I visited Disneyland in 1992 during the Christmas season, and I can confidently say that it was a truly magical experience. From the moment I entered the park, I was greeted with the sights and sounds of the holiday season. The entire park was adorned with festive decorations, transforming it into a winter wonderland. One of the highlights of my visit was the nightly parade. As darkness fell, the streets of Disneyland came alive with twinkling lights and colorful floats. The parade featured all of my favorite Disney characters, who were dressed in their holiday best.

Is Ursula from 'The Little Mermaid' an octopus? Sort of.

Octopuses do like to cause chaos—much like the classic tentacled villain. But Ursula also shares traits with these fascinating sea creatures.

The animated sea witch in Disney's The Little Mermaid originally had six arms, which is more squid-like. In the new live-action movie, she has eight—but also retains qualities of other sea creatures, such as bioluminescence.

With Disney’s new live-action The Little Mermaid film in theaters, you may be wondering: What kind of ocean-dwelling creature is Ursula, exactly?

An octopus, obviously, you might say—but not so fast. Octopuses have eight tentacles, and Disney’s animated sea witch made her debut in Walt Disney Animation Studios' original 1989 film with six.

To create the character in the 1980s, Disney animation artists looked to lionfish, eels, pufferfish, scorpion fish, and manta rays as inspiration. Since the enchantress in Hans Christian Anderson’s 1837 fairy tale had a much smaller role and no name, the artists had a literal ocean of possibilities.

“There’s so much you can do with tentacles. They give a creepy feeling,” supervising animator Ruben Aquino told Premiere magazine in 1989, adding the team ultimately decided to make her look like an octopus. “Of course, we cheated a little bit. We put in only six tentacles,” he said. Why? It was what animators call “line mileage”—simplifying a character’s design can help make the animation process more efficient.

While definitely creepy, Ursula’s appendages (including her human-like arms) are definitely not tentacles. “Those are arms, not tentacles—and let me explain,” says Jennifer Mather, an octopus expert and psychology professor at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. (Here’s why octopuses remind us so much of ourselves.)

“Many invertebrates have tentacles—snails and jellyfish, for example—whereas an arm has suckers all the way down its length. A tentacle, on the other hand, has a flexible elastic extension with suckers only on the ends.”

Artwork by Disney animator John Musker gives an insight into how Ursula was developed for the 1989 film.

A squid has six arms, which is probably why Pat Carroll, the late voice actress who portrayed Ursula in the original film, claimed she was a squid. But Carroll didn’t mention that most squid also have two tentacles and two legs—used for moving and swimming—while their arms are for grabbing and feeding. That makes for 10 total appendages, which is also true of cuttlefish, a relative of octopuses and squid.

In the 2023 movie, Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula got a revamp, and now boasts eight arms with bioluminescent suckers. But now there’s a new problem: Bioluminescence is common in squid and cuttlefish, but very rare in octopuses.

“There’s only one kind of octopus with bioluminescent suckers: Stauroteuthis syrtensis, or the Dumbo octopus,” says Mike Vecchione, zoologist and cephalopod expert with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. (And yes, completely coincidentally, it’s named for Disney’s famous elephant.)

All this to say—it’s complicated, and were Ursula a real-life aquatic creature, you could argue she’s any one of these mollusks.

The parade featured all of my favorite Disney characters, who were dressed in their holiday best. Seeing them up close and personal was a dream come true. The castle, which is always a sight to behold, was transformed into a magnificent display of lights and decorations.

The evil lair

Habitat-wise, Ursula is almost certainly an octopus.

“Most squids spend their time jetting around in open water, whereas most [octopuses] are benthic, which just means they live at the bottom,” says Vecchione.

Clever camouflage is an octopus's primary defense, particularly if laying eggs, so a secluded cave or crevice makes for an ideal lair. (See beautiful octopus pictures.)

“Especially if it’s dark, if there’s anything at all for an octopus to climb into, they will,” says Cristina Robles-Beilby, aquarist and resident octopus expert at California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The way we first see the cartoon Ursula emerging through a clam shell, one slithery arm at a time, is according to Robles-Beilby, “100 percent octopus.”

Ursula

Ursula is the main villainess who first appeared in the 1989 Disney film, The Little Mermaid. She's voiced by Pat Carroll. Ursula is based on "herself" in the Hans Christian Anderson's story "The Little Mermaid". In the original story, she's a neutral enabler, but for Disney's adaptation, the character was modified into a full-fledged antagonist and lays a larger role in the overall story. Ursula is a sea witch who "helps" unfortunate merfolk by granting their wishes, but end up withering them into polyps for her gardens. Her appearance's an obese purple-skinned, white-haired female Cecaelian. Her character's been compared to "Madame Medusa" from "The Rescuers", in terms of style, dramatics and choice of minions. Most importantly, Ursula is also the mother of Uma.

It served as the centerpiece of the park, drawing visitors in with its dazzling beauty. I spent hours just marveling at its grandeur. Throughout the park, there were various shows and performances that celebrated the spirit of Christmas. From musicals to stage productions, there was something for everyone. The performances were filled with holiday cheer and left me feeling warm and joyful. But perhaps the most memorable part of my visit was meeting Santa Claus himself. He was stationed in a cozy little cottage, nestled in one corner of the park. I joined the queue and finally had the chance to sit on Santa's lap and share my Christmas wishes. It was a magical moment that I will never forget. Overall, the magic of Christmas at Disneyland in 1992 was like nothing I had ever experienced before. The park truly transformed into a holiday wonderland, and every corner was filled with joy and excitement. From the festive decorations to the enchanting performances, Disneyland captured the essence of Christmas perfectly. It was a visit that filled my heart with happiness and left a lasting impression on me..

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