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Makeup artist responds to ‘offensive’ criticism over Ursula's look in The Little Mermaid live-action remake

Home> Film & TV

Updated 16:24 28 May 2023 GMT+1Published 16:22 28 May 2023 GMT+1

Makeup artist responds to ‘offensive’ criticism over Ursula's look in The Little Mermaid live-action remake

Fans of The Little Mermaid have not been impressed with Ursula's look

Katherine Sidnell

Katherine Sidnell

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/ @DisneyStudios

Topics: Disney, Film and TV, LGBTQ, Twitter

Katherine Sidnell
Katherine Sidnell

Katherine is an entertainment journalist with a love of all things nerdy. Starting out writing Doctor Who fan fiction as a kid, she has gone on to interview the likes of Matt Damon, James May and Dua Lipa to name a few. Published in The Sun, The Daily Mail and Evening Standard - she now joins Ladbible as resident nerd in chief.

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@ksidnell

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It seems The Little Mermaid is all at sea once again after the film’s make-up has been heavily criticised.

The live-action remake was slammed after a timelapse of Ursula’s look was shared by Disney, with many drag queens throwing shade at the video.

The short clip was uploaded to Twitter last week, with a number of drag performers arguing that Melissa McCarthy’s makeup should have been done by an LGBT+ artist.

For those not in the know, her character, Ursula, was heavily inspired by the iconic drag queen, Divine – according to the 1989 film’s composer, Alan Menken.

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In fact, her trademark thick eyeshadow and thin eyebrows are virtually identical to that of the late performer’s.

As the short video began to circulate online, many stars of Ru Paul’s Drag Race reacted angrily in the comments.

“When you lie on your resume and end up with the job,” wrote Art Simone pointedly.

Another Drag Race alum, Denali, added: “[This is] absolutely why we should hire up-and-coming queer artists with a pulse on the present and a vision for the future more often.”

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While the debate continues online, The Little Mermaid’s make-up artist has responded.

The actor's look had caused a major backlash online.
Disney

During an interview with Insider, Peter King called the backlash ‘very offensive’ as he discussed Twitter’s intense reaction.

“Why can’t I do as good a job as a queer makeup artist?” he argued. “That’s ridiculous. That’s trying to claim it and that’s fine, if that’s what they wanna do, but don’t put people down because they’re not what they want it to be.”

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He then admitted to the publication that he couldn’t understand why there had been such a huge backlash.

“I personally don’t get it. Yes, I’m very old now, so that’s fine. I get that too, but you know, a makeup artist or makeup designer could design makeup.

“They don’t have to have an attachment to the nature of what they’re doing.”

Disney Studios/Twitter

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Meanwhile, McCarthy who plays Ursula in the upcoming remake has spoken about how drag influenced her performance.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Spy actor said: “I’m a huge, huge fan of drag shows and the whole art of it and the entertainment of it.”

She also joked that she had a drag queen inside her, saying: “I’ve been going to shows since I was not supposed to be going to shows. There’s a drag queen that lives in me. I’m always right on the verge of going full time with her.”

The Little Mermaid is out in cinemas now.

  • Little Mermaid live-action remake trailer has been released
  • New live-action How To Train Your Dragon trailer reveals first look at iconic scene from original movie
  • People’s minds blown after first look of Sebastian in live action Little Mermaid appears online
  • The Snow White live-action trailer has hit major milestone for dislikes on YouTube

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