[Pat]

I didn't realize how many "tie-ins" Happy Days had with the movie "Splash" until FonzFan revealed them from answering a trivia question. Tonight, I purchased The 20th Anniversary Edition of Splash. I had to laugh because the ending credits noted Clint Howard (Ron's brother) as a wedding guest. Clint had two words in the movie: "Hey Allen." Rance Howard (Ron's father) was not listed in the movie, yet he played Mr. McCulla, a customer to complained about not getting his cherries from Allen. Rance had about 20 lines. How funny.
I love this movie!
Tom Hanks was down and out. Bossum Buddies had been canceled and he had made his appearance on Happy Days long after Ron had left. He did not have a big name in the film industry and many big name actors turned the part down of Splash's Allen Bauer. Tom was so worried about not screwing this movie up because he knew that this movie could be the spring board of launching his career. It was the movie that put him on the map.
Ron Howard was working on Night Shift when Brian Grazer (Ron's partner in movie making) started talking to Ron about the possibilities of making Splash. Many film companies showed little or no interest until Disney accepted it. This was the very first PG movie that Disney took a chance on. All of their previous movies were G. Not only did it make history with Tom Hanks and Disney, but as a result, it was the birth of Touchstone Pictures.