How Divine influenced a classic Disney character
If you’ve ever seen a John Waters film made before the 1990s, you’ll be familiar with Divine, the iconic star that took centre stage in most of his work. Acting as somewhat of a muse to Waters, Divine was outrageous, bold and unafraid to be simply grotesque.
Divine, a neighbourhood friend of Waters’, first collaborated with the filmmaker in 1966 on the short film Roman Candles. Born Harris Glenn Milstead, he adopted his drag persona as a young man, with Waters’ giving him the name ‘Divine’. Subsequently, Divine starred in countless films made by Waters, such as Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Polyester and Hairspray.
In Pink Flamingos, a notoriously contentious film that still remains banned in several areas of the world, Divine played an undercover criminal who holds the title of “the filthiest person alive”. Throughout the movie, Divine engages in some questionable behaviour, from giving a real blowjob to her on-screen son to eating actual dog shit. The actor didn’t hold back, making Waters’ film highly controversial upon its release.
In an interview with David Lettermen, Waters’ explained his love for the drag queen: “I first saw Divine, and I thought: Raw beauty. […] To me, beauty is looks you can never forget, and I’ve walked down the street with Divine, and I’ve seen car accidents happen.”
Divine’s look was striking, utilising a trashy persona, often accompanied by tight, skimpy outfits, intense, overdrawn makeup and teased-back blonde hair. His style has significantly impacted drag culture, reflected in his fearless approach to performance and expression. However, Divine also spread his influence to an unlikely area: children’s cinema.
The iconic villain, Ursula, from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, was directly inspired by Divine – although (luckily) the children’s character didn’t get up to any of the X-rated habits that the drag queen did. Ursula sports the same hair as Divine did in Pink Flamingos while donning the same iconic eye makeup that he often wore.
In an interview from the documentary Howard, Rob Minkoff, an animator on The Little Mermaid, explained how he came up with Ursula’s visual appearance. “I was designing Ursula. In the script, she was described as a Joan Collinsesque character so all the designs were a very thin, high cheek-boned woman with black hair – a kind of punk biker mumma. She was really freaky.”
However, it was Howard Ashman, a lyricist for the film, who persuaded Minkoff to go with a strikingly different look for Ursula. “I did a design based on Divine and that design was put on a board with other designs. When Howard Ashman came in to look at the designs he zeroed in on that one.”
Moreover, Ursula’s voice actor, Pat Carroll, was instructed to use Divine’s voice for inspiration. Evidently, Divine’s influence was perfect, and Ursula is now regarded as one of the greatest Disney villains of all time.
