Disney+ has censored Darryl Hannah’s bottom in Splash with bizarre CGI hair to make the movie suitable for family viewing… and fans are NOT impressed.
Splash was the first film released by Disney’s more adult-oriented film label Touchstone Pictures in 1984, with a PG certificate and tells the story of a mermaid [Darryl Hannah] who falls in love with a man [Tom Hanks] she rescued as a boy.
Fans were baffled to discover that the streaming service digitally altered Darryl’s nude bottom as she jumps into the sea at the end of the film, by lengthening her hair with CGI and noted other scenes, such as when she was topless in a water tank, or naked at the Statue Of Liberty have all been cropped for modesty.
Spot the difference: Disney Plus have digitally censored Darryl Hannah’s bottom with weird CGI hair to make 1984 movie Splash suitable for family viewing and fans are NOT impressed
Iconic: Darryl famously starred as mermaid Madison in the movie along Tom Hanks (Allen Bauer) who fell for him when they were reunited as adults – she rescued him from drowning as a boy
Allison Pregler, who hosts the YouTube channel Movie Nights, noticed the offending edit in a tweet posted on Monday and joined a legion of other viewers who had something to say.
Her post featured a short clip from early in the film when a lovestruck Hanks shares a kiss with a mysterious nude blonde (Hannah).
In the original, her long hair partially covered her bottom as she dove into the surf, but the new clips shows a much bushier and obviously fake covering, which some have likened to a ‘bizarre furry bottom.’
Though the edited clip is intended to make her hair look even longer, Pregler compared the ridiculous effect to the ‘digital fur technology’ used in the box office bomb Cats.
Good one: One user joked that Disney gave her ‘a giant shag carpet for a butt’ and others said that Disney should not tamper with the originals
Making changes: Madison’s bottom is much more covered up in the end scene now, (left) as it was in the original (right)
All change: Likewise, a scene in which Madison is naked while visting the Statue Of Liberty (left) appears to have been heavily doctored (right)
Nothing to see here: As she heads towards the famous landmark, sure to catch some stares in the original (left), she goes a little more unnoticed, (right)
Topsy-turvy: In the original, Madison goes topless but covers her modesty with her hands (left)
No time difference here: Madison has been held captive in a water tank and viewers used to get a glimpse of her bare chest (left)
Old versus new: When a diver comes into shot and places his arms around Madison to capture her, Disney Plus must have found this a little too suggestive
‘Disney+ didn’t want butts on their platform so they edited Splash with digital fur technology,’ she captioned the video.
Others wrote: ‘Disney has given her a giant shag carpet for a butt.’
‘Dear Disney, if a movie or TV show is too much for Disney plus, remember, you have majority ownership of Hulu, put it on there, don’t mess with classics like Splash.’
‘Nice one #Disney, #DarylHannah now looks like she’s just got a hairy bum and is some sort of descendant of Bigfoot. #Splash.’
Caught it: Allison Pregler, who hosts the YouTube channel Movie Nights, noticed the offending edit in a tweet posted Monday and compared the effect to the ‘digital fur technology’ used in the box office bomb Cats
Too much? While fans seem to love the new streaming service, most seem to feel as though the censorship was over the top
‘@Disney, did you really have to use bad CG fur to edit Daryl Hannah’s butt out of Splash?! You guys need to pull that 1950’s stick out of your ass and enter the 21st century. Kids see stuff these days thanks to the web. I doubt they’ll be corrupted by 1980’s beach butt.’
‘I love your service. But knock this off. If you are going to censor footage than dont have the movie to begin with. Either stream it proper or not at all.’
Though Disney has a history of reediting its films, the Splash edit is puzzling considering how much of Hannah’s backside was already covered by her hair in the original version.
The clip is now making the rounds, but it was previously noticed by eagle-eyed viewers back in February.
Disney has kept quiet about tampering with films on Disney plus, though it Likeretroactively bumped up the films rating from PG to PG-13 and posted a disclaimer about the edited content before the film.
Some posters noted that Disney had also edited Avatar (2009) to censor an alien sex scene that didn’t feature any human genitalia, though that film doesn’t have a disclaimer about the edited content on Disney+.
And in a recent report, CNBC confirmed that Song Of The South, the controversial post-credits blooper scene from Toy Story 2, and the Jim Crow scene from Dumbo won’t be available for streaming on Disney+.
Song Of The South is a hybrid animation/live-action film from 1946 which has been criticized for its racist depictions of African Americans.
And earlier this month, Disney+ users were baffled by an edit in the animated film Lilo & Stitch, which was released in 2002.
Safety first: Earlier this month, Disney+ users were baffled by an edit in the animated film Lilo & Stitch, which was released in 2002 – in the original, Lilo hides in a drier but now, it has been edited so that the drier is covered by a pizza box
The movie is about a Hawaiian girl who adopts an unusual pet who is actually a notorious extra-terrestrial fugitive.
One particular scene shows Lilo hiding from her sister in a tumble dryer.
But this has now been changed so that Lilo no longer hides in a dryer but within a piece of furniture which has now been blocked by a pizza box.
According to The Independent, the reason for the change was to avoid the chance for children to emulate Lilo’s dangerous behaviour, especially given that so many people are at home during the coronavirus lockdown.
Keeping it secret: Disney+ also reportedly edited an alien sex scene in Avatar (2009), though the streaming version doesn’t have a disclaimer about the edits
After its merger with Fox, Disney now own one of the most infamous examples of after-the-fact film manipulation: the original Star Wars trilogy; still from Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
Disney also owns one of the most infamous modern examples of after-the-fact film tinkering: the original Star Wars trilogy.
Before selling the franchise to Disney, creator George Lucas edited the films extensively to add in new digital effects.
He infamously changed an early scene from Star Wars (which he later retitled A New Hope) to make Han Solo (Harrison Ford) shoot the bounty hunter Greedo only after he was fired upon, whereas he originally shot first.
Disney+ users were angered when the service debuted to find that the version of A New Hope included featured even more edits in the Greedo scene, which Lucas had reportedly made prior to selling the franchise but had never publicly released.
The original, unaltered Star Wars films are currently unavailable.
Yikes! The CGI hair has been compared to the heavily-criticised appearance of the fur in 2019 Universal movie, Cats