The CGI hair has been brushed aside: Disney+ has restored that very brief 'Splash' nude scene

Though the company has branched out into any number of genres and demographics over the course of its long history, the name "Disney" is still most closely associated with family friendly entertainment. So when the Disney+ streaming service launched, there was a certain assumption that it would be populated almost entirely by things that kids could watch to their hearts' content. 

That, of course, was not the case, and it's become less and less true the more Disney+ has fleshed out its offerings, which include releases from the House of Mouse's adult-oriented feature film distributor Touchstone Pictures. This clash of what Disney's company holdings actually are with what many customers expect came to an unexpected, and rather bizarre, head with Splash, the 1984 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks as a lovesick man and Daryl Hannah as the mermaid who steals his heart. 

The saga began back in 2020, when viewers started to notice a peculiar bit of CGI tweaking in the film. Because it's a mermaid story, there are some scenes in Splash which feature Hannah in the nude, though all of her more R-rated parts are strategically covered by long blonde hair. Splash was rated PG when it was released, and would probably be more of a PG-13 film if it came out today, because what little nudity the film does feature is quite chaste and incidental. Still, fans noticed that, when Splash hit Disney+, one shot in which Hannah dives into the water and briefly exposes her bare backside was suddenly covered with a thick layer of computer-generated hair extensions. It was an odd move considering Splash's rating, and it seemed even odder when eagle-eyed viewers and journalists started to realize that other, similar moments weren't censored in the same way. 

Well, the strange saga is apparently over now. As CBR pointed out earlier this week, Splash was recently given a 4K upgrade on the streaming service, and the new version has restored the original version of the now-infamous butt shot, removing the strange CGI hair. So, why the change? It's likely because of Disney's recent changes to the parental controls on the streaming service, which arrived when Disney+ landed Marvel's crop of Netflix series with their TV-MA content. With that much adult-oriented programming (and things like Deadpool) landing on the service at the same time, some changes had to be made, and that meant a greater level of control for users in terms of restricting or unrestricting what each account could watch. So, if you've got your content settings on "TV-MA and below" (meaning you can watch everything), you'll see Splash in all its uncensored glory. 

Because if it's good enough for Deadpool, it's good enough for Daryl Hannah.