Voiced by actress Pat Carroll, Ursula is a villainous Cecaelian sea witch who offers her youngest niece, mermaid princess Ariel, a temporary opportunity to become human so that she may earn the love of Prince Eric within three days.

Created by directors and screenwriters Ron Clements and John Musker, Ursula is based on the sea witch character who appears in the 1837 fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen.

While the directors had written the role with Bea Arthur in mind, Ashman intended to offer it to soap opera star Joan Collins; both actresses rejected the part.

Animated by Ruben A. Aquino, Ursula's original design was inspired by several different sea creatures, including manta rays and scorpion fish, before Clements finally decided to base the character on an octopus; her number of tentacles was reduced from eight to six for financial reasons.

At the behest of Disney executives Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, director and screenwriter Ron Clements was among several film-makers instructed to research new story ideas that could potentially be adapted into the studio's next major animated film release.

[3] Clements first discovered Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" at a local bookstore, and began deliberating why Disney had never attempted to adapt the story before.

[3] Clements eventually learned that Walt Disney himself had actually attempted to adapt the fairy tale into a feature-length animated film as early as the 1930s,[4] but the project was ultimately shelved due in part to its sad ending.

[10] Emma James of Teen Ink observed that in addition to giving the character the name "Ursula", the studio "changed her role as a catalyst in the tale, and morphed her actions into those of an antagonist.

[18] However, Katzenberg had just recently seen the film Die Hard (1988), which inspired him to request a "bigger" ending for The Little Mermaid, and thus he instructed the writers to have Ursula grow much larger in size during her climactic fight with Ariel and Eric.

[23][24] In his book Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies, author Allan Neuwirth documented that the filmmakers searched "for just the right performer who could put across the deep-voiced, world-weary, deadpan villainess they had in mind–but never quite snaring their catch".

[22] After refusing to perform the song at Ashman's preferred tempo (combined with her alcoholism),[24] the songwriter fired Stritch from the project,[23] thus forcing Clements and Musker to find a replacement with yet another round of auditions.

[25] Carroll's first task was to record "Poor Unfortunate Souls", her approach to which was remarkably different than Stritch's, first asking Howard to demonstrate exactly how he would like her to perform the song before attempting it.

[22] After complaining to her about one of her recording sessions, Carroll recalled her daughter, filmmaker Tara Karsian, reassuring her that "you're in something that fifty years from now may be shown ... What you're working on now will be seen by our children, and our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren".

[23] The short-lived casting of Stritch as Ursula and her subsequent performance eventually inspired the animators to design the character as "a tall, thin regal-looking sea witch" based on manta rays and scorpion fish, complete with a long cape.

[56] Ursula teaches Ariel about womanhood, a theme From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture author Elizabeth Belle noticed is absent in Anderson's story.

"[11] Observing that Ursula actually warns Ariel about the consequences should she fail to earn a kiss from Eric, Laura Stampler of Time described the character as a "savvy contract negotiator".

[59] Makin' Toons: Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies author Allan Neuwirth observed that Ursula obeys Disney's "long-standing tradition of depicting classic scoundrels ... none so unsettling as their female villains.

"[69] Describing Ursula as "Bejeweled and lip-pouting like an overweight, over-rich, over-pampered, over-the-top society hostess gone mad," Smith perceived the character as "all flair, flamboyance, and theatricality mixed with a touch of con-artistry", citing wrath as her only genuine emotion.

[71] Describing the character as "A campy sea witch with an insatiable thirst for power", Rolling Stone's David Ehrlich believes that Ursula resembles a child of Divine and Donald Trump.

[72] Ursula debuted in the 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid (where she is voiced by Pat Carroll), as a sea witch who is scheming to take advantage of the ambitions of her older brother King Triton's youngest daughter Princess Ariel in order to usurp the throne and turning merpeople into seaweed for her garden.

If she successfully earns a kiss from Eric by the end of the third day, Ariel will remain human permanently; if she fails, she will turn back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula forever.

Due to her death in the original film, Ursula does not appear in the direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, but she is mentioned many times, mostly by her younger sister Morgana (also voiced by Pat Carroll).

The episode "Poor Unfortunate Soul" contains flashbacks to Ursula's youth, when she was a teenage mermaid living under the sea with her father King Poseidon (Ernie Hudson).

The episodes "Heroes and Villains" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" contain flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest of the past, where Ursula teamed up with fellow witches Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten) and Cruella De Vil (Victoria Smurfit).

Ursula is a central character in the annual Halloween-themed fireworks show HalloWishes at the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party "hard ticket" event.

Ursula returned to the sea when her adopted father was killed by the townsfolk for protecting her, befriending Athena, Queen of Atlantica, but was denied her inheritance by Triton and banished to the shadows.

In the fourth book Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy, Circe and Nanny gather Ursula's remains and give her a burial at sea prior to Maleficent's arrival.

"[115] 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.

[126] To-date, Carroll's interpretation of Ursula remains so respected that it has ultimately eclipsed her previous body of work as an actress, of which she was "most proud" nonetheless, not minding that she was associated with the role almost exclusively.

[153] Sherie Rene Scott's performance as Ursula in the Broadway adaptation earned her a nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical at the Outer Critics Circle Awards.