published on June 15, 2024 in today

The Little Mermaid: Why Ursula Was Banished

The Little Mermaid introduced Ursula, the evil sea witch who was banished years before the events of the movie, but why? Let's take a look.

The Little Mermaid introduced viewers to Ursula (voiced by Pat Carroll), a villainous sea witch banished from the mermaid kingdom who tricked Ariel (Jodi Benson), but why was Ursula banished in the first place? In the movie, it’s shown that Ursula lives completely isolated from the rest of the kingdom, but mermaids still come to her for magical help. When Ariel comes to her, Ursula clearly has made deals before, but the audience doesn't get much of her backstory. Even the Disney animated series, set before the events of the movie, didn't spend much time with Ursula.

Ursula’s plan was not only to trick Ariel, so she could own her but also to get rid of her, so she could replace King Triton and thus rule over the oceans. However, her reasons to do so, for her resentment towards King Triton and company, and for her banishment and isolation weren’t revealed in the movie. Her appearances in subsequent TV shows and movies didn’t solve the mystery either. Though she was mentioned in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, the main antagonist was her sister Morgana, and her backstory wasn’t revealed. There have been other The Little Mermaid stories that have answered the question of why Ursula was banished though.

Disney's animated The Little Mermaid didn't give Ursula much backstory beyond revealing that she was banished from Triton's kingdom. In 2008, Disney brought The Little Mermaid to Broadway, and Ursula's backstory was revealed. The Little Mermaid stage musical was based on the animated movie and used the music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, respectively, with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater. It also featured new songs and scenes. Although the story is the same as the one in the movie, it rescued a concept for the original animated movie that was eventually dropped, which is that Ursula and King Triton are siblings. That storyline doesn't appear in the Disney animated canon but is explored on stage.

In this Broadway version, when their father died, Triton and Ursula were given an equal share of the sea along with two magical items: the trident Triton always carries, and a magic Nautilus shell for Ursula. Triton and Ursula were meant to rule over the oceans together, but Ursula’s greed began to grow, and she tried to use dark magic to usurp Triton. In the stage version, that was the planned reason for Triton banishing her. However, the musical was later reinvented by Glenn Casale, who made Ursula and Triton the seventh and eighth of eight siblings, with Ursula killing their older siblings until she became Queen, but she forgot to get rid of Triton.

Ursula and Triton being siblings would have explained a lot about her motivations and actions in the animated The Little Mermaid, especially how far she went to make sure Ariel failed, and thus why Triton would do literally anything to set her free, such as giving up the throne. Disney has a variety of other media that has featured versions of The Little Mermaid’s tale, and thus, Ursula as well. In addition to the Broadway musical, the TV series Once Upon A Time features the character, the Disney Channel Original Movie series Descendants does, and so do many books published as tie-ins to Disney properties.

Poor Unfortunate Soul by Serena Valentino is one of those books, part of the Villains series that fleshes out the stories of the villains in Disney animated movies. There, before Ursula is fully evil, she actually chooses to have octopus tentacles instead of the usual fishtails that mermaids have, and Triton betrays her because of her choice, banishing her from the kingdom. She ends up adopted by a human father, only returning to the sea after his death, and finding other witches she thinks will be able to help her defeat Triton in revenge. It's long after her return to the sea and seeking out the witches that her storyline in the novel begins to line up with Ursula's storyline in the animated movie.

Ursula And King Triton Are Siblings In The Live-Action The Little Mermaid

Continuing the tradition of Disney using its dropped storyline in other media, the 2023 live-action The Little Mermaid features Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) as King Triton’s (Javier Bardem) sister as well. The live-action movie is over two hours long, which is significantly longer than the animated The Little Mermaid (which is only 83 minutes), giving characters more backstory and depth than before.

In interviews leading up to the theatrical release of the movie, Melissa McCarthy spoke at length about her inspiration for playing the banished Ursula. She likened Ursula’s banishment to quarantining, pointing out that, “She’s been put in this lair… her friends are eels.” Ursula is completely cut off from her family as a result of Triton banishing her, and her anger at her circumstances only grows over time. She has no one to talk to or confide in other than her minions.

McCarthy recounted that she saw Ursula as a woman who has “seen it, been in it, dug her way back out.” Being isolated from other merfolk clearly informed McCarthy’s performance as Triton’s estranged sister. She has to survive in the ocean alone and harbors resentment. McCarthy even told Screen Rant that there's an "armor" she puts on that fuels her "revenge and mania". While The Little Mermaid adaptations have always given the focus to Ariel (Halle Baile in live-action), the 2023 movie allows them to get to know Ursula a little bit better.