Disney seemed to want to walk a tightrope between appeasing queer fans-many of whom have long seen themselves reflected in its characters-and not alienating those who oppose gay rights. Last year, then-CEO Bob Chapek defended the company’s reported $250,000 in donations to backers of Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney has a long, fraught relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. In 1989, Disney would have never openly acknowledged Divine’s influence, says Jeffrey Schwarz, who chronicled the longtime collaboration between Waters and Divine on Waters’ avant-garde “midnight movies,” like Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living, in the 2013 documentary I Am Divine. I was like, ‘the makeup, the look, the attitude.’ And now we know that yes, she was of course based on Divine.” And I always was like, I know for a fact-but I couldn’t prove it-that she had to be based on Divine. “I was a nanny, and we used to watch it every night.
“I’ve watched The Little Mermaid more times than any other movie,” McCarthy said. At the film’s premiere in early May, the actor acknowledged Divine’s influence on the character. Ursula will return to screen on May 26 in Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid, with Melissa McCarthy playing the witch with campy, raspy relish. She looked beautiful on her own terms.” More from TIME She never felt-as other people might have-that she looked weird or anything. She had a style that some people might not understand,” Waters tells TIME. Divine took what the world used against him, Waters says, and exaggerated it. To Waters, who met Divine when they were teens in the outskirts of Baltimore and became his close friend and creative partner, the similarities between Divine and Ursula go beyond the corporeal. With his signature look-an unnaturally high hairline with gigantic eyebrows and over-the-top makeup, crafted by the makeup artist Van Smith -Divine resembled Ursula.
DIVINE DRAG QUEEN URSULA MOVIE
The original character in the 1989 movie was inspired by the triple threat drag queen, actor, and singer Divine, a fact that was mere speculation at first, but has since been confirmed by those involved with the film.ĭivine catapulted to cult fame after appearing in Pink Flamingos, John Waters’ filthy 1972 comedy. The face of Ursula-the villainous sea witch of The Little Mermaid infamy-might feel uniquely familiar to a child of the ‘70s-or the ‘80s, for that matter. Triptych of Ursula in the animated The Little Mermaid, the actor Divine, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in the live-action The Little MermaidĬredit - Walt Disney Co./Everett Collection Steve Rapport-Getty Images Disney
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