Directed by: Ron Howard
Written by: Brian Grazer (story), Bruce Jay Friedman
Music by: Lee Holdridge

Filming Locations: Bahamas & New York, NY

Released on: March 9, 1984
Running Time: 111 minutes

Budget: $8 million
Box-Office: $62,1 million in the U.S., $ million worldwide
Rentals: $34,1  million in the U.S.

Allen Bauer... Tom Hanks
Madison... Daryl Hannah
Freddie Bauer... John Candy
Walter Kornbluth... Eugene Levy
Mrs. Stimler... Dody Goodman
Mr. Buyrite... Shecky Greene
Dr. Ross... Richard B. Shull
Jerry... Bobby Di Cicco
Dr. Zidell... Howard Morris
 

  Alan Bauer nearly drowned as a child but has memories of being saved by a young mermaid. When he is jilted as an adult and loses his wallet in the surf, the young mermaid tries to return it. They are soulmates who have been meant for each other, but Madison fears how he will react when he finds out she is not human.

  Ron Howard:
"It was a Brian Grazer idea, one that he'd been working on for a while."

  This was the first motion picture from Tom Hanks: "He was NOT my first choice! Tom came in and auditionned, and he could do it beautifully -he could take that sort of sitcom style and rythm, and make it seem honest, he could get the comedy but not sell the honesty and the integrity of the moment down the river."

  "This was Tom's first film, I could sense he was a bit nervous, he was coming off a sitcom comedy where he had to be funny every minute that could be. Part of his job here was to hold down the center of this film, and I had this concern that he was gonna go over the top.  Very often, when he would invent something, I'd say "Okay, that's great! Now let's just try it the way it's scripted". And we would do that too, we would film both. As I got into the editing, I looked at his way, as I promised I would, thinking that I would go with the simpler scripted version. I found myself so often going to his choice!"

  This was also John Candy's first large role: "I acted in a TV movie called Migrants, with a great cast headed by Cloris Leachman and directed by Tom Grice. He didn't tell the actors anything, he didn't guide us at all through the first rehearsals. Then he would begin shape the scene. And that was such an important lesson, because I learnt then that there was a real tendency for me as an actor to hear everybody's performance, and try to make puppets of people. That was a horrible waste of what they had to bring to their roles. So by the time that I was doing Splash, I had the good sense to know to turn somebody like John Candy lose. I tried to create an environment where an individual style could be serviced."

  This was the breakthrough part for Darryl Hannal: "She was great.  We were through a very careful negotiation [about the nudity]. She understood that it was important for the movie. She was very very specific about it and we did negotiate.

  "The mermaid tail was hell on earth for [Darryl Hannah] and almost impossible to take off. We'd be on lunch break, and she'd be sunning herself here, with her tail and Ray-bans, and a box of cookies, and that was her lunch break!"

  Splash was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and a Golden Globe for Best Picture.

  When Allen falls into the water after being hit by Fat Jack's boat, his wallet falls out of his pocket and rests on a coral reef. There are no coral reefs off Cape Cod -- the water is too cold.

  Ron Howard first met Tom Hanks at a baseball game. He then noticed his acting when Tom had a guest shot in Happy Days, and was quickly convinced he would be perfect for Splash after one audition, when he was much more confident that other actors considered for the part.

  Ron Howard wanted to shoot a different, much more powerful closing scene, where Allen and Madison would swim to an underwater city inhabited by dozens of merpeople.  But the budgeting was way too high to convince producers, who refused to approve its financing -and that scene was never shot, much to Ron's dismay.

  A sequel entitled Splash, Too, premiered on ABC on May 1st, 1988.  I personally thought it was terrible, and could understand why Dody Godman (Mrs. Stimler) was the only returning cast member from the original film.  It followed the adventures of Allen (Todd Waring, NYPD Blue) and Madison (Amy Yasbeck, Pretty Woman) as they try to save a dolphin and live in suburbia.  About as exciting as it sounds!

  Darryl Hannah misses a small finger and has to wear a prothesis.
Her childhood interest in movies grew out of a lifelong battle with insomnia.
Is missing part of her left hand index finger. She sometimes uses a prosthetic finger in movies.
As a child Daryl was so shy that at one point she was diagnosed as borderline autistic. Even today she says she likes to just sit in a corner & observe people.