''Splash, Too'' is a 1988 American
made-for-television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the film ''
Splash
Splash or Splash! or The Splash may refer to:
Common meanings
* Splash (fluid mechanics), sudden disturbances on the surface of water
Entertainment
* ''Splash'' (film), a 1984 fantasy film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah
** ''Splash, Too'' ...
'' (1984) produced by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
. Directed by
Greg Antonacci
Gregory Gerald Antonacci (February 2, 1947 – September 20, 2017) was an American television actor, director, producer, and writer. He portrayed Johnny Torrio in '' Boardwalk Empire'' in every season, from 2010 to 2014, and as Phil Leotardo's r ...
and written by Bruce Franklin Singer. It stars
Todd Waring
Todd Waring (born April 28, 1955) is an American actor, best known for replacing Tom Hanks in the roles in both the television series version of ''Nothing in Common'', as well as ''Splash, Too''.
Early life
Waring was born in Ballston Spa, New Y ...
as Allen Bauer and
Amy Yasbeck
Amy Marie Yasbeck (born September 12, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chappel Davenport on the sitcom ''Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Acc ...
as Madison Bauer.
It was first broadcast in two parts on ''
The Disney Sunday Movie
The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The p ...
'' on May 1 and May 8, 1988, on the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television network.
Plot
Set four years after the events of the
first film, Allen Bauer (
Todd Waring
Todd Waring (born April 28, 1955) is an American actor, best known for replacing Tom Hanks in the roles in both the television series version of ''Nothing in Common'', as well as ''Splash, Too''.
Early life
Waring was born in Ballston Spa, New Y ...
) and his wife, Madison (
Amy Yasbeck
Amy Marie Yasbeck (born September 12, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chappel Davenport on the sitcom ''Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Acc ...
) a
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
, have been living on a deserted island hideaway. Allen is bored with life on the island and admits he misses
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and his older brother, Freddie. Madison has the magical ability to
view images in water and communicate by running her finger in a circular motion over it; she uses this method to show Allen how things are going on back in New York with Freddie (
Donovan Scott
Donovan Scott (born September 29, 1947) is an American character actor best known for his role as cadet Leslie Barbara in the 1984 film ''Police Academy (film), Police Academy'', in which he was part of an ensemble cast led by Steve Guttenberg.
...
).
The family business, Bauer Produce, is in trouble since Allen left. Madison agrees to return to New York so Allen can help his brother. They are welcomed back by Freddie, and Allen manages to attract a potential new customer for Bauer Produce, the wealthy Karl Hooten (
Noble Willingham
Noble Henry Willingham, Jr. (August 31, 1931 – January 17, 2004) was an American television and film actor who appeared in more than thirty films and in many television shows, including a stint opposite Chuck Norris in ''Walker, Texas Ranger ...
). Karl places importance on all-American family values, so Allen and Madison are to present themselves as a typical happily married couple. Freddie gives them a run-down suburban house for them to move into, which they manage to restore into presentable condition.
Madison agrees to be a
housewife
A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...
and adjust to life on land. She also has to keep her mermaid side a secret, especially from their new neighbor, Mrs. Needler (Doris Belack). When Allen's work takes up more of his time and he breaks some promises to her, his relationship with Madison is strained. Madison finds comfort with her new friend Fern Hooten (
Rita Taggart
Rita Jean Taggart (born December 19, 1949) is an American film and television actress. She is known for playing Carla Bouvier on ''Night Court''. Biography
Taggart was born in Salinas, California. She studied special education at San Francisco ...
), Karl's wife, who supports Madison's desires to find her own interests.
During a business event at an aquarium, Madison sees one of her
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
friends, Salty, in one of the tanks. Madison is upset by this, especially because Salty has a mate out in the wild. Karl is one of the benefactors of the aquarium, so Madison asks him to let Salty go. This causes more friction between Madison and Allen, as Bauer Produce still needs Karl's business and Allen does not want to get on Karl's bad side. Madison declares her unhappiness with how Allen is treating her and disregarding her feelings, and leaves off swimming into the ocean.
Allen realizes his mistake and regrets pushing Madison away. When Madison returns to the house, Allen apologizes and the pair reconcile. They sneak into the aquarium, where Dr. Otto Benus (Mark Blankfield) is doing research on Salty, and try to set him free. They are almost caught, but Fern Hooten comes to their aid and helps them get Salty on to a van and out to the ocean.
At the sea front, Salty is released into the ocean and returns to his mate. Madison and Allen talk about their future and agree to be honest. Allen agrees to return to the sea with Madison if that is what she wants, but he would prefer to stay on land. Madison agrees to stay on land with him, as she says "I like it here. I like to learn things.", as she has many things she would like to do, and the pair embraces. Seeing Salty back with his family makes Allen wonder how mermaids have babies. Madison tells him with a smile "You'll see. You'll see." as they embrace again with a kiss.
Cast
Background
With a production budget of $3.3 million, ''Splash, Too'' was the first film to be filmed at the then-new
Disney-MGM Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by ...
complex. Dozens of actresses were looked at to play the role of Madison, but none were right for the role until the producers found Amy Yasbeck, who did a screen test for director Greg Antonacci, was cast at the start of 1988. Yasbeck had to wear a blonde wig (over her red hair, which was cut to her shoulders to accommodate wearing the wig) when playing Madison. Yasbeck went through a crash course in scuba diving as well as extensive physical training to prepare to play Madison in the underwater swimming shoots with her mermaid tail costume. Yasbeck was originally going to wear the mermaid tail costume worn and used by
Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her screen debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film '' The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various movies across the years, i ...
from the original ''Splash'' (1984) film, but she could not fit into it. (Daryl Hannah's ''Splash'' mermaid tail was designed and constructed by Academy Award-winning visual effects artist Robert Short. Thom Shouse was the project foreman on Short's mermaid crew.) After undergoing a bodycast, new form-fitted mermaid tails were made for both her and her stunt double Arlene Klein, by Shouse, best known as the Tail Man. The tails made for ''Splash, Too'' were easier to put on than the one made for Hannah since they had been made with a zipper. Nevertheless, it took three people to zip up the tail on Yasbeck, and then lift her into the water. Yasbeck received instructions when swimming to only use the tail, and never to use her arms, keeping them at her sides. Yasbeck would spend an hour at a time underwater, frequently taking breaths from the oxygen tanks of nearby divers. The tail was heavy for the actress to wear.
Starlog
''Starlog'' was a monthly science fiction magazine that was created in 1976 and focused primarily on '' Star Trek'' at its inception. Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs were its creators and it was published by Starlog Group, Inc. in August 1976. ...
Number 130, May 1988, pages 26-28 "This Year's Mermaid" by Robert Greenberger
The film was almost entirely recast from the 1984 original, with
Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the s ...
(Mrs. Stimler) as the only returning cast member from the first film.
Home video release
''Splash, Too'' was released on home video (
VHS tape) in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia by Walt Disney Home Video. Both the UK release and Australian release have been out of print for many years, but sometimes show up on auction sites. There has been no official home entertainment release of any form (VHS,
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
or
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
) in North America (
region 1,
NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
format) from
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
.
References
External links
*
*
*
*{{youTube, KP2vV8cck0I, ''Splash, Too'' Trailer
1988 television films
1988 films
1980s fantasy comedy films
1988 romantic comedy films
1980s romantic fantasy films
American fantasy comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic fantasy films
American television films
Disney Channel original films
Films about mermaids
Films scored by Joel McNeely
Mermaids in television
Television sequel films
1980s English-language films
1980s American films
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