What is the name of the sea witch in The Little Mermaid?

Ursula is the sea witch in The Little Mermaid.

She is the primary villain of Disney’s 1989 animated film, where she offers Ariel a dangerous bargain: Ariel can become human for three days in exchange for surrendering her voice. Ursula hopes Ariel will fail to win Prince Eric’s love, allowing Ursula to claim Ariel’s soul and gain leverage over King Triton.

The character is based loosely on the sea witch in Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy tale, although that figure plays a much smaller role. Disney’s Ursula was developed into a charismatic, theatrical antagonist, voiced in the original film by Pat Carroll. Her signature song is “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”

Ursula’s design drew on several inspirations, including octopus-like sea creatures and the appearance of American drag performer Divine. She has six tentacles rather than a biologically typical octopus’s eight arms, a production choice influenced by animation costs. Her human disguise is called Vanessa, a name sometimes mistaken for the villain herself.