Decades after struggling to produce Splash (1984), Ron Howard is opening up about the notes that nearly killed his movie. It was led by a young Tom Hanks (Allen Bauer) in his second theatrical role, alongside Daryl Hannah (Madison), Eugene Levy (Dr. Walter Kornbluth), and other stars. Howard served as the director, while Brian Grazer was a writer and producer.

Mixing comedy with a romance, the movie featured a man falling in love with a mermaid years before Disney’s The Little Mermaid entered theaters. Splash proved to be a box office hit, earning nearly $70 million against an $11 million budget. Unfortunately, it nearly failed to enter theaters at all.

In an interview with Vulture, Howard explained that there was a major presence in Hollywood that was holding Splash back. Director Herbert Ross was hoping to produce Mermaid, and studios were hesitant to greenlight another mermaid-focused movie. Only Disney managed to save the production, despite being “a real B-studio at the time“. Check out Howard’s quote below:

There was a note that nearly prevented us from getting Splash made. There was this movie that Herb Ross was going to direct called Mermaid with Jessica Lange in the prime of her career as the mermaid and Warren Beatty as the human, the above-grounder. And the tremendous Ray Stark was the producer, and he was trying to kill our movie. In fact, this was a galvanizing moment in my relationship with Brian Grazer that ultimately would lead us to launch a company. We were taking the movie around everywhere, and they were all turning it down and they kept saying, “It doesn’t know what tone it is. It’s fantasy, it’s verbal comedy, it’s physical comedy.” And I kept thinking, What the hell is wrong with that? That’s a blend that works. It’s Frank Capra. Are you kidding me? I think they were all just looking for an excuse to pᴀss because no one wanted to compete. Disney was on its ᴀss at that point. They’d been making movies like Gus, about a field-goal-kicking mule. They were willing to take on the challenge, and Stark tried to bully Brian. He said, “I’m going to ruin you,” literally. And then he said, “Tell you what — I’ll let you be in my movie. You can co-produce it with me. Drop yours.” Brian, without a lot of money in his bank account, had the courage and forтιтude to stay with it, even though Disney was a real B-studio at the time.

What This Meant For Splash

Disney had the opportunity to make a splash with its mermaid romance, and it certainly did. Despite a note that it had a mixed tone, the movie went on to impress audiences, and it helped to ignite Disney’s later success. When accounting for inflation, it earned a surprising $222 million at the box office.

Without Splash, Tom Hanks and Disney could easily have struggled to gain momentum. Splash was Hanks’ first major role and proved that he was capable of serving as a leading man in beloved movies. Though its reputation has slipped in recent years, due to lack of audience recognition, it remains critically renowned.

If producer Ray Stark had his way, Splash never would have been produced at all. Instead, Disney completely saved Splash, and Ross’ Mermaid was subsequently unable to enter theaters or complete production. It was an unequivocal win for Howard, Hanks, and Grazer, despite facing constant struggles in pre-production.

Our Take On Disney Saving Splash

There is no way to know what Ross’ Mermaid would have been, but Splash was certainly a success. It was a risk for Disney, which was struggling to shed the perspective that it existed solely to produce family-oriented movies. Disney was forced to create Touchstone Pictures, a new studio aiming to produce mature movies, and Splash was its first release.

The movie proved that Touchstone was capable of success, and it also served as evidence that Disney could branch beyond expectations. If Splash was never produced, Disney might never have made other Touchstone productions like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) or ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Poets Society (1989).

Howard owes Splash‘s success to Disney’s willingness to take on the production, despite major push-back in Hollywood. At the same time, however, Disney owes Touchstone’s success to Howard, Grazer, and everyone else who was courageous enough to stand up to Hollywood’s biggest names.