8 Fictional Movie Villains Inspired By Real People

Animated movies can more easily get away with using real-world people as templates for their characters, due to the fact they can be exaggerated to a degree that most live-action films can't get away with.

The Little Mermaid's Ursula is an example of this, with Disney's monstrous sea-witch drawing heavily from the look of American actor and drag queen Divine, who film buffs will know from his appearances in John Waters films like Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble.

Ursula and Divine share many physical similarities, including the same signature eye-makeup and the same body type, with both being on the slightly bulkier side. Ursula is also rather eccentric, just like Divine, and the two share a penchant for noticeable, dangly earrings.

Sadly, Divine died in 1988 so was never able to see The Little Mermaid for himself (it released in 1989), but those who knew the man were confident that he would've been thrilled with the movie as a whole, as well as Ursula's character.