Poor Unfortunate Souls facts for kids

"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is a well-known song from the Walt Disney Pictures animated movie The Little Mermaid. Howard Ashman wrote the lyrics and Alan Menken composed the music. The song is sung by Pat Carroll, who voices Ursula the Sea Witch. In the movie, Ursula sings this song to Princess Ariel. Ursula uses the song to convince Ariel to trade her beautiful voice for a chance to become human for a short time. The song mixes styles from Broadway theatre and a type of show called Burlesque.

Howard Ashman even recorded his own version of the song, singing as Ursula. He sent it to Pat Carroll to help her decide to take the role, and it worked! This special version was later released in a four-CD collection called The Music Behind the Magic. Pat Carroll shared that she used some of Ashman's singing style in her own performance, and he was very happy about it.

"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is also special because Ursula's magic spell at the end of the song is actually sung, not just spoken. It has spooky organ music and uses words that sound a bit twisted or changed from normal words, all sung very quickly:

• Beluga, Sevruga
• Come winds of the Caspian Sea
• Larynxes, glossitis
• Et Max Laryngitis
• La voce to me

Pat Carroll's original recording of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was put on a CD in 1995. This CD was part of a collection of songs sung by or about Disney villains, called Rascal Songs. It was given out as a special item at McDonald's.

Song Reprises

A "reprise" is when a song is sung again later, often with different words or a shorter version. Several reprises of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" have been created for different versions of The Little Mermaid story.

Vanessa's Song

A short reprise of this song appears later in the original Disney movie. It is sung by Vanessa, who is Ursula in disguise (voiced by Jodi Benson). This short version is sometimes called "Vanessa's Song." It was included in The Legacy Collection: The Little Mermaid. This special two-disc album came out on November 24, 2014, to celebrate the movie's 25th anniversary.

Broadway and Live Show Versions

Two full reprises of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" were written for The Little Mermaid musical on Broadway. The first version was used for a practice show and sung by Emily Skinner. Its lyrics hinted that Ursula would transform into Vanessa. This version included a spell:

• Mascara, tiara
• Yea, winds of the tropics appear
• Catharsis, lavorious
• Et qua manicurus
• Mutato me here!

This first demo reprise was later removed from the Broadway show. It was replaced with a different reprise. This new version was sung by Ursula to King Triton, forcing him to take Ariel's place in the deal. A brand new reprise was also featured in The Little Mermaid Live! show in November 2019, performed by Queen Latifah.

Other Versions and Covers

Jonas Brothers Cover

The Jonas Brothers recorded their own version of "Poor Unfortunate Souls." It was released on October 3, 2006, as part of The Little Mermaid two-disc special edition soundtrack. This release happened at the same time as The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD. The special edition soundtrack also included a music video for the song, showing the brothers singing around a swimming pool.

The Jonas Brothers' version mostly keeps the original lyrics. However, some lines were changed to avoid mentioning magic or gender. For example, "They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch" became "They weren't kidding when they called me kinda strange." Also, "I'm a very busy woman" was changed to "I'm a very busy person." The line "Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys" became "Nick and Kevin, now I've got her, boys." The second part of the song and the ending were also left out. Instead, the song ends with the chorus repeated after the first verse.

Other Performances

A part of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is played twice in the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Halloween fireworks show called HalloWishes. This show is part of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. In Disneyland, a similar show called Halloween Screams also features the song during Mickey's Halloween Party. At Walt Disney World, you can also hear a short instrumental part of the song in the Electrical Water Pageant. This happens when a red octopus appears.

The song was performed at the Miss America 2016 pageant by Miss Rhode Island Alexandra Curtis. American actress and singer China Anne McClain sang a pop version of the song in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Descendants 2.

See also

In Spanish: Pobres almas en desgracia para niños