Ursula (The Little Mermaid) such. In Andersen's tale, the sea witch is not a villain as much as she is "a disreputable mermaid." JR Thorpe of "Bustle" agreed that, in Andersen's story, "The sea witch isn't the enemy". Instead, "human ... nature is." While the original sea witch is willing to help the little mermaid despite the fact that she openly disagrees with her motives, Ursula is only interested in helping Ariel in the hopes of ultimately overthrowing her father. Emma James of "Teen Ink" observed that in addition to giving the character the name "Ursula", the studio "changed her role as a catalyst
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) Andersen tales. Development started soon after "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in the late 1930s, but was delayed due to various circumstances. In 1985, Ron Clements became interested in a film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid" while he was serving as a director on "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) alongside John Musker. Clements discovered the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale while browsing through a bookstore. Believing the story provided an "ideal basis" for an animated feature film and keen on creating a film that took place underwater, Clements wrote and presented a two-page treatment of "Mermaid" to Disney CEO