Ursula (The Little Mermaid) Ursula (The Little Mermaid) Ursula is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 28th animated feature film "The Little Mermaid" (1989). Voiced by American actress Pat Carroll, Ursula is a villainous sea witch who tricks a mermaid princess named Ariel into trading her voice for a pair of human legs, at first appearing to be providing the character with an opportunity to become human by temporarily transforming her into one so that she may earn the love of Prince Eric within three days. However, Ursula is, in fact, determined to sabotage Ariel's chances at any expense so that
The Little Mermaid (franchise) due to various circumstances. In 1985, "The Great Mouse Detective" co-director Ron Clements discovered a collection of Andersen's fairy tales while browsing a bookstore. He presented a two-page draft of a movie based on "The Little Mermaid" to CEO Michael Eisner and Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg at a "gong show" idea suggestion meeting. Eisner and Katzenberg passed the project over, because at that time the studio was in development on a sequel to their live-action mermaid comedy "Splash" (1984) and felt "The Little Mermaid" would be too similar a project. The next day, however, Walt Disney Studios chairman