Ursula animation cel from The Little Mermaid

Hand-painted animation cel of Ursula, from The Little Mermaid mounted on reproduction background. It includes handwritten numbers and words on the cel and background. She is depicted on cel with background of swirling dark reds and black.

The character, drawn by Disney Studios artist-animator Ruben Aquino, is a cecaelia or half woman, half octopus, and is loosely patterned after Divine, the larger-than-life female impersonator of John Waters films. The character’s voice was supplied by comedienne Pat Carroll. It was the final Disney feature film to use the traditional hand-painted cel method of animation and is generally regarded as the film that revived the classic Disney animated feature film.

Currently not on view