Sebastian (The Little Mermaid)
| Sebastian | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Little Mermaid (1989) |
| Last appearance | The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008) |
| Created by | Ron Clements & John Musker (story) |
| Voiced by |
Samuel E. Wright (all appearances except the Kingdom Hearts series and Disney Parks until 2008) Kevin Michael Richardson (Kingdom Hearts series) Keith Ferguson (Disney Parks) |
| Nationality |
 Jamaican
|
Sebastian is an animated anthropomorphic crab in Disney's The Little Mermaid film franchise. He is a red crab from the Caribbean island of Jamaica and a servant of King Triton. Apart from his role in the film trilogy, Sebastian features in the animated series, in the Kingdom Hearts series of video games, and even has music albums based on him.
The character was developed solely for the film, and is not derived from the original Hans Christian Andersen story. Early on in the writing and development of The Little Mermaid, the character that would later become Sebastian was originally an English-butler crab named Clarence; songwriter Howard Ashman proposed changing Clarence to a Jamaican Rastafarian crab and shifting the music style throughout the film to reflect this. Duncan Marjoribanks served as Sebastian's supervising animator. Sebastian is voiced by Samuel E. Wright, who auditioned for the role as though he were trying out for a stage musical. His physicality impressed co-director Ron Clements, who videotaped a repeat performance in order to inspire the animators.
When the film opens, Sebastian is announced as the "royal court composer", his full name being "Horatio Thelonius Ignatius Crustaceus Sebastian", and he conducts a concert that King Triton's seven daughters are supposed to perform. Ariel fails to show up for the concert, and later Sebastian joins King Triton in scolding her, blaming her for his humiliation. Sebastian is tasked by King Triton to follow Ariel and keep her out of trouble, and so witnesses Ariel saving Eric from drowning, which horrifies him as contact between the human world and merworld is forbidden. Sebastian accidentally lets this information slip to King Triton, who confronts Ariel and destroys her collection of human things in a rage. Feeling guilty for having betrayed Ariel's confidence, Sebastian follows Ariel when she visits Ursula the sea witch for help, and later helps her quest to win Prince Eric's affections. After Ursula disguises herself as the human Vanessa and wins over Prince Eric, Sebastian goes down to inform King Triton, and later becomes instrumental in helping Ariel and Prince Eric defeat Ursula.
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