No Butts Allowed: Disney Confirms Splash Censorship

Update: Apparently, more than the one "furry butt" scene was edited in Splash. Disney told Verge reporter Julia Alexander that a few scenes had been edited. Alexander raises a good point though. Why didn't this movie just go to Hulu instead, which Disney is a majority stakeholder of?

Original story below...

Disney Plus is playing for keeps in the streaming wars, with a massive catalog of both classics and original content, as well as a handful of new releases recently expedited to digital thanks to the global COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. There's plenty to watch on the platform--as long as you don't mind some uh, interesting censorship.

Allison Pregler recently uncovered one such instance on Twitter in Disney's 1984 classic Splash, starring Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks. Hannah, who plays a mermaid-turned-human named Madison, has one brief scene where her (currently human) butt is briefly exposed as she runs back toward the ocean. This, apparently, was far too scandalous for Disney Plus, so they opted to do the only thing they could do: utilize some absolutely bizarre looking CGI hair to hide poor Madison's rear-end.

Take a look.

Nevermind the fact that Disney's entire catalog is packed to the proverbial gills (pun intended) with all manner of violence--from run-of-the-mill guns you can find in family favorites like E.T. to the world-ending sci-fi catastrophes you can find in virtually any MCU film. Apparently a split second glimpse of a very PG-rated butt is just a bridge too far.

Who knows, maybe digitally generated hair will become Disney's go-to censor for anything from now on. It's nothing if not creative, we'll give them that.

The good news is: Splash is still very much worth watching, censored or otherwise. And if mermaid love stories aren't exactly your speed, check out our recommendations for the best streaming slasher movies, the best streaming cosmic horror movies, and the best streaming comedy shows to make your time in lockdown a little more bearable.

And speaking of things you should be watching, consider listening to GameSpot's weekly TV series and movies-focused podcast, You Should Be Watching. With new episodes premiering every Wednesday, you can watch a video version of the podcast over on GameSpot Universe or listen to audio versions on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and Apple Podcasts.