Disney+ slammed for shoddy censoring of butt in 'Splash' movie, fans compare it to the 'Butthole Cut' debacle
Censorship can be an awkward thing, especially when censoring things that weren't explicitly violent or sexual in the first place. Disney+'s release of the 1984 'Splash' on its streaming service censored a few of its scenes for containing nudity, and they did it in the most awkward way possible. It's a move that's reminiscent of the 'Cats' infamous 'Butthole Cut' debacle online, and proves once again that Hollywood does not know what to do with butts in films.
While being a family movie, when 'Splash' came out in 1984 it was rated PG for including male and female nudity. It wasn't rated any higher because none of its nudity was sexual and all of it was plot-essential. There were no shots featuring the groin area. It's the plot-essential nudity that proved to be problematic when Disney+ released the movie onto its family-friendly site and certain scenes just could not be removed.
Disney+'s solution was to instead modify the scenes with CGI, extending Madison's (Daryl Hannah) hair so it was long enough to cover her rear in two scenes, one where she is walking nude towards the Statue of Liberty, and another where she runs into the ocean after giving her love interest Allen Bauer (Tom Hanks) a goodbye kiss. However, what on paper could have been an elegant solution turned out to be a lot more awkward in practice, though you can judge for yourself just how well it worked.
Disney+ didn't want butts on their platform so they edited Splash with digital fur technology pic.twitter.com/df8XE0G9om
— Allison Pregler 📼 (@AllisonPregler) April 13, 2020
This is similar to the use of 'digital fur techonology' that was used to cover up the buttholes of cats in 'Cats,' which led to the internet demanding a release of what they called the 'Butthole Cut.' This time, however, fans are criticizing Disney+ for being too strict with its censorship, as they censored a relatively innocent shot that was not used in a sexual connotation at all.
Fans have criticized the move. One fan writes "@Disney, did you really have to use bad CG fur to edit Daryl Hannah's butt out of Splash?! You guys need to pull that 1950's stick out of your ass and enter the 21st century. Kids see stuff these days thanks to the web. I doubt they'll be corrupted by 1980's beach butt." Another writes, "Disney+’s identity crisis is one of the most baffling things to watch develop. If they want to be a family platform, just be a family platform and move Star Wars, Marvel, and Touchstone movies over to Hulu."
Disney+ has also received flak from altering a scene from the animated movie 'Lilo & Stitch,' where the dishwasher that Lilo hides in is changed to a cupboard instead - Disney+'s way of ensuring that they are not sued for accidents involving children climbing into and getting stuck in dishwashers.
The censorship has had the opposite effect on the channel, as more people are taking a closer look at the butts in both 'Cats' and 'Splash' than ever, keeping an eye out for the low-quality "digital fur technology." It's a clear case of backfiring censorship, and it probably won't be the last.
