r/OnceUponATime • u/Effective-Gap-1826 • 2d ago
Discussion Reminder
I want to clear this up because I’m still sensing a lot of confusion going on
In the once upon a Time universe
Someone recorded these stories for the land without magic and they recorded them incorrectly
According to what actually happened
Regina was always the Ursula pictured in the animated film. Somebody saw this occurring and thought that Regina was Ursula and then Ariel was the little mermaid. They got both of them wrong.
Clearly, we know that Regina was wearing a disguised as Ursula neither the goddess or the princess Ursula had anything to do with it
Princess Ursula is the little mermaid… her father is the king of the Sea who is depicted in the animated series
Stay with me
Ariel is not the little mermaid… notice. The animated series has more in common with princess Ursula’s story than it does with princess Ariel’s story.
It’s a mix of both but she still wouldn’t really be the little mermaid simply because Ariel inside of once upon a time, it’s actually a really dope character. She stood up to Regina…
She’s confident she’s strong. She’s brave. There’s nothing little about her…
on the other hand princess Ursula was little. She was afraid… she was scared. She was a damsel before turning herself into the sea witch…. And she has this mesmerizing voice.
Ariel doesn’t start off as a princess neither does she have sisters. She is just as beautiful, amazing character who just so happens to fall in love with the human being
now when these stories were written, a lot of things kinda got misplaced and that’s how we get to the point of having this amazing story, the animated one, the Little mermaid
And once you combine everything that I just told you, that’s how you get the Disney live action of this story
Edit:
Everything I’ve stated only applies in the world of OUAT I’m not trying to say why the writers did what they did just saying if we were in a position were these stories were taking place in the land without magic “Emma/neal/ Henery” this is how the story would have been… in that reality not this one… I totally understand that it’s not really how brothers grim wrote it
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u/improbsable 2d ago
Ariel and the third Ursula are both pieces of the Little Mermaid story. Ariel made a deal with Regina to keep her legs, and had Eric as a love interest. The third Ursula was stifled by her father the sea king and wanted freedom on land.
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u/Usual_Suspect_666 1d ago
We weren’t confused. And the Brothers Grimm did not write The Little Mermaid. It was written by Hans Christian Andersen.
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u/kittysnowangel 2d ago
Regina called Ariel "little mermaid ". However it IS true Ariel in ouat is not a Princess. She is not the daughter of a king. She wasn't a singer.
But I don't think Ariel is meant to "not be that character". I think they were just doing it differently.
Like the animated Ariel, she's obsessed with human stuff and in love with Eric.
In s3 she was also different from other mermaids because she was the only nonvicious one, but when they added Ursula the mermaid they changed that. They also definitely took inspiration from Ariel in animated film.
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u/Abyss_Renzo Hooker 2d ago
Well it’s actually neither. But if you’re talking sass and the way she looks, then yes.
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u/RvDragonheart 2d ago
Thats interesting and I can see that this is a way how it has been recorded and thusly put in a disney movie
The thing is tho I really like Once upon a time and find it awkward weird (WEIRD WEIRD) how Disney is either Attempts to make their live actions by doing things screen to screen like the Moana movie (bruh) thus making the live actions just unecessary money sinks that capitalizes on the ideas of ACTUALLY TALENTED PEOPLE so they can sell more tickets
Or The other Disney remakes try to do something "Unique" and make a movie that is worse then the original animation at best and at worst a disrespectful redo of something great
MEANWHILE Once upon a time is running circles around Disney and their "creative" teams even this many years after the show's end.
Quite funny
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u/Riley__64 1d ago
I think once upon a time got away with it because it was never advertised as retelling the story of these fairytales it was doing their own take.
All the Disney live action remakes are advertised like remakes, whether they’re shot for shot or do something unique they’re all advertised like they’re the new version of the animated movie, once upon a time was set up like a what if story doing its own thing.
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u/RvDragonheart 1d ago
Yeah but And Im pulling out the dead horse and start beating it again
They decided to make a new Snowwhite right? One she would be a leader kick ass take names you know make an EMPOWERING story (while their dumasses attempted to leave out the romance between her and Charming)
But there is the problem..... ONCE UPON A TIME DID IT ALREADY WITH LOVE AND ROMANCE INTACT!
Like sure OUAT added in every fairy tale and dont expect disney to make a multi movie Disneyverse (that would be SMART but Disney aint that) but even if we leave out Ruby and many MANY other characters we could STILL easily have the concept Disney wanted for their Snow white whitout making it unecessary at best and obnoxious and disrespectful at worst.
I guess Yeah OUAT could easily get away with things since it was number 1 a series (longer run time more time to flesh things out) and number 2 had a vague "Every fairy tale character but with a twist" idea which WORKED obviously
But it shouldnt be rocket science on making an enjoyable Disney movie. Its obviously not easy but its again not rocket science. Then again talent and creativity got replaced with ego and pride and if they fail they blame the audience instead of maaaaaaybe taking some account ability.
A pity
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u/jr9386 21h ago
OUAT is a Disney property.
Secondly, you proved the problem with the premise of your argument.
People don't want a 1:1 retelling, but they're also not keen on an adaptation that recasts elements of the previous adaptation.
It's a no win situation.
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u/RvDragonheart 20h ago
I mean retelling the same stuff literally scene to scene makes the movie obsolete and unecessary.
Now recasting and retelling tales I see potential in that if done right and at that point dont make a good DISNEY movie just make a good movie in general
Alice in wonderland movie I dont recall Alice taking a sword and fighting the Jabberwocky in full plate armor in the Animation but HELL the movie was good.. .and the 2nd one too
Maleficent 1 was great (2nd main issue is tha why isnt Mal a Dragon? But meh you can watch it and possibly enjoy it)
There are ways you can make something out of a Disney classic without necessarily making it 1 to 1 or making it garbage
Hell Snow white 's tale been retold in many times
Red Riding hood and the wolf
I can list a few more as well some are funny comedic fantastical tales for kids, others more serious feeling Fantasy tales.
If I was asking for impossible things I CAN admit that but it happened it was already done sometimes even Disney themselves used to be able to do it.
Its for some reason its nowadays that they are bankrupt when it comes to new ideas and its weird.
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u/CyanResource 1d ago
Lol, the gatekeeping of visual representations of imaginary characters is interesting. And by the way, that’s Regina impersonating Ursula. The first Ursula in OUAT was golden and jumped out of a mirror, lol. Rewatch the end of that episode.
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u/Dunkbuscuss 21h ago
Wrong, I get thr confusion but Regina was literally attacked by Ursula for daring to impersonate her. Its in that episode. So yeah Regina pretended to be Ursula and even stole Ariel's voice but the real Ursula didn't take it kindly threatening to kill her even attacking her through her own mirror.
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u/Effective-Gap-1826 18h ago
We know that 😐 I’m saying that the Ursula in the animation is not the real Ursula that attacked Regina…. Regina is the Ursula from the animation…
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u/Dunkbuscuss 18h ago
Except we know thats not true because Triton faces off against Ursula and knows her personally and recognises it.
Not only that we meet her sister in the sequel and she calls Ursula her sister and the favorite.
There is literally mountains of evidence to say that she is the real Ursula.
The writers of Once simply took liberties with the story just like how Rumple is both Rumplestiltskin and the Beast they combine split several characters into multiple characters all the time.
So yeah the Character itself is Ursula that me later meet and the one that attacked Regina they simply gave her story with Ariel to Regina but had it all come full circle by having Ariel collect King Triton from Atlantica and help Ursula achieve her happily ever after.
So yeah it all comes full circle.
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u/Effective-Gap-1826 16h ago
We know that too… the animation is not fact in their world…. That’s the whole point of OUAT… the stories we were told was just for entertainment…. How it actually went down is what’s in OUAT
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u/grmrsan 1d ago
Ariel and Ursula didn't show up together and didn't seem to have a relationship. They are BOTH the "Little Mermaid". Ariel was done first and probably intended to be exactly who we thought.
However the writers needed another villian, Ursula fit the bill, and since they didn't use Ariel's family in the first round, decided it could make a good villian origin. Both parts were lifted wholesale from the movie, and it was just split between the two.
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u/crtetley 10h ago
TECHNICALLY you’re both correct and incorrect
Regina was MIMICKING Ursula the Sea Goddess to make Ariel believe she was going to help her
Ursula (pic # 5) was named after Ursula, but they are technically different people
the Author who wrote the story, then going onto Walt Disney (in OUAT universe) saw the story probably kept Regina’s mimicking likeness to ensure that there was a good story to be had
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u/jr9386 21h ago
I headcanon that Princess Ursula is Tia Dalma.
Recall that Ursula is technically a princess in the Disney adaptation (Broadway, live action, and the original script of the 1989 film), but a fallen one. She and Triton share a father, Poseidon, and a grandfather, Neptune.
Calypso would be the ancient goddess, with Ursula being the "human trapped form". Calypso quite possibly being her mother, but that only complicates matters.
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u/Minute-Necessary2393 1d ago
Kindof wish they stuck with the idea of Regina being Ursula. She fit the role WAY better.
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u/TYie7749 2d ago
okay ngl i was not confused before but your post is now making me confused. my interpretation of the ursulas:
there is a legend of a sea witch named Ursula (1). but no one knows if she’s real or not/no one has seen her for hundreds of years (one of these two).
regina hears this myth and decides to pretend to be Ursula (2) so she can trick ariel. and she succeeds, except the real Ursula (1) finds out and almost fries her.
princess Ursula (3) is just someone who was named after Ursula (1)