On the night of Nov. 5, “The Little Mermaid Live!” premiered on ABC, and there was one moment that the poor unfortunate souls who missed it are going to want to catch up on ASAP.
The star-studded cast included Queen Latifah in the role of Ursula the sea witch. She performed a rousing rendition of the character’s signature song from the 1989 animated Disney movie, “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” and it was absolutely amazing.
The multi-talented singer and actor donned a black leather dress, complete with purple tentacles, and wore Ursula’s iconic white hairdo, to execute the role. Her performance is fun, powerful, a little bit spooky and highly entertaining, just like the original! Check it out in YouTube clip below from ABC:
Wow! That is one evil sea witch I would definitely not want to mess with!
In her review for CNN, Sandra Gonzalez said the performance left “little question about who proved themselves to be the queen of the sea and the stage.” The Hollywood Reporter called Latifah’s performance of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” the “best part of the evening.”
Fans also took to social media to praise Queen Latifah’s performance.
On Twitter, @Lionessa_94 said Latifah “killed it” and suggested she be considered for the role of Ursulalive-action movie version of “The Little Mermaid,” which is currently in production and does not yet have a release date:
QUEEN LATIFAH JUST KILLED IT AS URSULA! We need her for the live action!!!!!! #TheLittleMermaidLive #QueenLatifah pic.twitter.com/VMF4yzwgWs
— Vanessa (@Lionessa_94) November 6, 2019
@chelseaworld1 got excited every time the show teased that there was more Queen Latifah to come:
When you see the little thing at the bottom announcing more Queen Latifah as Ursula #TheLittleMermaidLive pic.twitter.com/3Yi2nLI5SV
— Chelsea Johnston (@chelseaworld1) November 6, 2019
@BlackGirlNerds is confident that no one but Latifah could pull off the role:
First of all, Ursula is snatched! I cannot think of anyone else that could possibly pull off this role. Queen Latifah did that!
#TheLittleMermaidLive pic.twitter.com/htw56ocwLE
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) November 6, 2019
Overall, “The Little Mermaid Live!” received mixed reviews. Other major roles were portrayed by “Moana” star Auli’li Cravalho as Ariel, musician Shaggy as Sebastian, “Full House” alum John Stamos as Chef Louis and “Riverdale” star Graham Phillips as Prince Eric.
Noticeably missing were the characters of King Triton and Flounder, both of whom are prominent characters in the animated film. “The Little Mermaid Live!” was designed as a hybrid production and was interspersed with clips from the 1989 movie. Since King Triton and Flounder don’t have any major musical numbers, their characters were most likely cut for that reason, according to Heavy.
What did you think of “The Little Mermaid Live!”?
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
