Melissa McCarthy is a national treasure.
Given as such, it's no surprise that the comedian is a top contender to play Ursula in Disney's live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
On Friday, it was reported that Melissa is in "early talks" with the studio to play the villanious octopus.
The live-action remake is set to feature original songs from the 1989 animated classic, and new songs helmed by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is also producing.
However, it wasn't all good news when it came to the potential casting. Several fans called out Disney for missing an opportunity to cast a person of color or someone from the drag community to play the iconic role.
In addition to listing names of artists like Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Mo'Nique, and Tituss Burgess, others believed the lavender-skinned character was inspired by the late drag queen icon Divine...
The design for Ursula is based on Divine. @TheGingerMinj is the closest you can get to Divine and has the pipes to belt Poor Unfortunate Souls. No discredit to other talent but it would be a miss on @Disney @DisneyStudios part to cast anyone else in the part.
...and thus should be played by one. Particularly Ginger Minj from RuPaul's Drag Race.
Broadway star Cynthia Erivo summed it up perfectly.
The Ursula of it all has been on my chest and in all seriousness, this could have been a wonderful opportunity to update ideas. In a time when we have @thealexnewell #TitusBurgess @TheGingerMinj @lizzo @MsAmberPRiley #queenlatifah @kealasettle if you wanna go for
"This could have been a wonderful opportunity to update ideas," she tweeted.
The Tony award-winner went on to say that she was "sad that an opportunity was missed."
Legends, hit up a good #pattilabelle. but you have a slew of folks whose life works are to blast “poor unfortunate souls” out of the water (see what I did) they are voices are extraordinary. I’m sad that an opportunity was missed.
Lizzo also weighed in on the casting news herself after vying for the role in November 2018.
🥺 https://t.co/lLPwqMxW4O
The burgeoning pop star has expressed her desire to play Ursula on social media various times throughout the year.
Just gonna put this back out there. 🗣IT IS MY DREAM TO PLAY URSULA IN THE LIL MERMAID Here’s my audition tape... @Disney
Here's a video of Lizzo belting out Ursula's signature song, "Poor Unfortunate Souls," in full costume.
I’M URSULA. PERIOD. @Disney
Although an official release date for the live-action remake has yet to be announced...
