Witches in Children's Media: The Little Mermaid

 

While rewatching The Little Mermaid, we initially hear Ursula described as a "demon," "witch," and "villainous". These descriptions leave little room for interpretation. The audience automatically recognizes her as the antagonist from the adjectives that describe her and her offset appearance compared to the other mermaids. Ursula is overweight, has blue skin, and has octopus tentacles instead of a fishtail. This stark contrast sets her apart and "others" her from the rest of the mermaids.

Additionally, when Ariel visits Ursula's lair for the first time, it takes her a while to swim there as it is separated from the rest of the community. We often hear many stories with similarities to Ursula. The witch usually has some physical deformation, whether it's green skin, warts on the nose, or other eccentricities. And the witch often lives apart from the rest of society as an outcast. 

Furthermore, Ursula has two familiars, the electric eels. 

The eels recruit Ariel to Ursula's lair, provide her sight through a magic orb, and sabotage Ariel and Eric's boat date. Ursula practices dark magic since she can capture people's souls when they don't follow through on their promise to her. 

Eventually, Ursula steals Ariel's voice, puts Eric into a trance, and tries to marry him. To do this, Ursula makes herself look like Ariel and talks with her voice. One thing that I noticed was the color change between the real Ariel and Ursula as Ariel. Whenever Ursula was on camera as Ariel, her hair color was darker and the colors surrounding her were darker. This further emphasizes the dark magic surrounding Ursula. 
Throughout the whole story, Ursula tries to take over King Triton's power and make everyone her prisoner. However, Eric kills her and all of Ursula's prisoners are freed. 

As a children's movie, it is clear that some of Ursula's depictions can be miscontrued and not have a good impact on children. These include "othering" Ursula for being different and not looking the same as the rest of the mermaids. Although, I think this depiction may be because the movie was released in 1989 and the consensus about womens' appearance was not as progressive as it is today. Now, the majority of children's books with witches are cute and fun. This is a sharp contrast between the witches descriptions in this movie compared to the book that Emma described last week. 




Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 20, 2024 at 9:31 AM

    Thanks for discussing Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." I've never seen the film, yet I know a little about Ursula, as she seems to fir the traditional role of literary and film witches. But I had not considered as someone "othered" by her own community. Her evilness can then be seen as vengeful responses to all that she has been denied. Great blog post.

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