When Disney produced The Little Mermaid (1989), released on November 17th, 1989, they assembled an unbelievably talented voice cast. The star lineup included Jodi Benson as the voice of Ariel, Christopher Daniel Barnes as Prince Eric, Pat Carroll as Ursula the Sea Witch, Paddi Edwards in the dual role of the eels Floatsam and Jetsam, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, and Buddy Hackett as Scuttle. Disney was also fortunate enough to cast Samuel E. Wright as the voice of Sebastian the crab. Sadly, we recently lost Sam, so I thought today’s blog could be a tribute to his interesting legacy at Disney.
Although a native of Camden, South Carolina, Wright adapted a Trinidadian accent when he was cast as Sebastian. Today people continue to mistake it for Jamaican, but Wright himself verified that it was, in fact, Trinidadian. He mastered the accent beautifully when singing the songs “Under the Sea,” and “Kiss the Girl,” both of which received the Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song (“Under the Sea” won). He reprised the role of Sebastian for the direct-to-video sequels, The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000) and The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (2008) as well as the Disney Channel Television Series, The Little Mermaid (1992-1994) and Disney’s House of Mouse (2001-2002).
Although Sebastian will forever be Wright’s best-known role at Disney, in 1997, Wright was cast in the Original Broadway Production of The Lion King in the role of Mufasa, the role made popular James Earl Jones in the movie. Although Jones’s Mufasa didn’t sing, a song that Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice had originally written for the film called “The Morning Report,” was included in the Broadway show for Mufasa to sing, along with Zazu and Young Simba. Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin also collaborated with Lebo M on new music for the Broadway version and they wrote a new Mufasa song titled “They Live in You.” Wright scored the second Tony Nomination of his career for his performance as Mufasa.
After his run as “Mufasa,” Wright later returned to the Disney Studios to voice Kron the Iguanadon in the CGI film Dinosaur (2000). Max Casella, who co-starred with Wright in the Original Broadway Company of “Lion King,” originating the role of Timon, voiced Zini the lemur. The role of Kron was a villain, different from the good-natured Sebastian, and it didn’t require Wright to adapt an accent, but to make the character seem more threatening, he deepened his own natural voice.
Samuel E. Wright passed away due to prostate cancer on May 24th, 2021, at the age of 74. His legacy at Disney is as remarkable as it is legendary knowing that few actors get to portray iconic Disney characters both in film and on Broadway. “The Little Mermaid,” was adapted for Broadway in 2008 with Titus Burgess portraying Sebastian, and Disney is currently filming the live-action version of The Little Mermaid in which the role of Sebastian will be assumed by Tony Award Winner, Daveed Diggs, who won his Tony for doubling in the roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Original Broadway Company of Hamilton. Samuel E. Wright will live on, however, as the voice that made Sebastian such a beloved character.
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