No ifs, no butts: how the film industry is digitally revising its history
Disney has hit a bum note by altering 80s comedy Splash. What other past movies have been sanitised without our knowledge?
Hot on the heels of Cats’ digital dalliance with CGI nether regions comes another bum-related movie controversy: viewers have noticed some unsubtle changes to the mermaid romcom Splash as it appears on Disney+. There is a shot of Daryl Hannah diving into the sea, having just kissed a dumbstruck Tom Hanks. In the 1984 original, Hannah’s blond hair just about covers her naked bottom; in the new version, that hair has been digitally extended to cover her entire buttock area – and badly at that. It looks as if she is wearing a hairy skirt. A forgotten 80s comedy may not be the hill most cinephiles would choose to die on, but we should still be concerned. What else is being altered without our knowledge?
Retrospective tweaking to movies has been going on for decades but in the digital age it has become easier than ever to cover your tracks. Disney, especially, has been guilty of this, what with all the politically incorrect skeletons in its closet. You will not find the notorious Song of the South on Disney+ or the original, racist lyrics of Aladdin’s opening number. A sequence from the credits sequence of Toy Story 2 – where Stinky Pete propositions two Barbie dolls – has also been quietly removed. Elsewhere, Disney’s main concerns have been swearing, violence and particularly smoking; hence the digital removal of cigarettes from both old cartoons and even photographs of Walt Disney (who was a heavy smoker). First they came for the cigarette butts, then they came for Daryl Hannah’s.