Directed by Rob Marshall, the live-action adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid just dropped its first full trailer featuring extended scenes of Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, and Javier Bardem as King Triton. It’s a beloved story, as with all Disney classics, but even if you’ve seen it several times, what you might not know is that Ursula is based on the legendary drag queen Divine. Harris Glenn Milstead was a performer whose stage name was Divine. He was a multi-hyphenate who acted, sang, and performed drag. Milstead, one day, met the legendary filmmaker John Waters, who lived on the same street as him. The two quickly began making movies together. Waters gave Divine the name and tagline, “the most beautiful woman in the world…almost.” Divine passed away in 1988, leaving his impact on the world of drag and cinema, which can be seen in movies like The Little Mermaid.
