The launch of Disney+ brought a host of complaints from audiences who found many older movies being cut or censored to remove or blur some very minor moments of nudity. Along with the pixelation of cleavage in Wizards of Waverly Place and censoring of The Simpsons, one particular movie moment that gained a lot of social media attention was the addition of CGI hair extensions to cover the bare backside of Daryl Hannah in the comedy movie Splash. Now it seems two years on, Disney has reverted the film back to its original version for a new 4K upgrade of the movie.
Disney+ arrived as a completely family-friendly platform, and while international versions of the platform very quickly introduced parental controls and more mature content from the likes of Hulu, the U.S. site has remained family-orientated until this year, when the introduction of Netflix’s Marvel content brought with it a shift in the ultimate focus of Disney+. With parental controls now in place, it looks like some of the cuts and censoring changes made to legacy movies and shows are starting to be reversed.
When it comes to Splash, the scene in question was pretty much a non-event, with Hannah’s bare bottom being visible for a few seconds after her character transformed from a mermaid into a human who then is obviously without clothing. The addition of awkward CGI hair to cover this up in the version initially added to Disney+ caused some people to go hunting for other similar moments of entirely innocent nudity that may have been restricted. At the time, this led to many YouTube videos and website articles that compiled lists of every edit made to Disney+ content.
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The biggest change to Disney+ has come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While there are many movies and TV shows under Disney’s control since their merger with Fox, many of those are found on Hulu in the U.S. However, to put all of their Marvel eggs in one basket, things had to change and parental controls needed to be introduced to allow the likes of The Punisher, Daredevil and Deadpool to be added to the platform. This brought a wave of complaints from the PTC which accused Disney to breaking a long-standing trust to be a safe place for children. Their statement said:
"Three years ago, the Walt Disney Company made a promise to families: No R-rated movies on Disney+, they said. It’s a family-focused platform, they said. We have Hulu for our edgier adult fare, they said. It turns out they were lying to us. After decades of corporate brilliance establishing itself as the world’s most trusted brand for families, today’s C-level suite at Disney has decided to flush it all down the toilet."
No doubt due to the reintroduction of scenes of nudity and potentially other previously cut content, it will not be long before Disney is contending with another round of criticism from those against the platform continuing to grow its amount of more mature content. Whether this bothers Disney to any noticeable degree is unlikely, considering Bob Chapek’s recent announcement that they will be looking to expand their mature content on the platform in the near future as the brand continues to adapt and evolve.