Melissa McCarthy is being lined up to play the notoriously sassy Ursula in the upcoming live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. It’s been a recurring theme for Disney to recreate their classic animated features with Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Aladdin (2019). Despite varying opinions on the remake, the money is rolling in which is why Disney have decided to continue to work through their list of classics.
The Little Mermaid (1989) has recently turned 30 years old and was the first of the Disney Renaissance movies which continued through to the 90s. The confirmed crew for the movie is Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns) as director, David Magee (Mary Poppins Returns) as screenwriter and Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) as collaborative songwriters. Now, the production crew are after comedy sweetheart Melissa McCarthy as the villain.
All we know about the remake so far is that it will follow the pattern of the previous remakes in ‘fixing’ the films by bringing a modern twist to them in their morals and storytelling. The casting hit a stumbling block when rumours abounded that Lady Gaga was due to play Ursula and fans were not happy about it. With Ursula being notoriously rotund, it seems obvious that they should pick a plus-size actress. Hence, the creative team opting to speak to McCarthy instead.
Despite being type-casted for fully comedic roles, McCarthy is trying to broaden her acting prowess by tackling more roles. She was nominated for an Oscar in her performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me and showed her chops. So, it’s quite likely that she can take on the iconic and villainous role with great sass.
