Splash tail vs. Splash Too!

[merboy78xy]

So, I'm watching splash again... been awhile since I've watched it.
I thought to bring up this topic:
Having seen both Splash and Disney's made for TV Splash Too!, has anyone noticed that the tails behave very differently?
Does anyone know much about the "why" of it? I seem to remember someone told me (I'm sure it was someone on here) that the original tail was copywritten (is that a word?) by Disney and so not even Thom Shouse was allowed to reproduce it. But then it would make no sense why Disney wouldn't want to use the right to their own tail design for the second movie! Why re-invent the wheel?
The second film made the tail look very stiff, very heavy and somewhat unweildy. This could be partly because of the difference of actress; maybe Amy Yazbeck wasn't as proficient a swimmer? Didn't have the same "feel" for it?
But even the fluke in the first film moves so fluidly and gracefully... it just looks thinner and more membrane-like to me.
Anyone else? Any thoughts?396539663967

[Merman Ray]

What I read is that they originally wanted to use the same tail that Daryl Hanna used but the new actress could not fit properly into it so they had to build one just for her.

[blenny]

The original splash movie was just so very well done. Still holds up to this day as a good film. Splash Too was just a disney TV movie of the week, was so poorly made with 3rd rate C actors. Amy Yasbeck didn't have the same charisma and charm of Daryl Hannah. Plus Splash had Tom Hanks, John Candy and even Ron howard directing. There was just so much more money thrown at Splash to make it better. Buttttt.... what made splash too so cool at the time was the sticky transformation scenes. I really enjoyed that part of splash too. Plus at that time, with no youtube, mer-fanatics were hard pressed for any mermaid movies. :)

[merboy78xy]

well I certainly agree with that! Lord knows when that movie came out I just about lost my head! I was SO EXCITED for a sequel to my favorite mermaid movie! But my whole thing is: even if Amy couldn't fit in the original tail (which I understand easily happening), I'm certain that Thom Shouse was in charge of the second movie's tail... so why did he make it so different? Was it budget? Did it just cost so much more the original way? I mean, it's disney... they have more money than GOD! hehehe
Did Thom try to "improve" on his original design and that made it less user-friendly?

[Toxotes]

I think, Splash had a lot higher budget than Splash Too. The first tail was a body prosthetic, which means Daryl Hannah was somehow "glued" into that tail for a whole filming day. (As it is mentioned in the making-of)
For the lower-budget Splash Too they maybe needed a cheaper solution with a tail that was easier to put on and off. You can see the tail leaving a gap on the back at the beginning of Splash Too. That lead me to that conclusion.

[merboy78xy]

yeah, that's kinda what I was thinkin.
I think that if I make my own, I want that beautiful fluid movement of a thinner "fin" on the fluke as opposed to the hard board-like fluke on Amy Yasbeck's tail.

[Nate Walis]

I always felt sorry for Amy Yasbeck in that role, following on from Daryl Hannah and in a cheaper tail with less talent and money spent on the film.

But perhaps the most striking thing for me was hair.

I have no idea if she wore a wig or had her own hair bleached and straightened, but what a shame when you see the way she looks naturally.

If they hadn't been so keen to cash in on the bigger budget Splash, then I'm sure there was the potential to come up with a smaller-scale movie with a unique that would have been judged on its own virtues.

Amy Yasbeck was simply wasted trying to reprise the role and would have been so much better as an original character not forced to resemble Daryl Hannah.

[merboy78xy]

I agree whole heartedly. I also get very frustrated when a movie is popular, and then they release a sequel to cash in on it-- but dumb it down and suddenly try to attract "kids"... splash was very adult. It dealt with a lot of things I didn't understand when I was a kid, but I loved it anyway. Now they release a sequel that tries to be sillier, funnier, and more "slapstick" to try and make SURE kids like it... and then it's like: "eh. it was ok. "
I felt the same about Star Wars... first three movies were great. Very adult. But kids loved it. Then they release the NEW movies and are trying to clearly pander to kids and sell toys. Everyone left the theatres going: "eh. it was ok."
I honestly even felt that way about The Lion King broadway musical. I felt that the original movie was a lot stronger and more Adult. Yes, the costuming was beautiful. Yes, it was well produced and executed... but they seemed to try to make it a little more "yuck yuck yuck" for the "kiddies" and I feel like it cheapened the story a little and lost some of the heart. I didn't need Zazu to come out and do slapstick, telling fart jokes. Just tell the story. Kids will understand it. They will like it if it has truth and beauty to it. You dont' have to talk down to kids. They are people.
(How's THAT for a little soapbox!! hehehehe)

[Merman_Shawn]

Suffice to say, I think it was the materials at the time. There were numerous reports about them storing a tail away for the night, and finding it melted the next morning. What you are seeing is the progression of sfx technology.
The most recent picture I could find of the original Splash tail
4278
And I believe this is the Splash Too tail presently.
4279
As you can see, they found ways to produce a new tail with durability and longevity in the most cost efficient way.

[merboy78xy]

Hey Shawn...
so your splash tail pic find made me google splash tail pics, and I think I found the website that the pic came from... but in reading the little blog/page, i read all kinds of things that I'd never heard in all the reading about splash that I've done.
A) was this the site?

http://themoviesplash.blogspot.com/2010/01/making-tail-behold-mermaid.html

And B) Is there any validity to the info this blogger provides? For instance... was a man named Robert Short actually involved? I always thought Thom Shouse was the head tail designer, etc. What about the scene about madison's transition from legs to fins? DId they do a bigger cut scene of her changing (as opposed to the one that's still in the movie)? I know they cut a whole scene with a "sea hag" out of the beginning...
Anyone know anything about this?

[Merman_Shawn]

Yes that was the site, and yes I too was confused when I read the bit about Robert Short. However if you go IMDB it does say that Robert was in charge of the mermaid tail. Now this really bothers me because I too thought Thom Shouse the proclaimed "Tail Man" designed and constructed the tail, but you won't find any credit given to him on any movie site such as IMDB. In fact the only credit I could find for him was on the wikipedia page for Splash Too(and of course his own website).

[merboy78xy]

huh! I wish others would read this thread and give their imput. I'm curious now!
What's going on!?! Who made it? Was it a joint effort?
curiouser and curiouser.
Someone speak up and clue me in if you know something!

[merboy78xy]

ok... so I went to his website and discovered this page:

http://www.robertshort.com/splashcinemag.html

it has an article from Cinemag that explains (in one sentence) that Shouse was Short's project foreman. Apparently Short was the project supervisor and designer, but actually many people had imput to the design. There was a lack of clarity on the design and everyone from costumers and effects people were putting their 2 cents in. But Ron Howard was the one that gave madison the clearest deciding factor: he wanted her to be like a tropical fish, or a gold fish and her tail was to be orange. So I'd say that Howard might have the biggest design factor in what we recognize as Madison's tail.
Read the article... it has interesting info on the materials used, the trials and tribulations of it all!

[Spindrift]

Thanks for the link! It was definitely an interesting and insightful read.

[Merman_Shawn]

Yes that was all very interesting. :)

[MermanJesse]

Splash, Too was a pilot that did not go to series.

The opening sequence and "ocean" shots were of a stunt woman swimming in the Living Seas At Epcot. The swimmer was a woman named Arlene Klein. Her husband was one of the underwater camera men.
4351 Arlene swimming.

4352Thom and Arlene.

4353 Arlene and some of the underwater crew.

The tail was intended to be used multiple times. I was told that there is a zipper that is hidden between the dorsal fin on Arlene's and Amy's tails.

At 30 minutes into the movie, they drive up to the aquarium and it says "Long Island Living Seas". All that was shot at Living Seas at EPCOT.

The transformation scene in the restaurant use done in the same way as the bath tub scene.

My info comes from a VERY reliable source ;)

Whole movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVdJbOriOYI&feature=youtu.be

[merboy78xy]

Wow Jesse! Thanks for the cool info AND PICS! I never knew that it was a pilot! That makes WORLDS more sense... the writing style was therefor designed for sitcom-esque programs. MAKES SENSE! AND it also makes sense that they would design a tail that would hold up/be more sturdy to survive a long run, as opposed to just making something that looks "spot on" for only a limited number of shots.
Who is your reputable source!? Is it Shouse? Now my curiosity is piqued!

[Jinx]

so glad this thread exists. i've been looking for a way to see Splash Too! for years and i couldnt find it.

[merboy78xy]

YAY! glad you could find it here! As a kid, I was so jealous of the actor playing Alan, cause he got to be around Madison and her tail! hahaha... Now I want to WEAR Madison's tail! hehehe... I wish that there were more pics out there about Splash than the relatively few that exist (such as the famous beach pic). Apparently they didn't even plan on THAT picture shoot... they were gonna have a different tail made for a full photo call, but they never got to it-- and these were some that were taken by a press photog on a random day when they were shooting scenes!

[Mermaid Wesley]

^^that. I'm friends with Thom and he's shared many a story about how at that point since no one had done this before Splash, there was a lot of learning. For example, silicone wasn't an option at the time because it wasn't available in easy 2-part kits, it had many components that had to be measured by weight and mixed together by hand! The first movie had a huge budget and a large team including Robert Short and Thom Shouse. Splash too was low budget and Thom was basically the whole team. The molds are still good though. They look like new :)


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[bluegill]

Wish there was a dvd or Blu-ray with both movies on it. Would buy it?

[Mermaid Wesley]

I would!


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[DexRicon]

If they released it on blu-ray, I would literally buy one for every player in my home just in case one got damaged.

[Keiris]

Keep an eye out for the remake of Splash with Channing Tatum in The Daryl Hannah role and his female co-star from 21-Jump Street in the Tom Hanks role!