History Trivia / Splash

** The film was this for director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer. Although their previous film, ''Film/NightShift'', was a modest hit, the huge commercial success of ''Splash'' very much solidified their partnership, and provided them the clout they needed to form their own production company Creator/ImagineEntertainment one year later.

* FollowTheLeader: The success of the film [[FollowingTheLeader spawned]] quite a few MagicalGirlfriend films in the latter half of the 1980s, like ''Film/WeirdScience'', ''Film/{{Mannequin}}'', ''Film/DateWithAnAngel'', ''Film/HighSpirits'', and ''Film/MyStepmotherIsAnAlien''.

** Screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel wanted Tom Hanks to play Allen after seeing him [[https://youtu.be/46oAEdudoDk?si=2FvpSCqRDElPaY-S guest star]] on an episode of ''Series/HappyDays''. Ganz and Mandel, who were consultants on ''Happy Days'' then told Ron Howard’s assistant Louisa Velis about Tom Hanks, who agreed to that suggestion (since Louisa was a big fan of ''Series/BosomBuddies'') and thus recommended Tom Hanks to Ron Howard.

* CreatorChosenCasting: Brian Grazer wanted Daryl Hannah for the role of Madison after he saw her in ''Film/BladeRunner''. As mentioned in the film’s [[https://youtu.be/YB7dLBQTnTk?t=10m20s “making of” documentary]], Brian Grazer loved how Hannah looked in ''Blade Runner'', and he thought that there was, in his words, “an iconography in her presence”.

** The success of the film also [[FollowingTheLeader spawned]] quite a few MagicalGirlfriend films in the latter half of the 1980s, like ''Film/WeirdScience'', ''Film/{{Mannequin}}'', ''Film/DateWithAnAngel'', ''Film/HighSpirits'', and ''Film/MyStepmotherIsAnAlien''.

* MissingTrailerScene: After attending a wedding, Allen then goes outside and looks sadly at a couple kissing each other [[https://youtu.be/uMIsXdoj2vU?t=43 inside a hansom cab]]. It was a part of a much larger scene in an earlier draft where after the wedding, Allen leaves the bar and we then get a montage of him feeling sad and envious over all the happy couples he notices down the street and later at the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink. The scene was cut from the final film, and it instead had Allen at the bar getting drunk and doing a tearful monologue about he wants to meet a woman, get married, and have kids.

* BreakthroughHit: The film's $69.8 million gross made it Disney’s first real live-action hit since ''Film/TheLoveBug'' in 1969, and established Creator/TouchstonePictures as the go-to brand for mature live-action Disney movies in the 1980s and through the 1990s.

** According to ''[[https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2014%20No%204-5%20%28Sept%201984%29/page/n92/mode/1up Cinefantastique Magazine]]'', Robert Short initially wanted Madison’s mermaid tail to resemble [[UnscaledMerfolk a dolphin]], since he felt that it would make “zoological sense”. However, Ron Howard rejected Short’s design and insisted that the mermaid’s tail resemble a ''goldfish, since the tail’s bright orange color would remain visible when filming under 50 feet of water''. Short agreed with Howard’s suggestion, and he instead decided to base the mermaid’s tail on ''Japanese Koi fish''.

* BreakthroughHit: The film's $69.8 million gross made it the Disney studios' first real live-action hit since ''Film/TheLoveBug'' in 1969, and established Creator/TouchstonePictures as the go-to brand for live-action Disney movies in the 1980s and through the 1990s.

** The success of the film also [[FollowingTheLeader spawned]] quite a few MagicalGirlfriend films in the latter half of the 1980s, like ''Film/{{Mannequin}}'', ''Film/DateWithAnAngel'', and ''Film/MyStepmotherIsAnAlien''.

* BabyNameTrendStarter: “Madison” as a first name was almost nonexistent when the movie was made, and was mostly a boy's name when it did appear. (It derives from an old English/Welsh name that either means "Matthew's son" or "Maude's son", so that makes sense.) Then after the film's mermaid picked up the name, it exploded in popularity as a girl's name, reaching the top ten in girls' names in the United States in 1997, staying there over a decade and a half, and even reaching second in 2001 and '02, before dropping to eleventh in 2015. (It also reappeared as a boys' name after Splash was released, but never attained the explosive popularity that it did as a girls' name.) In the film itself, it was a LinOfSightName taken from a street sign (Madison Avenue in New York City); Tom Hanks' character's immediate reaction is, "That's not a [feminine first] name!"

* BabyNameTrendStarter: “Madison” as a first name was virtually unheard-of (and was a guys' name when it made a rare appearance) when this movie came out. That was the joke. Thanks to ''Splash'', [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/madison/top it exploded in popularity]] and was in the top ten from 1997 until 2014. It was the #2 name twice, in 2001 and 2002. It has been steadily declining since the mid-2010s, inching out of the top thirty in 2022.

* BabyNameTrendStarter: "Madison" as a first name was virtually unheard-of (and was a guys' name when it made a rare appearance) when this movie came out. That was the joke. Thanks to ''Splash'', [[https://www.behindthename.com/name/madison/top it exploded in popularity]] and was in the top ten from 1997 until 2014. It was the #2 name twice, in 2001 and 2002. It has been steadily declining since the mid-2010s, inching out of the top thirty in 2022.

* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: According to Brian Grazer, it took '''seven years''' for ''Splash'' to get made. Grazer first came up with the concept back in 1977, and it took him 6 years to ''finally'' find a studio that would greenlight his film - [[PlayingAgainstType Disney, of all places]]! According to Steven Bach's 1985 book ''Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Film/HeavensGate'', producer Brian Grazer had originally pitched the film to United Artists. The book described it as "so sweetly silly it was irresistible." It was one of many projects that was taken to another studio following the massive failure of ''Heaven's Gate''. [[note]] According to [[https://catalog.afi.com/Film/57200-SPLASH?cxt=filmography “AFI Catalog”]], ''Splash'' was supposed to start filming in the spring of 1981, but that plan ultimately fell through after United Artists was put up for sale by Transamerica in 1980, due to ''Film/HeavensGate'' bombing at the box office. [[/note]]

** Bruce Jay Friedman's original script had the film mostly take place ''underwater'', in which the audience would get to see Madison and the merpeople who live there. However, Ron Howard suggested that it would be easier (for logistical reasons) to have the story take place on land rather than under the sea, so Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel were hired to do rewrites, with the focus now being more on Allen and his relationship with his "mermaid girlfriend" Madison.

** The original ending [[spoiler: didn't have Allen jumping in the water to be with Madison]]. In the DVDCommentary, Creator/RonHoward said the ending was changed at the suggestion of his wife, Brian Grazer's wife, and the wives of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (in fact, Babaloo's wife went as far as saying to Babaloo, "If he doesn't go, you go!").[[note]] Even the June 1984 issue of the British sci-fi magazine ''Starburst'' corroborated this, by having Ron Howard state [[https://archive.org/details/Starburst_Magazine_071_1984-06_Marvel-UK/page/n17/mode/1up ”At one point we didn’t really go for a happy ending, more for a bittersweet one. Actually all of our wives protested about that so much that we listened to them - and I’m so glad we did!”.]] [[/note]]

* DeletedScene: A sequence involving a [[http://themoviesplash.blogspot.com/2010/02/sea-hag.html “sea hag”]] who explained to Madison the "rules" (that is, Madison only has 6 days on land and must come back to sea before the moon is full, otherwise Madison would face banishment just like the sea hag) was filmed (in fact, [[https://youtu.be/YB7dLBQTnTk?t=20m1s brief footage]] of it can be seen in the film’s “making of” documentary on the DVD). However, in an interview with ''[[https://archive.org/details/cinefantastique_1970-2002/Cinefantastique%20Vol%2014%20No%204-5%20%28Sept%201984%29/page/n98/mode/1up Cinefantastique Magazine]]'', Robert Short, who was the head of makeup on ''Splash'', said that the “merhag scenes” were cut due to test audiences finding them to be [[MoodWhiplash “very low-key and foreboding”]]. Because the sea hag’s appearance was meant to serve as a JumpScare for Madison just as she was about to exit the sunken ship, the score for it (titled “Underwater”) originally ended on a [[https://youtu.be/Rx1xRUtmUKQ?t=2m54s very discordant note]].

* CreatorChosenCasting: Brian Grazer wanted Daryl Hannah for the role of Madison after he saw Daryl Hannah in ''Film/BladeRunner''. As mentioned in the film’s [[https://youtu.be/YB7dLBQTnTk?t=10m20s “making of” documentary]], Brian Grazer loved how Daryl Hannah looked in ''Blade Runner'', and he thought that there was, in his words, “an iconography in her presence”.

* NoStuntDouble: Director Ron Howard originally wanted to hire a StuntDouble to do Daryl Hannah’s underwater scenes, so he asked Daryl Hannah to go to a pool in downtown Los Angeles, so she could watch the stunt doubles swim with the tail on, as well as make sure that her body type matched with the stunt double’s. However, Hannah did not approve of any of the stunt doubles, and she told Howard that she could do the underwater stunts herself, since as a kid she had frequently practiced the “mermaid swim” (that is, she tied her feet together in the pool). [[WagTheDirector Howard relented]], and after watching Hannah swim in the pool with the tail on, he was so amazed by her ability to hold her breath longer and swim faster than the stunt doubles that ''he decided to let her do her own swimming in the film.''

** According to [[https://youtu.be/j5uwUaqUIxI?t=64 Ron Howard]], the film originally had a lot more nudity, but Daryl Hannah refused to do nude scenes [[note]](despite previously appearing nude in her films ''Film/SummerLovers'' and ''Reckless'')[[/note]], so he decided to tone down a lot of the nudity by having Daryl only appear nude during her encounter with Tom Hanks at the beach, and the “Statue of Liberty” scene. Because Daryl Hannah was shy about showing off her nude body, she wore pasties, round bandaids on her nipples, a body stocking, and [[GodivaHair a wig that would be glued onto her breasts and butt]].
** Daryl also refused to do the “lobster scene” due to being a strict vegetarian. Originally, the filmmakers concocted a fake lobster that was made of “fortune cookie” dough, so Daryl Hannah wouldn’t have to eat an actual lobster. Unfortunately, Hannah had a hard time biting into the fake lobster due to the “fortune cookie” dough, so Director Ron Howard decided to have Daryl Hannah eat an ''actual lobster'' which, unlike the fake “cookie lobster”, had a shell that was easier to bite into. Ron assured Daryl that she didn’t have to swallow the lobster meat and that she could instead spit the lobster meat into a bucket placed to the side of her chair after each take. When Hannah picked up the lobster to do her scene, the lobster started to wilt in her hand, and [[HystericalWoman she freaked out, dropping the lobster from her hands]]. After Hannah got over her fit of hysteria, Ron Howard was finally able to coax Daryl into doing the scene by taking the lobster meat out of its shell, and stuffing it with leeks, potatoes, and hearts of palm.

** The film was this for director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer. Although their previous film, ''Film/NightShift'', was a modest hit, the huge commercial success of ''Splash'' very much solidified their partnership, and provided them the clout they needed to form their own production company Creator/ImagineEntertainment a year later.

* DeletedScene: A sequence involving a [[http://themoviesplash.blogspot.com/2010/02/sea-hag.html “sea hag”]] who explained to Madison the "rules" (that is, Madison only has 6 days on land and must come back to sea before the moon is full, otherwise Madison would face banishment just like the sea hag) was filmed (in fact, [[https://youtu.be/YB7dLBQTnTk?t=20m1s brief footage]] of it can be seen in the film’s “making of” documentary on the DVD). However, in an interview with ''[[https://malibumermaids.weebly.com/the-making-of-splash.html Cinefantastique Magazine]]'', Robert Short, who was the head of makeup on ''Splash'', said that the “merhag scenes” were cut due to test audiences finding them to be [[MoodWhiplash “very low-key and foreboding”]]. Because the sea hag’s appearance was meant to serve as a JumpScare for Madison just as she was about to exit the sunken ship, the score for it (titled “Underwater”) originally ended on a [[https://youtu.be/Rx1xRUtmUKQ?t=2m54s very discordant note]].

* CreatorChosenCasting: Brian Grazer wanted Daryl Hannah for the role of Madison, after he saw Daryl Hannah in ''Film/BladeRunner''. As mentioned in the film’s [[https://youtu.be/YB7dLBQTnTk?t=10m20s “making of” documentary]], Brian Grazer loved how Daryl Hannah looked in ''Blade Runner'', and he thought that there was, in his words, “an iconography in her presence”.

* DeletedScene: A sequence involving a [[http://themoviesplash.blogspot.com/2010/02/sea-hag.html “sea hag”]] who explained to Madison the "rules" (that is, Madison only has 6 days on land and must come back to sea before the moon is full, otherwise Madison would face banishment just like the sea hag) was filmed (in fact, [[https://youtu.be/yPyftEuJb7U?t=20m1s brief footage]] of it can be seen in the film’s “making of” documentary on the DVD). However, in an interview with ''[[https://malibumermaids.weebly.com/the-making-of-splash.html Cinefantastique Magazine]]'', Robert Short, who was the head of makeup on ''Splash'', said that the “merhag scenes” were cut due to test audiences finding them to be [[MoodWhiplash “very low-key and foreboding”]]. Because the sea hag’s appearance was meant to serve as a JumpScare for Madison just as she was about to exit the sunken ship, the score for it (titled “Underwater”) originally ended on a [[https://youtu.be/Rx1xRUtmUKQ?t=2m54s very discordant note]].

* NoStuntDouble: Director Ron Howard originally wanted to hire a StuntDouble to do Daryl Hannah’s underwater scenes, so he asked Daryl Hannah to go to a pool in downtown Los Angeles, so she could watch the stunt doubles swim with the tail on, as well as make sure that her body type matched with the stunt double’s. However, Daryl Hannah did not approve of any of the stunt doubles, and she told Ron Howard that she could do the underwater stunts herself, since as a kid she had frequently practiced the “mermaid swim” (that is, she tied her feet together in the pool). [[WagTheDirector Ron Howard relented]], and after watching Daryl Hannah swim in the pool with the tail on, he was so amazed by her ability to hold her breath longer and swim faster than the stunt doubles that ''he decided to let Daryl Hannah do her own swimming in the film.''

** The original ending [[spoiler: didn't have Allen jumping in the water to be with Madison]]. In the DVDCommentary, Creator/RonHoward said the ending was changed at the suggestion of his wife, Brian Grazer's wife, and the wives of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (in fact, Babaloo's wife went as far as saying to Babaloo, "If he doesn't go, you go!")[[note]] Even the June 1984 issue of the British sci-fi magazine ''Starburst'' corroborated this, by having Ron Howard state [[https://archive.org/details/Starburst_Magazine_071_1984-06_Marvel-UK/page/n17/mode/1up ”At one point we didn’t really go for a happy ending, more for a bittersweet one. Actually all of our wives protested about that so much that we listened to them - and I’m so glad we did!”.]] [[/note]]

** The original ending [[spoiler: didn't have Allen jumping in the water to be with Madison]]. In the DVDCommentary, Creator/RonHoward said the ending was changed at the suggestion of his wife, Brian Grazer's wife, and the wives of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (in fact, Babaloo's wife went as far as saying to Babaloo, "If he doesn't go, you go!").

* BabyNameTrendStarter: "Madison" as a first name was virtually unheard-of (and was a guys' name when it made a rare appearance) when this movie came out. That was the joke. Thanks to ''Splash'', it has been in the [[https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ top ten girls' names for almost two decades]]. It spent two years in second place, before receding to ninth place in 2012, 2013, and 2014. It finally inched out of the top ten in 2015, making 11th.

** Creator/RosannaArquette, Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/JodieFoster[[note]]She turned it down in favor of ''The Hotel New Hampshire'', which ironically came out the same day as ''Splash''[[/note]], Creator/MarielHemingway, Creator/DianeLane, Creator/TatumONeal, Creator/MichellePfeiffer, Creator/TanyaRoberts, Creator/AllySheedy, Creator/BrookeShields[[note]]She turned it down in order to study French Literature at Princeton[[/note]], Creator/SharonStone, Creator/KathleenTurner and Creator/DebraWinger were all candidates for Madison.

** Stan Dragoti was originally attached to direct. According to Bruce Jay Friedman’s above-mentioned memoir, Bruce wanted Stan Dragoti to direct the film because he had attended a screening of Dragoti’s vampire comedy ''Film/LoveAtFirstBite'', and wanted ''Splash'' to be in the [[SpiritualAdaptation “spirit” of that film]]. Friedman lobbied hard to have Dragoti direct ''Splash'', and for a while it worked. Unfortunately though, like Bruce, Stan was eventually fired from the project. Dragoti would go on to direct ''Film/MrMom'', a film that, ironically enough, Creator/RonHoward turned down in order to direct ''Splash''.