March 9 - Splash

Image copyright Touchstone

On this day, in 1984, the first film to be released under the Touchstone Pictures banner, Splash, hit theaters. Earlier in the year, recognizing a dire need for Disney to break out of its G-rated box while at the same time preserving the family focus of the Walt Disney name, CEO Ron Miller had created a new brand, Touchstone. While an ingenious move on his part, it didn’t keep him from losing his job later in the year. Brian Grazer, Splash’s producer, had been trying to get the film made at every studio in town with zero luck. It wasn’t until he changed his pitch from “mermaid learning to live on land” to “ordinary New Yorker falls in love with mermaid” that Miller agreed to finance the picture and decided it was perfect to launch the new label.

Only the third film directed by Ron Howard, Splash stars Tom Hanks (in his second film role), Daryl Hannah, John Candy and Eugene Levy. And because Ron loves his family, you can see his dad Rance Howard, near the beginning yelling at Tom Hanks about cherries and his brother, Clint Howard, at the wedding, being yelled at by Tom Hanks. The movie was a hit and launched Hanks’ career right towards his next blockbuster, Big. On a budget of only $8 million, Splash grossed almost $70 million by the end of its initial run. It earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won Daryl the Saturn Award for Best Actress.

Image copyright Touchstone

Besides just being a fun movie to watch, it’s the little things about Splash that amuse me. Daryl’s tail, for instance. It was so hard to get into and out of that she would usually just stay in it during meal breaks, but costume designer Robert Short really knew his stuff. Daryl was able to swim so quickly in it that she regularly outpaced the production team. Then there’s the name Madison. At the time of filming, it really was basically just a street name but because of Splash’s popularity it grew in popularity in real life. Shortly after Splash, it was the 216^th most popular girl’s name. Five years later it held the 29^th spot and by 2000 was third. Which I guess makes it a real name now. But my favorite tidbit is this: the beach where Tom and Daryl’s characters first meet has become a permanent part of Disney. The island in the Bahamas where that scene was filmed, formerly known as Gorda Cay, is now called Castaway Cay and welcomes guests of the Disney Cruise Line several days a week. I haven’t heard of any mermaid sightings from there just yet, but you never know…