The Little Mermaid: Why Ursula Was Banished

The Little Mermaid introduced viewers to Ursula (voiced by Pat Carroll), a villainous sea witch banished from the mermaid kingdom who tricked Ariel (Jodi Benson), but why was Ursula banished in the first place? In the movie, it’s shown that Ursula lives completely isolated from the rest of the kingdom, but mermaids still come to her for magical help. When Ariel comes to her, Ursula clearly has made deals before, but the audience doesn’t get much of her backstory. Even the Disney animated series, set before the events of the movie, didn’t spend much time with Ursula.