Disney seemed to want to walk a fine line between pleasing queer fans - many of whom have long seen themselves reflected in its characters - and not angering those who speak out against gay rights. Last year, then-CEO Bob Chapek defended the company’s alleged donations of $250,000 to supporters of the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida. Disney has a long, strained relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. In 1989, Disney would never have openly acknowledged Divine’s influence, says Jeffrey Schwarz, who documented the long-running collaboration between Waters and Divine in Waters’ avant-garde “Midnight Movies.” Pink flamingos, woman problemAnd desperate lifein the 2013 documentary i am divine. Ursula, a supporting character in Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale, was brought to life through the work of Howard Ashman, a Baltimore writer and lyricist well-placed to fuse his hometown’s drag culture with a Disney fairy tale. I was like, “The makeup, the look, the attitude.” And now we know that of course it was based on Divine.” How divinely Ursula’s creation was directly inspired And I always thought, I know for sure – but I couldn’t prove it – that it had to be based on Divine. “I was a nanny and we watched it every night. “I watched The little mermaid more times than any other film,” McCarthy said. In the premiere of the film In early May, the actor acknowledged Divine’s influence on the character. Ursula will return to the big screen in Disney’s live action on May 26th Little Mermaid, with Melissa McCarthy playing the witch with campy, raw lust. She never felt like she looked weird or anything – unlike other people maybe. She had a style that some people might not understand,” Waters told TIME. Divine took what the world was using against him and overdid it, Waters says. For Waters, who met Divine as a teenager on the outskirts of Baltimore and became his close friend and creative partner, the similarities between Divine and Ursula go beyond the physical. With his signature look – an unnaturally high hairline with huge eyebrows and over-the-top makeup created by makeup artist Van Smith -Divine resembled Ursula. The original character in the 1989 film was inspired by the triple threat drag queen, actress and singer Divine, a fact that was initially only speculation but has since been confirmed by those involved in the film.ĭivine achieved cult fame after appearing in Pink flamingosJohn Waters’ 1972 dirty comedy. The face of Ursula – the evil sea witch of The little mermaid Shame – might sound uniquely familiar to a kid of the 70’s – or even the 80’s. Triptych of Ursula in the animated series The Little Mermaid, actress Divine and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.Ĭredit: Walt Disney Co./Everett Collection Steve Rapport – Getty Images Disney
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