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This lighthearted 1984 film is a love story about a lissome mermaid named Madison who visits New York City. It stars a blonde actress who has also played a killer replicate, and a cave girl.

Splash. 'Splash', directed by Ron Howard, was Tom Hank's first big hit. Of course, Daryl Hannah played his scaly sweetie. (All the other films exist.)

Back in 1948, this furry-voiced British actress starred as Miranda Trewella, a mermaid who appears human until wet (when her tail reappears) in a film titled 'Miranda'.

Glynis Johns. Contemporary audiences know the lovely Ms. Johns as the mother in 'Mary Poppins'.

The popular Disney animated feature 'The Little Mermaid' (1989) won Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Before that, what was the last Disney film to win an Academy Award?

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). 'The Little Mermaid' was a turnaround film for Disney, which had been in a bit of a slump through the '80s.

The 1994 film 'The Secret of Roan Inish' introduced movie audiences to a different kind of mermaid, a "selkie", who is a beautiful woman transformed from what type of water-loving creature?

A seal. She cannot return to the sea or her original shape as long as her cast-off skin is locked away from her.

Everything seems real enough in this 1983 film about a U.S. oil company that wants to build a refinery on the site of a remote Scottish coastal village... until we realize that the character called Marina has webbed fingers and seems much more at home in the sea than on shore - the director's subtle hint that she's a mermaid. What's the name of this charming environmental fantasy?

Local Hero. 'Local Hero' is written and directed by Bill Forsyth, who also created 'Comfort and Joy' and 'Gregory's Girl'. (All the other films exist.)

There's a long "Little Mermaid Ballet" in the 1952 musical film 'Hans Christian Anderson', because he's the author of the original tail (sorry, tale!). Who starred as the singing and dancing Danish fairytale author?

Danny Kaye. Many of the film's songs are now well known standards, including "Inchworm", "Thumbelina" and "Wonderful Copenhagen".

There have been numerous screen versions of J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan', including the 2003 version starring Jeremy Sumpter, the 1953 Disney animation and the 1960 TV adaptation of the Broadway show starring Mary Martin. What key role do the mermaids play in most tellings of the 'Peter Pan' story?

They save Peter from death by drowning.. Peter was also played on TV by Cathy Rigby (2000) and Mia Farrow (1976), and on film by Robin Williams in 'Hook'.

In the Coen brothers' 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?', Everett, Pete and Delmar are tempted by Sirens: strange and sinister women who originally called sailors to their deaths in the ancient epic upon which the film is loosely based. Which ancient epic would that be?

Homer's "Odyssey". In the movie, Mia Tate, Musetta Vander and Christy Taylor played these seductive, slippery songstresses.

Although the 2004 sword-and-sandal epic 'Troy' plays down the role of gods and goddesses, it alludes to the classical myth that Achilles' mother, Thetis, made him invincible by dipping him in water (except for his heel). Thetis was an immortal sea nymph; which sea god was her father in Greek mythology?

Nereus. The film alludes to her traditional nature by showing Julie Christie fully clothed but knee-deep in water in her first appearance.

When Isabella Oliveira displeases the Brazilian sea goddess Yemanja, the fish stop biting, she loses her love, and she even loses her supernatural cooking ability. Not until she carries out a sacrifice to the goddess, depicted as a mermaid, can she regain these blessings. Who plays Isabella in this sleeper of 2000?

Penélope Cruz. The film is 'Woman On Top'. The sea goddess Yemanja really is worshiped under various names in West Africa and the Caribbean. A mermaid is one of her most gentle manifestations.