Like so many kids who grew up in the ‘90s, I absolutely loved the songs from Disney animated movies, particularly those from the golden age. I bought all the soundtracks on cᴀssette tape (showing my age, here), and memorized each and every word to every song. My friends and I sang “Part of Your World” at sleepovers, and I re-enacted Belle running to the edge of the cliff during the “Belle Reprise.” And what Gen Xer or Millennial hasn’t tried to recreate Ariel’s stunning emergence from the water while in the swimming pool?

Then there are the iconic villain songs, and of course, the best one has always been Ursula’s “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid. To be honest, I’m not normally a big fan of the live-action Disney remakes, so I was skeptical about the 2023 version, and whether or not Melissa McCarthy could do the sea witch justice. Yet the moment she sang the first note of that iconic song, I was more than pleasantly surprised – I was blown away.

McCarthy’s Poor Unfortunate Souls Is Nearly Perfect

Her Charisma Carries The Song

It would be impossible and unfair to compare Melissa McCarthy’s performance of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” to Pat Carrol’s, who did the voice of Ursula in the animated The Little Mermaid movie. For one, their voices are completely different. Second, an animated sequence is obviously on a different scale than a live-action one, even with digital effects. So to say that one is better than the other is really up to someone’s personal opinion, and as for me, I love both equally for different reasons.

The first thing that musical enthusiasts may notice about McCarthy’s version of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is that she uses a technique called speak-singing, in which many of the lines are spoken in rhythm rather than sung. The original animated version used a lot of the same technique, but it’s much more prominent in McCarthy’s version. This doesn’t take anything away from the song, however – in fact, it improves it. By speaking certain lines of the song rather than singing them, McCarthy emphasizes the character’s power and malevolence, while also highlighting some of the more humorous moments.

As for the singing, McCarthy nails the most important beats of the song with her impressive belting vocals. She also manages to capture Ursula’s essence beautifully in the scene, playing up the “victim” act and pretending to sympathize with Ariel’s plight, yet still maintaining that edge which lets us know she’s not to be trifled with. McCarthy perfectly balances Ursula’s charm and charisma with a fiendish underlying core that makes her such a beloved villain.

McCarthy Revealed Her Anxiety About Singing In The Little Mermaid

Taking On An Iconic Role Is A Daunting Task

Taking on one of the biggest villain roles in one of the most beloved Disney musicals would have anybody feeling intimidated, and for Melissa McCarthy, it was no different. In a 2023 interview with Today, the actor confessed her initial fears about being cast as the tentacled diva. She said:

“When I got it and I knew I was doing it, then it was like, ‘What have you done?’”

Of course, one of the most overwhelming aspects of being cast in a huge musical production is the singing, and as McCarthy told Today, “I guess I went in thinking ‘I have to try to sing perfectly.’” Luckily, she had some help with the singing portion of the role from esteemed vocal coach, Eric Vetro, who reᴀssured her that perfection wasn’t the goal.

“I was, like, ‘I don’t know how to do things if it’s not in character. And he’s, like, ‘Singing is the same thing.’ And then it made sense to me. I said, ‘I don’t know how to do something in any area perfectly, but if I can do it in character…’”

Though McCarthy may not have a perfect singing voice (who does, really?), she did perfectly encapsulate Ursula’s character, and her performance was on point.

The Live Action Version Left Out A Pivotal Musical Moment

“Poor Unfortunate Souls” Doesn’t Get A Reprise

If there was one big disappointment with the live action Little Mermaid movie, it’s that we didn’t get to hear the reprise of “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” In the animated version, Scuttle overhears Ursula disguised as Vanessa singing in her room with Ariel’s voice, which is where we get “Poor Unfortunate Souls (Reprise).” In the live-action version, the song is missing, replaced with a brief homage to the reprise made up of wordless vocals and “las.” It was a perfect setup, and yet they couldn’t add in just six sung lines?

“What a lovely little bride I’ll make

My dear I’ll look divine

Things are going all according

To my ultimate design

Soon I’ll have that little mermaid

And the ocean will be mine.”

The only thing that makes sense to me is that the scene needed to be shortened for time so that it could move on more quickly to the third act. Seeing as the total runtime for The Little Mermaid was over two hours, I suppose I can understand. Even so, the scene would have only been lengthened by maybe twenty seconds, and it’s a shame we didn’t get another taste of the delicious villain song.

McCarthy Should Have More Musical And Villain Roles

She Proved Her Capabilities With Her Performance

Seeing Melissa McCarthy nailing it as Ursula got me wondering: why hasn’t she done any musical roles before The Little Mermaid? Am I the only one who was surprised by her amazing singing voice? After some research, I found out McCarthy sang a duet with the incomparable Barbra Streisand in 2016 for her album, Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. The song was “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better),” originally from the show Annie Get Your Gun, but with the lyrics changed for more comedic effect.

The chemistry between the two women was on point, both vocally and comedically. Yet, there have been no other musical performances in McCarthy’s career before or after The Little Mermaid, which is a shame. Another thing that I noticed was how well McCarthy played a villain, where most of her roles have been either as a supporting character or protagonist. With her presence and charisma as Ursula, I would love to see her play more antagonistic characters, musical or otherwise.

At the moment, it doesn’t look like McCarthy has any villainous or musical roles on the horizon. Hopefully, that will change in the future, and I will certainly be on the lookout.