Ariel (The Little Mermaid) released a four-issue "The Little Mermaid Limited Series" comic book series. In 1994 Marvel Comics released its own title, "Disney's The Little Mermaid", which ran for twelve issues. All these comics are prequels to the film, and feature Ariel a mermaid living under the sea having adventures with Flounder and Sebastian, and thwarting villains that wish to take over or destroy Atlantica. In 2000, Ariel became an official member of the newly launched Disney Princess line, an umbrella franchise that includes various Disney princesses under its banner. Ariel is one of the original 8 characters that were included at the
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) the kingdom in a man’s world, having been kicked out for no specific reason." In her book "Emerson Goes to the Movies: Individualism in Walt Disney Company's Post-1989 Animated Films", author Justyna Fruzińska claimed that "the masculine rule of Triton is presented as positive and opposed to the negative, feminine rule of Ursula". "Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy" author Janet Wasko accused the film's treatment of Ursula of "eliminat[ing] many of the female characters and undermin[ing] [the] feminine power" present in Andersen's fairy tale. However, Wasko also argued that Ursula could possibly be considered a mother figure for Ariel;