop Distance. I don't blame you for getting it confused, especially as somebody not well-versed in the series' lore. 56:35 Woah, that was a weird edit. 1:47:14 Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida? I was wondering if you were familiar with it. I assume, as a non-animated property, it won't be covered as part of this retrospective, correct? Ah, Darkwing Duck is next! Excellent. Although, I know I've brought this up before: Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was released between The Little Mermaid and the premiere of Darkwing Duck. It featured an original villain, Smoke. I know Darkwing's rogue's gallery will likely be an extensive video, but should Smoke be thrown in as a bonus, or should he be kept on the backburner?
I’m surprise Chef 👩🍳 Louis didn’t appear in the live action remake of the little mermaid 🧜♀️, but even though he’s Sebastian‘s worst nightmare, he’s still Prince Eric and the Castle Court’s Royal chef 👩🍳. And without him, who’s going to cook food for them now?
Merlin intervening Ursula from getting Excalibur is one the wildest things I've ever seen in these retrospectives. Yet unsurprising since he can canonically time travel. XD
@@jamesa.romano8500 I glanced at the comments before finishing the video and assumed it must have been something that happened on Once Upon a Time but no. LOL.
Though funny enough, in original Arthurian legends, Excalibur and the sword in the stone were two different Swords. Excalibur was given to Arthur by water spirit named the Lady of the Lake.
It's interesting that Flotsam and Jetsam are not the usual Villainous sidekicks. Instead being treated harshly by the Villain and being silly, they actually adored by Ursula and acting sinister. Although in the Musical, they acting like usual disney Villain sidekicks, depending on the productions.
@@movieandtvseriesclips2805 Yeah , but if you think about it , if she went to merlin academy when she was younger , then , of course , merlin would know about atlantica
It’s so gratifying that you’ve pointed out Ariel giving up her voice is at the suggestion of Ursula, a clear villain being deliberately manipulative. I’m so tired of people misunderstanding the original 1989 Disney version of the story.
To be fair tho the love story felt a bit undercooked in the original and it kind of unintentionally validated Ursula's line about "body language", partly because of the fairy tail style narrative and time constraints, but as Disney movies got more and more story heavy people kinda started to expect more than the old love at first sight. Not that the remake did anything better, or that internet discourse doesn't miss nuance, but a lot of focus is put on a pretty underwhelming romance and the seeing the human world idea is quickly tossed to the side, so while I don't entirely agree on these internet hot takes I can kinda see where they're coming from.
We’re shown that Ariel is specifically a singer and her voice becomes a symbol of her essence and individuality (what’s a singer without their voice?)- Ursula is knowingly and manipulatively removing the thing that would weigh her challenge in Ariel’s favour. (We know Ursula wants Ariel to fail so naturally she wants to remove what the film is communicating to be Ariel’s greatest asset). Your voice is your agency. As such, while Eric is clearly attracted to and charmed by Ariel (the ‘body language’ kernel of truth that the villain builds their seductive lie around) there is something missing until ‘Vanessa’ shows up as a simulacrum of Ariel. Ultimately, it is Ariel’s voice (her individuality) that captivates him. I’m not saying it’s the greatest most realistic love story ever put to film (it’s a simplified fairytale), I just object to the idea that it’s in any way saying women should give up their voice to be with a man, when it seems to more accurately be saying that your individuality and agency is your most precious attribute, to give it up is to diminish your ability to achieve your goals and people most love when you are completely yourself.
It is probably going to mean the gap between episodes is going to be much, much larger…but those episodes will also be much longer and thicker. That’s a pretty fair trade-off
Boy, you definitely weren’t wrong when Ursula made ALOT of appearances, that and combined with the other villains from the franchise, makes this currently the longest installment of you Disney Villains Retrospective so far, and this is for a character that hasn’t even been around for half a century like The Evil Queen, Captain Hook, and Cruella De Vil!
I'm really glad the film's staff took full advantage of Ursula's overall animation. There's a reason she says, "Don't underestimate the importance of BODY language. HA!" I also love how the eels have such an intimidating impression, pretty much acting like the serpent from the Garden of Eden with how they tempted Ariel to follow Ursula. As for the TV show villains, I definitely enjoyed Manta the most for his cool design, overall presence, and of course Tim Curry's performance. Although, I wasn't a fan of him becoming a good guy in his last episode. Can't wait for your next retrospective. Kind of amusing how we jump from discussing a purple villainess to discussing the villains of a purple-clad hero.
I always thought of the the female villains as the middle age version of a Mean girl clique. Jocking for position but ultimately on each other's side because they need SOMEONE who gets their worldview.
Ooooooh boy we’ve finally reached the Renaissance where (almost) every villain is as amazing as the last. Also the bit about Triton in the prequel is making me think of Belle’s Magical World and how the Beast was basically the villain in that
I’m surprised it wasn’t brought up, but Ursula was intended to appear in the first Epic Mickey. She would’ve been included in a scrapped underwater area.
@@KaizokuGaeru I would say Clayton (hunter from Tarzan) is the weakest. Ratclife has a nice song. While the only thing Interesting abaut Clayton is his demise.
Some more insight into the Twisted Wonderland segment from someone who plays the game and knows all about what happens in the JP version, including future updates: --Octanivelle has the most popular characters in the JP side of the fandom. Malleus is the most popular in the ENG one. -- The Leech's nickname in the fandom is "The Tweels". -- It's heavily implied that Azul has an ED in the JP version. He is always watching his figure thanks to having a genuine fear of becoming fat again. There are plenty of lines in that version where he avoids eating or tries to make himself look skinnier by tightening his belt. -- One popular hc the fandom has is that the Leech Twins' parents are the heads of the mob under the sea. -- The ENG game pulled a 4Kids and changed the Tweel's personalities. The Tweels are depicted as darker in the JP version. In that version, Jade is much more like Sebastian from Black Butler while Floyd is more cunning and unhinged at times. It's stated that Floyd would often beat Azul's clients until they're unconscious if they back out of their deals. Whereas Floyd always came off like Shaggy in the ENG version. It's not just them who got this treatment. Cater and Jamil, who OP will talk about once he gets to Jafar down the line, also have completely different personalities depending on what version you play. (This is also the reason why I recommend the fan translations over the ENG release. It's more geared towards teens and adults.)
@@AnAverageGoblin True, but since some site censors don't allow me to say the other thing, I kinda have to. Plus, I think most people should understand the context of what I'm talking about in this.
We actually get lots of crossover character conversations in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Ursula has beef with Merlin and only barely tolerates the other villains (mainly due to magic rivalry especially with Gothel) But I’ve seen her have interesting convos in the overworld The other day I walked in on her trying to manipulate Belle into making a deal
1:01:31 What a HORRIFIC backstory for Triton in this version!! Imagine having most of your siblings murdered, and your remaining sibling turned out to have killed them all. I'm not too familiar with this version, but one would wonder if he equaled his number of children in honor of the number of sisters he had, and how the loss of his wife could have completely destroyed any sense of safety for him when it came to his family- the danger wasn't just Ursula, the danger was ANYONE.
Just a small aside the eels only halfway changed species. Their design is still based on morays (obviously), its just that they randomly decided to give them electric powers from an electric eel (which actually isn't even an eel but a completely differnet type of fish).
YES! Darkwing Duck is next! If Colin LooksBack plans to cover every single villain character, this video needs to be even longer than the last one. If it wasn’t a one-off; there’s a whole rogues' gallery to explore: - The Fearsome Five: Negaduck, Megavolt, Quackerjack, Bushroot, and The Liquidator - The Fearsome Five's Henchmen: Mr. Banana Brain, Spike, Posey, and Liquidator's Girls - F.O.W.L.: The High Command, Steelbeak, Ammonia Pine, Ample Grime, Major Synapse, Hotshot, Flygirl, and The Eggmen - Taurus Bulba and His Henchmen: Hammerhead, Mouth, Hoof, Clovis, and Tantalus - Other prominete Villains: Professor Moliarty and his mole henchmen, Tuskernini and his penguins, Splatter Pheonix, Negaduck 2, Dr. Fossil, Jambalaya Jake and Gumbo, Lilliput, The Bug Master, and Paddywhack And that's just scratching the surface! There are even more obscure characters that Colin could dive into.
Darkwing has almost as many foes as Batman or Spiderman, not to mention some of them were inspired by villains and evil organizations from other fiction.
Other possible villains (notable one-shots, villains from adaptations): Black Heron, Darkwarrior Duck, Wolfduck, Fluffy, Chronoduck, Ice-Head Harry, Dr. Slug
😂 As for the underwater denizens' thoughts about boots being more powerful weapons than the king's trident, I love how seeing Ariel point two boots' collars towards Evil Manta like pistols feels like Disney's own kid-friendly satire against gun violence. 🥾
(James Madison from Duckman): "Freedom of speech is absolute and applies to everything and everyone, no exceptions. And Joe average does NOT have a constitutional right to own a gun for god's sake. We're not stupid!"
Another fantastic video. Personally I never liked the idea of Ursula being Ariel’s aunt. It just makes the world(or in this case ocean) feel smaller. I will always miss Pat Carroll, I know her time as Ursula is universally beloved, but I feel like no one ever talks about how iconic Ursula’s laugh is.
this video made me realize how much I love Flotsam and Jetsam. I already love Moray Eels but seeing how loyal they are and how Ursula treats them well makes me like them a lot more so I'm glad they almost always appear with her across the media. Some of the most effective henchmen you can have.
The Little Mermaid is probably my favourite Disney movie period and Ursula plays a big part in that so you can imagine my excitement when I saw this appear in my recommended, great work Colin.
As a regular Dreamlight Valley player, I’m really looking forward to seeing your takes on the other villains they’ve released so far (ie, Scar, Gothel, Gaston, Jafar, and now Hades and Maleficent arriving later this week). While none of them necessarily get redeemed, we do start to see some more vulnerable sides to their personalities while monitoring their behavior. During one of the Vanessa quests, Ursula even expresses a slight hint of guilt for almost getting the player hurt in one of her schemes, as she considers them the closest thing she’s had to a loyal companion since losing Flotsam and Jetsam.
The amount of research you put into each of your videos is insane. This is easily the most comprehensive video on the history of Ursula I have ever seen on the platform!
@@unseenhand6579 Inducks is a very helpful database of Disney comics, although its navigation is a bit tricky at first: inducks.org/character.php?c=Ursula After I found which issues she appeared in, I was able to seek certain comics out on Library Genesis: libgen.gs/index.php
I've always thought of Melissa McCarthy's take on Ursula as being essentially what it would have looked like if Elaine Stritch hadn't been axed in the part and actually played the role in the film (I can't remember who it was who said Stritch's Ursula sounded like she had a few belts before Ariel came in and I couldn't help think the same thing about McCarthy's Ursula) EDIT: I wrote this before finding out this was also in the vid I swear LOL
The Little Mermaid is one of my all time favourite animated films, and Ursula is a big reason why! Next to the Evil Queen and Maleficent, she is easily one of the most iconic villainesses that Disney has ever created! Pat Carroll's amazing performance and that wickedly cool design make for such an incredible antagonist! Fun, charming, devilish, conniving, intimidating, yet a total delight to watch over and over!
I'll always apprecoate the fact that Pat Caroll returned to play Ursula's sister in the rip-off sequel, and Jodi Benson's performance as Vanessa was AMAZING!
This is THE video I've been itching for since I found your channel 2 years ago when I discovered your Maleficent video (another of your best ones!) The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie of all time, and Ursula is my favorite Disney Villain. This was very informative, so much in here I'd never heard of. Thank you SO MUCH for sticking with this retrospective series, I'll be rewatching this video many times I'm sure
Gotta give you massive props for what I can only assume was a metaphorically back breaking amount of research for this. And it was well worth it in the end I'd say.
Great video. I just met Jody Benson at Galaxycon at the end of July, and she was a total sweetheart. R. I.P to both Pat Caroll, not only for her role as Ursula, but Katrina Stoneheart on Hanna-Barbera's Pound Puppies, and Kenneth Mars as King Triton. Happy Holidays Colin, and to everyone else.
After how increasingly wacky the Disney movie villains were getting in the 70s- they needed to be serious, scary, and dangerous like they used to be- like Cruela as the last notable example. Medusa was a bit more dangerous but she was largely inept. The moral ambiguity of the Fox and the Hound showed that Disney could go into darker territory for their narratives- being the transitional movie between the laidback tone starting with the 60s and the more intense tones of the 80s onwards. The Horned King and Sykes are a step in the right direction in making them very serious villains, but it backfired as they’re too frightening- nightmarish so in the case of the former and realistically so in the case of the latter. And finally, Ratigan is a start of the balance of hammy elegance and a dark sinister aspect that had been lost since Cruela, but he leaned too much into the darker sinister aspects. Ursula strikes the balance of hamminess, danger, and sinister elements that were missing for decades. Becoming the blueprint for villains for the renaissance onwards till Disney started the twist villain trend. Hopefully, they will realize that they need memorable evil for evil’s sake villains- no, Wish doesn’t count.
Congratulations on your longest video so far in this series. Thank you for sharing so much information. I agree with most of the fans who say that they aren’t fans of Ariel’s Beginning but I will continue to love Return to the Sea. It’s a film from my childhood and it will always be special to me. I even collect a lot of Melody fan art. Morgana is also a great character in my book. Thank you for also looking over the entire little mermaid 90s Tv series. So many fantastic versions of Ursula! This was truly a masterpiece and a fantastic early holiday present from you. Can’t wait for the next installment with Darkwing Duck. I’m a Darkwing fan for life!
I have to say, I really don't like how so many re-imaginings of the first movie go back to the idea of Ursula being Triton's sister. Villains who are motivated by family grudges against their more noble siblings are a dime-a-dozen, and Disney followed up on Ursula with to highly iconic villains (Scar and Hades) who have just that as part of their motivation. Re-inserting the backstory of Ursula as Triton's sister makes her too similar to those characters IMO, and it doesn't really make her any more complex or interesting.
At last! I had to skip your previous video because that character absolutely traumatized 8-year old me in my grandparents living room (thank God I never saw it on the big screen)! Thank you for highlighting Jodi Benson’s uncredited contribution as Vanessa…every time she sings Vanessa’s Song for a fan or at D23 I have a big evil grin on my face. She and Pat (RIP) worked together in the booth for nearly 3 hours for that scene and she imitated her characterization of Ursula perfectly. The wedding scene makes me bust a gut because as an adult I picture Jodi in the recording booth screaming and being as zany and wild as she can. Looking forward to the Terror That Flaps In The Night 😁😉. Great work as always!
Thank you so much for all the work you've done on this retrospective up to this point. It's been a ton of work, and it's been fascinating going through the early history of Disney. Now we get to enjoy the Renaissance. It's awesome to see this retrospective get this far.
It’s ironic that Charlotte Rae was originally set to play Ursula then later on she played Aunt Figg in the Tom and Jerry movie, who is very Ursula-esque
As well Jennifer Saunders, who auditioned for the role of Ursula and later voiced the Fairy Godmother from Shrek 2, who is loosely based on the infamous sea witch.
@@aidanhever3369 A similar thing happened with Rupert Everett. He originally auditioned to play Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, but didn’t get role for supposedly not sounding arrogant enough. He seemed to have token that criticism to heart with Prince Charming Fairly Godmothers kid in Shrek 2.
Looking forward to the Darkwing Duck video. Not just because I love the show (the great writing, Darkwing and Gosalyn's relationship, and the villains key reasons as to why), but I DESPISE the origin given to Negaduck for the DuckTales remake. It felt like they gave us the original Darkwing, right down to casting Jim Cummings, only to slap that toy out of our hands for a cheaper, blander, sanitized replacement. Even if it makes sense as an origin for Negaduck, I prefer him not having one. Like the Joker, it's creepier to think the world spat out something that evil.
-THANK YOU for remembering Disney Divas -I would have suggested Phyllis Diller to play Morgana. It's exactly her type. -I just realized if the Disney Villains Retrospective continues at its current pace, we'll get to Oogie Boogie by next Christmas at the latest. -It's funny that you call Tip and Dash the Timon and Pumbaa knockoffs because Tip is played by the Broadway Timon himself, Max Casella. Also, Dash was voiced by Stephen Furst, aka Booster from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
The 1940's visual development artwork was done by Kay Nielsen. Despite being decades later, Nielson got screen credit in the final film for such contributions. Astounding.
One point of note about Lobster Mobster, in his very first appearance, his weapon of choice was actually quite a bit different. He threatened to "slug" Sebastian, which he meant quite literally when he pulled out a bunch of sea slugs. Sadly (or luckily), we never get to see how that would look like. While the slugs in the show are considerably cuter and less disgusting than real life slugs, the implications behind this threat are still a lot more unpleasant than just getting pelted with bubbles.
58:27 I believe the reason they didn't use Morgana for Descendants is because when John Lasseter started getting involved around 2006, he basically locked all the sequels in a closet and declared them non canon. Hence why KHII was able to loosely adapt Return of Jafar before he made that decision. He also made it cleared he hated Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, which is why it's probably kept off Disney+ and led to the creation of Lightyear. You think they would have eased up on that after he left.
maybe if ursula told manta she got stabbed manta and son wouldlaugh and mock her itd be like manta oh look at me im ursula the sea wicth i just became sea queen untill that mean prince eric stabbed me manta jr would be like yeah help me im melting and my little poopsies got eletacuted by that trident thanks by that spolled bratty little mermaid and her daddy ursula would be like oh shut up
Another banger video in this retrospective of yours. Thanks so much for an in-depth look at my mom's favorite Disney villain. Your videos help me get through my workdays, so know that I really appreciate you.
10:28 These concepts do end up being used in her opening scene. First, we see her in shadow, then she grabs the shrimp with only her hands visible, before we get a full view of her, all within her first few seconds of her screentime. This could be a reference to the original idea of showing bits of her in various scenes, before giving us a full view of her when Ariel meets her.
Yes, you talked about "A Twisted Tale" in this video! The books are super interesting that I'm glad they're going to be included going forward hopefully!
The animated series also further explored the dynamic between merpeople and other sea creatures. The merpeople are vegans, eating mostly aquatic plants like seaweed. This also seems to apply to all the talking marine life, including octopus, starfish, and crustaceans that are predators and scavengers in real life, but we don't see them try to eat other fish, alive or dead. Not to mention some species are likely to be plankton feeders, like their real world counterparts. Sharks are feral beasts in the series too, and we see Ariel and her friends flee or try to fight them a few times. Orcas are also viewed as wild animals, simply because they don't talk or act like the other sea creatures, but they're way more intelligent than sharks, and less likely to attack a mermaid. Dolphins are domesticated, and used to pull King Tritons chariot. This is also a refernce to mythology, where Poseidon's chariot is sometimes pulled by dolphins, sometimes hippocampi, mythical sea horses. In fact, there's one episode where Ariel befriends a similar creature, a wild giant sea horse.
I love the heck out of Ursula, she’s probably my fav Disney villain next to Malifcent, Jafar, & Jeffrey Katzenberg. That being said, she’s so fun and campy, and I’m glad you went over EVERYTHING you could including the deleted lines from Poor Unfortunate Souls, I personally would’ve left it in just for how deliciously evil Pat Carol makes Ursula in it, especially on the line “Yes I think you ought to take my little bargain, yes I think you ought to take me little deal.” Also my biggest disappointment with Ariel’s Beginning is that they could’ve had a great story showing how Ursula got banished as well.
I have been waiting months if not years for this specific entry. Ever since I started watching this retrospective when Jungle Book was the latest entry...
As a gay man the little mermaid means so much to me. It should go without saying why. Ursula is beyond fun and one of the greatest villains and I can’t wait to watch this. Rip Pat Carrol.
Let’s get dangerous! 2025 is off to a good start already. And shockingly, you were much less harsh on the live action remake here compared to Pinnochio. Not that I’m complaining.
I think a good deal of my issues with the Mermaid remake weren't related to Ursula (the lack of emotion from the animal sidekicks, the complete mishandling of Triton, etc). I'd say Mermaid is probably better than Pinocchio, but it still just felt kind of "meh."
@@jackpearce367 He came across as even more harsh than usual with none of the more sympathetic aspects the original movie gave him. The acting from Bardem was also surprisingly flat and the scenes that were meant to be touching between him and Ariel just didn't hit the mark most of the time.
Great video Colin. I love original little mermaid. Great songs, great characters, a great story and an awesome villain. Ursula is one of the best, you know you've made a great villain if they can stand shoulder to shoulder with other classic villains like The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Captain Hook ect. And it shows that Disney could still make great movies and it paved the way for other great movies like Beauty and the Beast and the rest of the Disney Renaissance. The late Pat Caroll was great as Ursula, I've seen her in interviews and she seemed so sweet. I grew up with the animated series, I used to watch it on tape over and over. Ursula's other song "Mess with me" is a good one. There are other baddies but they're one-off characters, like the 2 alligators that tried to bust into the palace in the "home alone" style episode, there was the lady in the cave (she was so freaky when I was a kid) and there were some weird sea anemone creatures. Evil Manta is a cool villain, mostly because Tim Curry is awesome. When we first see Manta trapped and calling for help as 2 glowing eyes in the dark, that really scared me as a kid. And I love his evil lullaby in the last episode, that brain sponge thing was also terrifying. But I also wonder who's the mother of Little Evil. Little Mermaid 2 is a bit of a rehash of the first one, but it's not completely awful, I think it's pretty okay. I had no idea that Anne Bancroft was almost Morganna, I'll need to check out that deleted song, they could've still used it to pad out the movie. I think it's kind of funny that Pat played Morganna after playing Ursula, it kind of works that she'll always be second best, like Morganna will always be the diet version of Ursula. I never watched Ariels Beginning all the way through, after the "shake sinora" rap, it was so cringey I had to change the channel. It's weird that they didn't bring back Ursula for the prequel, this villainess is such a downgrade to Ursula and Morganna. It's lame that in the new preschool series the new Ursula and her eels are friendly now, I think kids shows could use a bit of conflict, I'll rather stick to the original animated series. I also think it's a bit lame taking out the part of "Poor unfortunate souls" where Ursula says that a woman should hold her tongue. Sure it's disempowering, but that's the point, I like it shows the main heroine can prove the antagonist wrong. It's like Gaston saying "it's not right for a woman to read, first she starts getting ideas and thinking" while Belle proves him wrong, or in "A Girl worth fighting for", Mulan speaks her mind. That's one way to make them empowering, by proving the people holding them down wrong. Ursula is definitely one of my favorite villains, she's just such a fun character. I'm looking forward to your next villains retrospective. There are more good ones coming up... 👍
Today is not only the aniversary of the movie's release, but also my birthday. I'm so happy that this video came out today. Ursula is my favorite Disney villain. I love her in both the original and the remake. She's also one of those villains which I love because they are unapologeticly evil. I never read Serena Valentino's novel because I don't care for simpathetic Ursula, specially at the expence of King Triton. Indeed this is why I love the 2023 remake. Instead of trying to make her more simpathetic, they went out of their way to prevent the audience to make excuses for her. And I disagree about the change of the wedding for an engagement party making much of a difference. For me the urgency was the sunset not if Eric marriec her or not.
Ursula is a great and iconic villain! She was certainly creepy, and yet, King Triton was much more scarier to me as a kid than she was. Ursula’s design choice, personality, even the voice of her by the beloved Pat Carrol(may she rest in peace) was very good. I love her songs too, from the film and the TV series; “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and “Mess with Me.”
Also I have nothing to back this up, but I do suspect that Nina Foch's Sea Witch from the Shirley Temple's Storybook version might have worked its way into the characterization for the Disney film. It doesn't make sense unless you've actually seen the Shirley Temple version but the similarities are pretty striking (Sea Witch is more of an antagonist, uses her bargain with the mermaid as leverage to get back at the family - although in this case it was the grandmother and not the father; there's also the conflict between the mermaid and the Sea King where she uses the same "I'm not a child" argument)
It's so nice to again see so many different apparences of Disney villains outside of their respective movie now that we reached the Renaissance, and i expect most of the villains of this era will get a similar treatment.
I vaguely recall the Kingdom Hearts Manga implied that the Shark was one of Ursula's henchmen, guarding the way into Ursula's lair and nearly killing Ariel and Sora before being dispatched. And when they confront Ursula, she seems surprised they made it past the Shark
The Vanessa book by Lorie Langdon is tragic romance novel. Ursula goes to land looking for a powerful dark magic that's recently been activated, and as her Vanessa form, falls in love with a human man. It doesn't end well obviously. It's a fun enough read, but nothing amazing. Mid and safe for the fantasy romance genre. It was also only originally released in Australia for some reason, and so I needed to order it from a bookseller there. Now it's gotten an American and digital release. I think the tragic romances with the villains were intended to be a big series, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got shelved cause it's just too niche an idea. Disney Hyperion is releasing a lot of what I'd call, official fanfiction.
I'm 100% on board with Ursula being the King's sister. Why? Because she's THAT aunt. You know the aunt I'm talking about. We all have THAT aunt. The one that's messed up and you enjoy it as a kid because you think they're fun, but when you're an adult you realize what a hot mess they are. And believe me, I totally have that aunt. Even if you take the grudge between Triton and Ursula out, I can totally see her being that hot mess that gets little Ariel in trouble and /or puts her down the wrong path. Almost like Triton was hiding her from Ursula because he knew Ariel would be corrupted by her. While I usually don't talk about (ahem) THAT kind of DA fanart, I once saw this thing that was intriguing. A fat version of Ariel who had a sinister look on her face, who seems to have taken Ursula as a mentor. Fetish stuff aside, I always liked that concept. Triton lost his little girl to his sister's influence, like he always feared. Also, Chef Louie does basically become a Tom and Jerry type character in the almost lost, but not legally available Sebastian cartoons from Raw Toonage and/or Marsupilami. The only episode I've found features Sebastian wanting to be a TV star, but always being cast opposite Louie, who now totally has a more violent, cartoonish desire to get the little crab. So he does technically fit in the villainous role here.
Whether you love or hate The Little Mermaid, you can't deny the impact it's had over the years. Happy 35th anniversary to film that began Disney's most prosperous era 🎂. #TLM35
Finally, a video for the best villainess 🖤 This was more than worth the wait, Colin. Thanks for all the hard work & dedication that you pour into each of these videos!!
I know Pat Carol would be immortalized as Ursela, but to me being an 80s kid, will always remember as Auntie Katrina from the Pound Puppies cartoon series! She was truly malevolent both on land and sea!❤
I know these videos are scripted and planned probably months in advance, but one thing I would've loved to have seen covered was her roll in the Lorcana Card game. It's a trading card game based on Disney Properties, where she gets much more powerful, through magic relics. Not only becoming the face of the fourth wave of cards, but also getting her own exclusive game mode, Deep Trouble. It's not only a challenging separate mode, but also shows off a buncha characters both good and evil she brought to her side. Including Captain Hook, Anna from Frozen, Bruno from Encanto, Heihei (even she's not sure what he's doing there), Ariel's other sisters, and even Minnie Mouse! And a bunch of the cards have flavour text describing her POV on the character, and how she corrupted them.
I really enjoyed this video, as a film of the film and spin offs pretty much since it came out there was a fair few things I didn’t know. Well researched, interesting and a lot of respect to one of my favourite films of all time, thank you.
Fun fact: In the Finnish dub of Little Mermaid 2, Undertow is named "Viemäri" aka Finnish term for sewage. Another thing is that Cloak and Dagger have the excact same names as Flotsam and Jetsam, those being "Kiero & Liero." 90-2000 Disney dubs were interesting here in Finland
For the one-shot villains stock-watch for the animated series, we have Ebb and Flow (No relations to Disney Junior's inferior eels substitutes), two Home Alone-esque crocodile thieves who tried to rob Atlantica once while Ariel and one of her sisters Arista were being "beached" (The Atlantis equivalent of being grounded) by Triton. Then there's the one and only... Dr. Vile! A crab-obsessed scientist hellbent on conducting CRAB EXPERIMENTS in order to be part of the "mad science hall of fame" by making crabs bigger and tastier. Sebastian is just unlucky enough to encounter an eviler and insane version of Chef Louis.
One more piece of neat trivia was how Ursula was killed in Kingdom Hearts 2, where Eric killed her with the trident by throwing it at her. It’s neat how that idea was recycled from the movie to a video game much later (even if that section was infuriating to get through) This video also made me realize just how much Ursula is used. This makes sense of course, her character is the perfect balance of scary and dangerous, but also silly and funny. Little Mermaid has a special place in my heart for various reasons, and Ursula is definitely one of my all time favorites!
18:03-18:08 Did you mean to say Michael Eisner? HE was the CEO of the entire Disney company. Jeffery Katzenberg was only the man in charge of the film division.
@1:28:39 I'm so excited to see Dreamlight Valley get a mention. Its a fun game and Ursula adds to it. With out spoiling too much she's actually important to the games main story, which is restoring the Valley and the Seven Pillars of Virtue that protect it. Ursula is fittingly introduced in the Orb of Power arc. And that comic with Merlin appearing gave me a laugh as in DDV Merlin and Ursula have a pretty funny rivalry
Also, that after you gotten Ursula, checked off your list well then move on past McLeach and onto Gaston. Then the rest will continue until we get to Dr. Facilier and the 3D villains. Keep up the amazing work, Collin! I’m excited to see the rest of these Disney villains retrospectives and I know you’ve got this! 🥰🤗😘🤩👍🏻
TWO QUICK CORRECTIONS: Apparently, the bishop mention's Vanessa's name in the wedding ceremony. This one is pretty easy to miss, although I'm not proud that I've basically repeated the mistake I made in the Pinocchio video where I didn't recall Foulfellow saying the Coachman's name.
Also, "Chain of Memories" takes place in Sora's memories, not his dreams. I suppose the title should have been an indicator, huh? The only KH game I've fully played through is KHII, but I'll try to make sure I get this detail right in future videos. Thanks, everyone!
Azul wasn't solely just angry, he overblotted. And as you can see some weird creature attached itself to him through his anger
Fun Fact Ursula did the Why you little strangle before Homer Simpson
Funny enough, there IS a Kingdom Hearts game that takes place in Sora's (and Riku's) dreams, Dream Drop Distance. I don't blame you for getting it confused, especially as somebody not well-versed in the series' lore.
56:35 Woah, that was a weird edit.
1:47:14 Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida? I was wondering if you were familiar with it. I assume, as a non-animated property, it won't be covered as part of this retrospective, correct?
Ah, Darkwing Duck is next! Excellent. Although, I know I've brought this up before: Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue was released between The Little Mermaid and the premiere of Darkwing Duck. It featured an original villain, Smoke. I know Darkwing's rogue's gallery will likely be an extensive video, but should Smoke be thrown in as a bonus, or should he be kept on the backburner?
you forgot to talk about elements of the original alternate ending used in Kingdom Hearts II.
👋 Hey it’s no big deal, Colin! We all make mistakes. It's a human thing (as Triton and Sebastian would point out. LOL)
I want a live-action prequel about Louie in cooking school where his parents are killed by a mackerel
Disney: "Write that down! Write that down!"
I think we've found the best comment for this one, folks.
Thanks, I love it. He was robbed from the remake.
I’m surprise Chef 👩🍳 Louis didn’t appear in the live action remake of the little mermaid 🧜♀️, but even though he’s Sebastian‘s worst nightmare, he’s still Prince Eric and the Castle Court’s Royal chef 👩🍳. And without him, who’s going to cook food for them now?
Welp. Pack it up, everyone. This guy just won the Internet.
Merlin intervening Ursula from getting Excalibur is one the wildest things I've ever seen in these retrospectives. Yet unsurprising since he can canonically time travel. XD
I did a double take reading this before watching the whole video LOL
@@jamesa.romano8500 I glanced at the comments before finishing the video and assumed it must have been something that happened on Once Upon a Time but no. LOL.
Though funny enough, in original Arthurian legends, Excalibur and the sword in the stone were two different Swords. Excalibur was given to Arthur by water spirit named the Lady of the Lake.
It's the Dumbo and Prince John situation all over again 😂
I wouldn’t mind seeing that comic
And on “The Little Mermaid”’s 35th anniversary!
It's interesting that Flotsam and Jetsam are not the usual Villainous sidekicks. Instead being treated harshly by the Villain and being silly, they actually adored by Ursula and acting sinister. Although in the Musical, they acting like usual disney Villain sidekicks, depending on the productions.
@@movieandtvseriesclips2805 Yeah , but if you think about it , if she went to merlin academy when she was younger , then , of course , merlin would know about atlantica
They're a lot like Brutus and Nero though they can actually talk.
It’s so gratifying that you’ve pointed out Ariel giving up her voice is at the suggestion of Ursula, a clear villain being deliberately manipulative. I’m so tired of people misunderstanding the original 1989 Disney version of the story.
To be fair tho the love story felt a bit undercooked in the original and it kind of unintentionally validated Ursula's line about "body language", partly because of the fairy tail style narrative and time constraints, but as Disney movies got more and more story heavy people kinda started to expect more than the old love at first sight.
Not that the remake did anything better, or that internet discourse doesn't miss nuance, but a lot of focus is put on a pretty underwhelming romance and the seeing the human world idea is quickly tossed to the side, so while I don't entirely agree on these internet hot takes I can kinda see where they're coming from.
We’re shown that Ariel is specifically a singer and her voice becomes a symbol of her essence and individuality (what’s a singer without their voice?)- Ursula is knowingly and manipulatively removing the thing that would weigh her challenge in Ariel’s favour. (We know Ursula wants Ariel to fail so naturally she wants to remove what the film is communicating to be Ariel’s greatest asset). Your voice is your agency.
As such, while Eric is clearly attracted to and charmed by Ariel (the ‘body language’ kernel of truth that the villain builds their seductive lie around) there is something missing until ‘Vanessa’ shows up as a simulacrum of Ariel. Ultimately, it is Ariel’s voice (her individuality) that captivates him.
I’m not saying it’s the greatest most realistic love story ever put to film (it’s a simplified fairytale), I just object to the idea that it’s in any way saying women should give up their voice to be with a man, when it seems to more accurately be saying that your individuality and agency is your most precious attribute, to give it up is to diminish your ability to achieve your goals and people most love when you are completely yourself.
Aaaaand we’ve finally reached the Disney renaissance, a collection of some of the best villains in all of history
I can’t wait to see more of these
It is probably going to mean the gap between episodes is going to be much, much larger…but those episodes will also be much longer and thicker. That’s a pretty fair trade-off
I know, right?
I can't wait till he gets to Frollo and Hades.
@@justinarzola4584Frollo, Quasi is no bad guy but his “father” is.
@@KaizokuGaeru Yes I meant Frollo, got the names mixed up after not watching the movie in a while.
It's a pity Ursula and Evil Manta never interacted. That would have been an awesome villain team up.
Yeah, I agree, especially if he remains evil by the end of the show instead.
They did meet in that comic story.
@@disneyboy3030 really
@@mixmaster3028 it's brought up in the video.
@@disneyboy3030 hadn’t reached that part yet when it was mentioned
"Never underestimate the importance of body language"
-Pat Carroll
Boy, you definitely weren’t wrong when Ursula made ALOT of appearances, that and combined with the other villains from the franchise, makes this currently the longest installment of you Disney Villains Retrospective so far, and this is for a character that hasn’t even been around for half a century like The Evil Queen, Captain Hook, and Cruella De Vil!
Just shows you how much Disney finally hit it out of the park at the start of their renaissance!
I'm really glad the film's staff took full advantage of Ursula's overall animation. There's a reason she says, "Don't underestimate the importance of BODY language. HA!" I also love how the eels have such an intimidating impression, pretty much acting like the serpent from the Garden of Eden with how they tempted Ariel to follow Ursula.
As for the TV show villains, I definitely enjoyed Manta the most for his cool design, overall presence, and of course Tim Curry's performance. Although, I wasn't a fan of him becoming a good guy in his last episode.
Can't wait for your next retrospective. Kind of amusing how we jump from discussing a purple villainess to discussing the villains of a purple-clad hero.
I love how Ursula's Disneyland Fantasmic appearance basically establishes that she and Grimhilde are vitriolic gal pals ("Why not? Let's DO IT!")
I always thought of the the female villains as the middle age version of a Mean girl clique. Jocking for position but ultimately on each other's side because they need SOMEONE who gets their worldview.
Ursula is one of the greatest and best Disney villains in history with her voice provided by the late Pat Carroll. RIP
Ooooooh boy we’ve finally reached the Renaissance where (almost) every villain is as amazing as the last. Also the bit about Triton in the prequel is making me think of Belle’s Magical World and how the Beast was basically the villain in that
I’m surprised it wasn’t brought up, but Ursula was intended to appear in the first Epic Mickey. She would’ve been included in a scrapped underwater area.
I know about that piece of trivia myself.
48:49. I like to believe that Evil Manta created his son using magic, so he could have a sidekick and maybe a successor.
We’ve entered the renaissance era, when the villains reached their peak (with a couple of exceptions)
And we all know who the weakest link is, none other than Ratcliffe.
@@KaizokuGaeruwonder what he'll say on the 2000s villains mostly Hamsterviel, Yzma snd Slim
@@nicholassims9837He’ll probably adore Yzma and Hamsterviel, but Slim probably not so much. Only time will tell.
@@KaizokuGaeru I also wonder his thoughts on King Magnifico.
@@KaizokuGaeru I would say Clayton (hunter from Tarzan) is the weakest. Ratclife has a nice song. While the only thing Interesting abaut Clayton is his demise.
Some more insight into the Twisted Wonderland segment from someone who plays the game and knows all about what happens in the JP version, including future updates:
--Octanivelle has the most popular characters in the JP side of the fandom. Malleus is the most popular in the ENG one.
-- The Leech's nickname in the fandom is "The Tweels".
-- It's heavily implied that Azul has an ED in the JP version. He is always watching his figure thanks to having a genuine fear of becoming fat again. There are plenty of lines in that version where he avoids eating or tries to make himself look skinnier by tightening his belt.
-- One popular hc the fandom has is that the Leech Twins' parents are the heads of the mob under the sea.
-- The ENG game pulled a 4Kids and changed the Tweel's personalities. The Tweels are depicted as darker in the JP version. In that version, Jade is much more like Sebastian from Black Butler while Floyd is more cunning and unhinged at times. It's stated that Floyd would often beat Azul's clients until they're unconscious if they back out of their deals. Whereas Floyd always came off like Shaggy in the ENG version. It's not just them who got this treatment. Cater and Jamil, who OP will talk about once he gets to Jafar down the line, also have completely different personalities depending on what version you play. (This is also the reason why I recommend the fan translations over the ENG release. It's more geared towards teens and adults.)
I agree. A lot of the english version has changed a lot of the story and the most compelling parts.
man you really need to be careful when "using ED" because that could also mean erectile dysfunction.
@@AnAverageGoblin i always read ED as eating disorder first and erectile dysfunction second 😔
@@AnAverageGoblin True, but since some site censors don't allow me to say the other thing, I kinda have to. Plus, I think most people should understand the context of what I'm talking about in this.
We actually get lots of crossover character conversations in Disney Dreamlight Valley. Ursula has beef with Merlin and only barely tolerates the other villains (mainly due to magic rivalry especially with Gothel) But I’ve seen her have interesting convos in the overworld
The other day I walked in on her trying to manipulate Belle into making a deal
1:01:31 What a HORRIFIC backstory for Triton in this version!! Imagine having most of your siblings murdered, and your remaining sibling turned out to have killed them all. I'm not too familiar with this version, but one would wonder if he equaled his number of children in honor of the number of sisters he had, and how the loss of his wife could have completely destroyed any sense of safety for him when it came to his family- the danger wasn't just Ursula, the danger was ANYONE.
By far one of the best Disney villains. She is truly a classic. And Ariel my favorite princess.
Not enough of your favorite to spell her name right huh?
I agree
Just a small aside the eels only halfway changed species. Their design is still based on morays (obviously), its just that they randomly decided to give them electric powers from an electric eel (which actually isn't even an eel but a completely differnet type of fish).
Nothing like almost 2 hours dedicated to my favourite Disney villain of all time.
YES! Darkwing Duck is next! If Colin LooksBack plans to cover every single villain character, this video needs to be even longer than the last one. If it wasn’t a one-off; there’s a whole rogues' gallery to explore:
- The Fearsome Five: Negaduck, Megavolt, Quackerjack, Bushroot, and The Liquidator
- The Fearsome Five's Henchmen: Mr. Banana Brain, Spike, Posey, and Liquidator's Girls
- F.O.W.L.: The High Command, Steelbeak, Ammonia Pine, Ample Grime, Major Synapse, Hotshot, Flygirl, and The Eggmen
- Taurus Bulba and His Henchmen: Hammerhead, Mouth, Hoof, Clovis, and Tantalus
- Other prominete Villains: Professor Moliarty and his mole henchmen, Tuskernini and his penguins, Splatter Pheonix, Negaduck 2, Dr. Fossil, Jambalaya Jake and Gumbo, Lilliput, The Bug Master, and Paddywhack
And that's just scratching the surface! There are even more obscure characters that Colin could dive into.
I cannot wait for him to talk about quacker jack he is just so funny and just hams things up, not as much as mega volt but you the the idea
Darkwing has almost as many foes as Batman or Spiderman, not to mention some of them were inspired by villains and evil organizations from other fiction.
Hold on negaduck 2 there is a second negaduck?
@@eaglejones856 Fans also call him Negatron, which is his official name now.
Other possible villains (notable one-shots, villains from adaptations): Black Heron, Darkwarrior Duck, Wolfduck, Fluffy, Chronoduck, Ice-Head Harry, Dr. Slug
😂 As for the underwater denizens' thoughts about boots being more powerful weapons than the king's trident, I love how seeing Ariel point two boots' collars towards Evil Manta like pistols feels like Disney's own kid-friendly satire against gun violence. 🥾
(James Madison from Duckman): "Freedom of speech is absolute and applies to everything and everyone, no exceptions. And Joe average does NOT have a constitutional right to own a gun for god's sake. We're not stupid!"
I love that Chef Louis has some Captain Hook in his design.
Another fantastic video. Personally I never liked the idea of Ursula being Ariel’s aunt. It just makes the world(or in this case ocean) feel smaller. I will always miss Pat Carroll, I know her time as Ursula is universally beloved, but I feel like no one ever talks about how iconic Ursula’s laugh is.
I feel like these videos will become s staple for Disney historians
OG Vanessa was my original crush as a kid ngl in terms of looks only. Ariel was fun and all but Vanessa looked like she was about to hit the club
TMI haha
I get it. Might be a lot of boys first look at "dark feminine"
Ursula is one of the most recognisable Disney villains, love that witch
this video made me realize how much I love Flotsam and Jetsam. I already love Moray Eels but seeing how loyal they are and how Ursula treats them well makes me like them a lot more so I'm glad they almost always appear with her across the media.
Some of the most effective henchmen you can have.
The Little Mermaid is probably my favourite Disney movie period and Ursula plays a big part in that so you can imagine my excitement when I saw this appear in my recommended, great work Colin.
As a regular Dreamlight Valley player, I’m really looking forward to seeing your takes on the other villains they’ve released so far (ie, Scar, Gothel, Gaston, Jafar, and now Hades and Maleficent arriving later this week). While none of them necessarily get redeemed, we do start to see some more vulnerable sides to their personalities while monitoring their behavior. During one of the Vanessa quests, Ursula even expresses a slight hint of guilt for almost getting the player hurt in one of her schemes, as she considers them the closest thing she’s had to a loyal companion since losing Flotsam and Jetsam.
We’re getting into the peak Disney villains now.
The amount of research you put into each of your videos is insane. This is easily the most comprehensive video on the history of Ursula I have ever seen on the platform!
Speaking of, where did you manage to find the Italian comics? I searched them up but couldn't find any resources.
@@unseenhand6579 Inducks is a very helpful database of Disney comics, although its navigation is a bit tricky at first: inducks.org/character.php?c=Ursula
After I found which issues she appeared in, I was able to seek certain comics out on Library Genesis: libgen.gs/index.php
@@ColinLooksBack Thank you!
@@ColinLooksBack Were Ursula and Vanessa played by the same person on ice?
@@shiradaniel I'm not sure, but my guess would be no.
I've always thought of Melissa McCarthy's take on Ursula as being essentially what it would have looked like if Elaine Stritch hadn't been axed in the part and actually played the role in the film (I can't remember who it was who said Stritch's Ursula sounded like she had a few belts before Ariel came in and I couldn't help think the same thing about McCarthy's Ursula)
EDIT: I wrote this before finding out this was also in the vid I swear LOL
The Little Mermaid is one of my all time favourite animated films, and Ursula is a big reason why! Next to the Evil Queen and Maleficent, she is easily one of the most iconic villainesses that Disney has ever created! Pat Carroll's amazing performance and that wickedly cool design make for such an incredible antagonist! Fun, charming, devilish, conniving, intimidating, yet a total delight to watch over and over!
Thank you colin for uploading your disney villains retrospective video on ursula and the rest of the villains from the little mermaid franchise
I'll always apprecoate the fact that Pat Caroll returned to play Ursula's sister in the rip-off sequel, and Jodi Benson's performance as Vanessa was AMAZING!
She and the movie got a lot out of an evil chuckle, a 2 verse song, and some yelling.
34:30
Honestly, I just love the idea, that Ursula put's her face on every potion bottle she makes, just to make sure everyone knows it's her creation.
This is THE video I've been itching for since I found your channel 2 years ago when I discovered your Maleficent video (another of your best ones!) The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie of all time, and Ursula is my favorite Disney Villain. This was very informative, so much in here I'd never heard of. Thank you SO MUCH for sticking with this retrospective series, I'll be rewatching this video many times I'm sure
Gotta give you massive props for what I can only assume was a metaphorically back breaking amount of research for this. And it was well worth it in the end I'd say.
Funny how I was just revisiting some of your old Disney Villain Retrospective videos and as I wake up this morning, you uploaded a new one. 🤣
Great video.
I just met Jody Benson at Galaxycon at the end of July, and she was a total sweetheart.
R. I.P to both Pat Caroll, not only for her role as Ursula, but Katrina Stoneheart on Hanna-Barbera's Pound Puppies, and Kenneth Mars as King Triton.
Happy Holidays Colin, and to everyone else.
After how increasingly wacky the Disney movie villains were getting in the 70s- they needed to be serious, scary, and dangerous like they used to be- like Cruela as the last notable example.
Medusa was a bit more dangerous but she was largely inept. The moral ambiguity of the Fox and the Hound showed that Disney could go into darker territory for their narratives- being the transitional movie between the laidback tone starting with the 60s and the more intense tones of the 80s onwards.
The Horned King and Sykes are a step in the right direction in making them very serious villains, but it backfired as they’re too frightening- nightmarish so in the case of the former and realistically so in the case of the latter. And finally, Ratigan is a start of the balance of hammy elegance and a dark sinister aspect that had been lost since Cruela, but he leaned too much into the darker sinister aspects.
Ursula strikes the balance of hamminess, danger, and sinister elements that were missing for decades. Becoming the blueprint for villains for the renaissance onwards till Disney started the twist villain trend.
Hopefully, they will realize that they need memorable evil for evil’s sake villains- no, Wish doesn’t count.
I actually do like Wish. Yes, Magnifico isn't the greatest villain but he is a step in the right direction in my eyes.
@@danielsvetlichny5721 Too bad the creators axed anything interesting in pre-production.
Mother Gothel was the last good Disney villain.
@@lainiwakura1776 I do not think that way.
@@lainiwakura1776 Well, simply imagine them being in Wasteland from Epic Mickey.
Congratulations on your longest video so far in this series. Thank you for sharing so much information. I agree with most of the fans who say that they aren’t fans of Ariel’s Beginning but I will continue to love Return to the Sea. It’s a film from my childhood and it will always be special to me. I even collect a lot of Melody fan art. Morgana is also a great character in my book. Thank you for also looking over the entire little mermaid 90s Tv series. So many fantastic versions of Ursula! This was truly a masterpiece and a fantastic early holiday present from you. Can’t wait for the next installment with Darkwing Duck. I’m a Darkwing fan for life!
I have to say, I really don't like how so many re-imaginings of the first movie go back to the idea of Ursula being Triton's sister. Villains who are motivated by family grudges against their more noble siblings are a dime-a-dozen, and Disney followed up on Ursula with to highly iconic villains (Scar and Hades) who have just that as part of their motivation. Re-inserting the backstory of Ursula as Triton's sister makes her too similar to those characters IMO, and it doesn't really make her any more complex or interesting.
At last! I had to skip your previous video because that character absolutely traumatized 8-year old me in my grandparents living room (thank God I never saw it on the big screen)! Thank you for highlighting Jodi Benson’s uncredited contribution as Vanessa…every time she sings Vanessa’s Song for a fan or at D23 I have a big evil grin on my face. She and Pat (RIP) worked together in the booth for nearly 3 hours for that scene and she imitated her characterization of Ursula perfectly. The wedding scene makes me bust a gut because as an adult I picture Jodi in the recording booth screaming and being as zany and wild as she can. Looking forward to the Terror That Flaps In The Night 😁😉. Great work as always!
Thank you so much for all the work you've done on this retrospective up to this point. It's been a ton of work, and it's been fascinating going through the early history of Disney. Now we get to enjoy the Renaissance. It's awesome to see this retrospective get this far.
It’s ironic that Charlotte Rae was originally set to play Ursula then later on she played Aunt Figg in the Tom and Jerry movie, who is very Ursula-esque
As well Jennifer Saunders, who auditioned for the role of Ursula and later voiced the Fairy Godmother from Shrek 2, who is loosely based on the infamous sea witch.
@@aidanhever3369 A similar thing happened with Rupert Everett. He originally auditioned to play Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, but didn’t get role for supposedly not sounding arrogant enough. He seemed to have token that criticism to heart with Prince Charming Fairly Godmothers kid in Shrek 2.
@aidanhever3369 it's funny those who lost disney roles went to voice dreamworks chracters probably katzenburg had theor number.
Looking forward to the Darkwing Duck video. Not just because I love the show (the great writing, Darkwing and Gosalyn's relationship, and the villains key reasons as to why), but I DESPISE the origin given to Negaduck for the DuckTales remake. It felt like they gave us the original Darkwing, right down to casting Jim Cummings, only to slap that toy out of our hands for a cheaper, blander, sanitized replacement. Even if it makes sense as an origin for Negaduck, I prefer him not having one. Like the Joker, it's creepier to think the world spat out something that evil.
-THANK YOU for remembering Disney Divas
-I would have suggested Phyllis Diller to play Morgana. It's exactly her type.
-I just realized if the Disney Villains Retrospective continues at its current pace, we'll get to Oogie Boogie by next Christmas at the latest.
-It's funny that you call Tip and Dash the Timon and Pumbaa knockoffs because Tip is played by the Broadway Timon himself, Max Casella. Also, Dash was voiced by Stephen Furst, aka Booster from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
46:44. I like to believe that that's the reason why Ursula was banished.
The 1940's visual development artwork was done by Kay Nielsen. Despite being decades later, Nielson got screen credit in the final film for such contributions. Astounding.
Something which David Hall didn’t get for Alice in Wonderland.
One point of note about Lobster Mobster, in his very first appearance, his weapon of choice was actually quite a bit different. He threatened to "slug" Sebastian, which he meant quite literally when he pulled out a bunch of sea slugs. Sadly (or luckily), we never get to see how that would look like. While the slugs in the show are considerably cuter and less disgusting than real life slugs, the implications behind this threat are still a lot more unpleasant than just getting pelted with bubbles.
58:27 I believe the reason they didn't use Morgana for Descendants is because when John Lasseter started getting involved around 2006, he basically locked all the sequels in a closet and declared them non canon. Hence why KHII was able to loosely adapt Return of Jafar before he made that decision. He also made it cleared he hated Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, which is why it's probably kept off Disney+ and led to the creation of Lightyear. You think they would have eased up on that after he left.
He didn't declare them non-canon, he just stopped the production of more sequels. Descendants is the one that's non-canon.
FINALLY! Someone besides me who actually likes the KH2 Atlantica musical parts
Such a missed opportunity for Undertows theme to start off big and bombastic only to become tiny and subtle as it goes on
MANTAAAAAAA
i had such a huge crush on him growing up. The fact he's voiced by Tim Curry doesnt help. 💜
maybe if ursula told manta she got stabbed manta and son wouldlaugh and mock her itd be like manta oh look at me im ursula the sea wicth i just became sea queen untill that mean prince eric stabbed me manta jr would be like yeah help me im melting and my little poopsies got eletacuted by that trident thanks by that spolled bratty little mermaid and her daddy ursula would be like oh shut up
52:41 off-topic but can we take a moment to appreciate flounders expression here?!😂😂😂
Another banger video in this retrospective of yours. Thanks so much for an in-depth look at my mom's favorite Disney villain. Your videos help me get through my workdays, so know that I really appreciate you.
10:28 These concepts do end up being used in her opening scene. First, we see her in shadow, then she grabs the shrimp with only her hands visible, before we get a full view of her, all within her first few seconds of her screentime. This could be a reference to the original idea of showing bits of her in various scenes, before giving us a full view of her when Ariel meets her.
Yes, you talked about "A Twisted Tale" in this video! The books are super interesting that I'm glad they're going to be included going forward hopefully!
They can be hit or miss. But I read and like most of them.
The road to greatness starts here boys
The animated series also further explored the dynamic between merpeople and other sea creatures. The merpeople are vegans, eating mostly aquatic plants like seaweed. This also seems to apply to all the talking marine life, including octopus, starfish, and crustaceans that are predators and scavengers in real life, but we don't see them try to eat other fish, alive or dead. Not to mention some species are likely to be plankton feeders, like their real world counterparts.
Sharks are feral beasts in the series too, and we see Ariel and her friends flee or try to fight them a few times. Orcas are also viewed as wild animals, simply because they don't talk or act like the other sea creatures, but they're way more intelligent than sharks, and less likely to attack a mermaid.
Dolphins are domesticated, and used to pull King Tritons chariot. This is also a refernce to mythology, where Poseidon's chariot is sometimes pulled by dolphins, sometimes hippocampi, mythical sea horses. In fact, there's one episode where Ariel befriends a similar creature, a wild giant sea horse.
I love the heck out of Ursula, she’s probably my fav Disney villain next to Malifcent, Jafar, & Jeffrey Katzenberg. That being said, she’s so fun and campy, and I’m glad you went over EVERYTHING you could including the deleted lines from Poor Unfortunate Souls, I personally would’ve left it in just for how deliciously evil Pat Carol makes Ursula in it, especially on the line “Yes I think you ought to take my little bargain, yes I think you ought to take me little deal.”
Also my biggest disappointment with Ariel’s Beginning is that they could’ve had a great story showing how Ursula got banished as well.
I have been waiting months if not years for this specific entry. Ever since I started watching this retrospective when Jungle Book was the latest entry...
As a gay man the little mermaid means so much to me. It should go without saying why. Ursula is beyond fun and one of the greatest villains and I can’t wait to watch this. Rip Pat Carrol.
As a fellow gay man I feel the same way
Happy 35 years Ariel!!!
Let’s get dangerous! 2025 is off to a good start already.
And shockingly, you were much less harsh on the live action remake here compared to Pinnochio. Not that I’m complaining.
I think a good deal of my issues with the Mermaid remake weren't related to Ursula (the lack of emotion from the animal sidekicks, the complete mishandling of Triton, etc). I'd say Mermaid is probably better than Pinocchio, but it still just felt kind of "meh."
@@ColinLooksBackI never finished it so how badly did they handle Triton?
@@jackpearce367 He came across as even more harsh than usual with none of the more sympathetic aspects the original movie gave him. The acting from Bardem was also surprisingly flat and the scenes that were meant to be touching between him and Ariel just didn't hit the mark most of the time.
@ makes sense
Great video Colin. I love original little mermaid. Great songs, great characters, a great story and an awesome villain. Ursula is one of the best, you know you've made a great villain if they can stand shoulder to shoulder with other classic villains like The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Captain Hook ect. And it shows that Disney could still make great movies and it paved the way for other great movies like Beauty and the Beast and the rest of the Disney Renaissance.
The late Pat Caroll was great as Ursula, I've seen her in interviews and she seemed so sweet.
I grew up with the animated series, I used to watch it on tape over and over. Ursula's other song "Mess with me" is a good one. There are other baddies but they're one-off characters, like the 2 alligators that tried to bust into the palace in the "home alone" style episode, there was the lady in the cave (she was so freaky when I was a kid) and there were some weird sea anemone creatures.
Evil Manta is a cool villain, mostly because Tim Curry is awesome. When we first see Manta trapped and calling for help as 2 glowing eyes in the dark, that really scared me as a kid. And I love his evil lullaby in the last episode, that brain sponge thing was also terrifying. But I also wonder who's the mother of Little Evil.
Little Mermaid 2 is a bit of a rehash of the first one, but it's not completely awful, I think it's pretty okay. I had no idea that Anne Bancroft was almost Morganna, I'll need to check out that deleted song, they could've still used it to pad out the movie. I think it's kind of funny that Pat played Morganna after playing Ursula, it kind of works that she'll always be second best, like Morganna will always be the diet version of Ursula.
I never watched Ariels Beginning all the way through, after the "shake sinora" rap, it was so cringey I had to change the channel. It's weird that they didn't bring back Ursula for the prequel, this villainess is such a downgrade to Ursula and Morganna. It's lame that in the new preschool series the new Ursula and her eels are friendly now, I think kids shows could use a bit of conflict, I'll rather stick to the original animated series.
I also think it's a bit lame taking out the part of "Poor unfortunate souls" where Ursula says that a woman should hold her tongue. Sure it's disempowering, but that's the point, I like it shows the main heroine can prove the antagonist wrong. It's like Gaston saying "it's not right for a woman to read, first she starts getting ideas and thinking" while Belle proves him wrong, or in "A Girl worth fighting for", Mulan speaks her mind. That's one way to make them empowering, by proving the people holding them down wrong.
Ursula is definitely one of my favorite villains, she's just such a fun character. I'm looking forward to your next villains retrospective. There are more good ones coming up... 👍
Just caught up with this series, and I’ve really enjoyed it. Wish the best moving forward with whatever you do next.
Today is not only the aniversary of the movie's release, but also my birthday. I'm so happy that this video came out today.
Ursula is my favorite Disney villain. I love her in both the original and the remake. She's also one of those villains which I love because they are unapologeticly evil. I never read Serena Valentino's novel because I don't care for simpathetic Ursula, specially at the expence of King Triton. Indeed this is why I love the 2023 remake. Instead of trying to make her more simpathetic, they went out of their way to prevent the audience to make excuses for her. And I disagree about the change of the wedding for an engagement party making much of a difference. For me the urgency was the sunset not if Eric marriec her or not.
Happy Birthday!
Ursula is a great and iconic villain! She was certainly creepy, and yet, King Triton was much more scarier to me as a kid than she was. Ursula’s design choice, personality, even the voice of her by the beloved Pat Carrol(may she rest in peace) was very good. I love her songs too, from the film and the TV series; “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and “Mess with Me.”
12:00 Ursula
19:15 Flotsam and Jetsam
22:10 Chef Louis
24:28 Glut The Shark
32:44 Morgana
36:14 Undertoe
37:45 Cloak and Dagger
40:24 Marina Del Ray
43:37 Benjamin
44:16 Marine’s electric eels
47:27 Evil Manta
48:41 Little Evil
49:22 Brain Sponge
50:16 Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp
51:41 The Sharkanians
52:43 Moray
57:27 Uma and Uliana
1:19:10 The Moray
Also I have nothing to back this up, but I do suspect that Nina Foch's Sea Witch from the Shirley Temple's Storybook version might have worked its way into the characterization for the Disney film. It doesn't make sense unless you've actually seen the Shirley Temple version but the similarities are pretty striking (Sea Witch is more of an antagonist, uses her bargain with the mermaid as leverage to get back at the family - although in this case it was the grandmother and not the father; there's also the conflict between the mermaid and the Sea King where she uses the same "I'm not a child" argument)
Gluts dynamite bite was surely a JAWS reference
It's so nice to again see so many different apparences of Disney villains outside of their respective movie now that we reached the Renaissance, and i expect most of the villains of this era will get a similar treatment.
I vaguely recall the Kingdom Hearts Manga implied that the Shark was one of Ursula's henchmen, guarding the way into Ursula's lair and nearly killing Ariel and Sora before being dispatched. And when they confront Ursula, she seems surprised they made it past the Shark
The Vanessa book by Lorie Langdon is tragic romance novel. Ursula goes to land looking for a powerful dark magic that's recently been activated, and as her Vanessa form, falls in love with a human man. It doesn't end well obviously. It's a fun enough read, but nothing amazing. Mid and safe for the fantasy romance genre. It was also only originally released in Australia for some reason, and so I needed to order it from a bookseller there. Now it's gotten an American and digital release. I think the tragic romances with the villains were intended to be a big series, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got shelved cause it's just too niche an idea. Disney Hyperion is releasing a lot of what I'd call, official fanfiction.
I'm 100% on board with Ursula being the King's sister. Why? Because she's THAT aunt. You know the aunt I'm talking about. We all have THAT aunt. The one that's messed up and you enjoy it as a kid because you think they're fun, but when you're an adult you realize what a hot mess they are. And believe me, I totally have that aunt. Even if you take the grudge between Triton and Ursula out, I can totally see her being that hot mess that gets little Ariel in trouble and /or puts her down the wrong path. Almost like Triton was hiding her from Ursula because he knew Ariel would be corrupted by her. While I usually don't talk about (ahem) THAT kind of DA fanart, I once saw this thing that was intriguing. A fat version of Ariel who had a sinister look on her face, who seems to have taken Ursula as a mentor. Fetish stuff aside, I always liked that concept. Triton lost his little girl to his sister's influence, like he always feared.
Also, Chef Louie does basically become a Tom and Jerry type character in the almost lost, but not legally available Sebastian cartoons from Raw Toonage and/or Marsupilami. The only episode I've found features Sebastian wanting to be a TV star, but always being cast opposite Louie, who now totally has a more violent, cartoonish desire to get the little crab. So he does technically fit in the villainous role here.
Whether you love or hate The Little Mermaid, you can't deny the impact it's had over the years. Happy 35th anniversary to film that began Disney's most prosperous era 🎂. #TLM35
We’re in the big leagues now, boys!
Finally, a video for the best villainess 🖤 This was more than worth the wait, Colin. Thanks for all the hard work & dedication that you pour into each of these videos!!
I've been waiting for this one! LOVE Ursula! And Pat Carroll was truly amazing!
I know Pat Carol would be immortalized as Ursela, but to me being an 80s kid, will always remember as Auntie Katrina from the Pound Puppies cartoon series! She was truly malevolent both on land and sea!❤
I know these videos are scripted and planned probably months in advance, but one thing I would've loved to have seen covered was her roll in the Lorcana Card game.
It's a trading card game based on Disney Properties, where she gets much more powerful, through magic relics. Not only becoming the face of the fourth wave of cards, but also getting her own exclusive game mode, Deep Trouble.
It's not only a challenging separate mode, but also shows off a buncha characters both good and evil she brought to her side. Including Captain Hook, Anna from Frozen, Bruno from Encanto, Heihei (even she's not sure what he's doing there), Ariel's other sisters, and even Minnie Mouse! And a bunch of the cards have flavour text describing her POV on the character, and how she corrupted them.
58:38 That was the calmest “getting worked up over something” I’ve ever seen.
WERE HERE BOIS
I really enjoyed this video, as a film of the film and spin offs pretty much since it came out there was a fair few things I didn’t know. Well researched, interesting and a lot of respect to one of my favourite films of all time, thank you.
Fun fact: In the Finnish dub of Little Mermaid 2, Undertow is named "Viemäri" aka Finnish term for sewage. Another thing is that Cloak and Dagger have the excact same names as Flotsam and Jetsam, those being "Kiero & Liero." 90-2000 Disney dubs were interesting here in Finland
For the one-shot villains stock-watch for the animated series, we have Ebb and Flow (No relations to Disney Junior's inferior eels substitutes), two Home Alone-esque crocodile thieves who tried to rob Atlantica once while Ariel and one of her sisters Arista were being "beached" (The Atlantis equivalent of being grounded) by Triton. Then there's the one and only... Dr. Vile! A crab-obsessed scientist hellbent on conducting CRAB EXPERIMENTS in order to be part of the "mad science hall of fame" by making crabs bigger and tastier. Sebastian is just unlucky enough to encounter an eviler and insane version of Chef Louis.
Also there was at least one villain based on another Hans Christen Andersen story.
Dr Vile is one of my favorite one shot villains. WTF was Disney thinking making an episode a horror stoy!
@@rvawildcardwolf2843 "Story" not "Stoy".
Crikey that was a long video. You are so thorough in these videos! So great to be in the Renaissance!
One more piece of neat trivia was how Ursula was killed in Kingdom Hearts 2, where Eric killed her with the trident by throwing it at her. It’s neat how that idea was recycled from the movie to a video game much later (even if that section was infuriating to get through)
This video also made me realize just how much Ursula is used. This makes sense of course, her character is the perfect balance of scary and dangerous, but also silly and funny.
Little Mermaid has a special place in my heart for various reasons, and Ursula is definitely one of my all time favorites!
FINALLY!!!! WE ARE HERE LADS!!! THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
YEASSS ITS HERE!!!! You’re so cool Colin you deserve more subscribers!
thank you for being objective with all the portrails of Ursula
18:03-18:08 Did you mean to say Michael Eisner? HE was the CEO of the entire Disney company.
Jeffery Katzenberg was only the man in charge of the film division.
@1:28:39 I'm so excited to see Dreamlight Valley get a mention. Its a fun game and Ursula adds to it. With out spoiling too much she's actually important to the games main story, which is restoring the Valley and the Seven Pillars of Virtue that protect it. Ursula is fittingly introduced in the Orb of Power arc.
And that comic with Merlin appearing gave me a laugh as in DDV Merlin and Ursula have a pretty funny rivalry
Also, that after you gotten Ursula, checked off your list well then move on past McLeach and onto Gaston. Then the rest will continue until we get to Dr. Facilier and the 3D villains. Keep up the amazing work, Collin! I’m excited to see the rest of these Disney villains retrospectives and I know you’ve got this! 🥰🤗😘🤩👍🏻
He covered McLeach when he did Medusa.