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 Most Horrific Disney Villain Deaths". In the wake of the release of "Maleficent" (2014), a live-action remake of Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) told from the perspective of the film's villain, several publications voted for Ursula among Disney villains who deserve to star in their own films, including Yahoo! Movies, MTV, "Bustle" and the "New York Post." David Crow of Den of Geek selected actor John Travolta as his first choice for the role of Ursula because of his drag performance as Edna Turnblad in the film "Hairspray" (2007), a role actually originated by Divine, the actor upon whose appearance