Ursula (The Little Mermaid) from the sea. Ursula's appearance was also based on that of the character Norma Desmond, who appears in the film "Sunset Boulevard" (1950). Divine never lived to see his own likeness appear in "The Little Mermaid"; the actor died in 1988, one year before the film's release. However, his cohorts agree that Divine would have greatly enjoyed Ursula. Documentarian Jeffrey Schwartz joked that the actor would have wanted to play Ursula himself had he known about the character, having once told Waters "When I was young, all I wanted to be was a Disney villain". About.com's David Nusair observed that
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) as "A total success" despite sharing some similarities with previous Disney villains. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times "described Ursula as "a fabulously campy creation embodying the film's well-developed sense of mischief." Describing the character as an "inventive high-camp villainess," the "New York Daily News"' Kathleen Carroll cited Ursula as a prime example of the film's "outstanding" animation. Hailing the character as "a visual feast," "Variety" considered Ursula to be among "the film’s more inspired inventions". William Thomas of "Empire" described Ursula as "truly quake-inducing", while "Time"'s Eliana Dockterman enjoyed the fact that, unlike previous Disney villains, "Ursula doesn’t