Merbabies

1938 American film

December 9, 1938 (1938-12-09)

Running time

8:34CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Merbabies is a Silly Symphonies animated Disney short film. It was released on December 9, 1938.^[2] It is a collaboration between Walt Disney and Harman and Ising, the latter studio having donated artists to Disney to work on the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). It is one of the last shorts of the Silly Symphonies series.

Plot

A large number of identical redheaded "merbabies" materialize out of the crashing surf and are summoned to a playground on the ocean floor for an underwater circus in which marine creatures such as seahorses and starfish also take part, beginning with a parade. When a whale blows all the merbabies to the surface inside bubbles, they disappear into the waves from which they came.^[3]

Notes

This is the only Disney short to be outsourced to the Harman-Ising Studio.

Home media

The short was released on the DVD of The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea and again on December 19, 2006, on Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two.^[2] It was released to Disney+ on September 8, 2023, with a 4K restoration.^[4]

References

^ Scott, Keith (3 October 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media. p. 531.
^ ^a ^b Merritt, Russell; Kaufman, J. B. (2016). Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (2nd ed.). Glendale, CA: Disney Editions. pp. 200–203. ISBN 978-1-4847-5132-9.
^ "Merbabies". www.bcdb.com, July 1, 2014
^ The D23 Team (June 19, 2023). "Disney+ to Debut 28 Restored Classic Walt Disney Animation Studios Shorts". D23. Retrieved June 19, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

Merbabies at IMDb

Harman and Ising

Hugh Harman
Rudolf Ising

Aladdin's Vamp (1926)
Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid (1929)
Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930)
Congo Jazz (1930)
Hold Anything (1930)
The Booze Hangs High (1930)
Box Car Blues (1930)
Big Man from the North (1931)
Ain't Nature Grand! (1931)
Ups 'n Downs (1931)
Dumb Patrol (1931)
Yodeling Yokels (1931)
Bosko's Holiday (1931)
The Tree's Knees (1931)
Cubby's World Flight (1933)
The Gay Gaucho (1933)
Good Wrinkles (1951)
The Adventures of Sir Gee Whiz on the Other Side of the Moon (1960)

Harman only

High Up (1928)
Panicky Pancakes (1928)
Rocks and Socks (1928)
South Pole Flight (1928)
Sick Cylinders (1929)
The Suicide Sheik (1929)
Nuts and Jolts (1929)
Bosko Shipwrecked (1931)
Bosko the Doughboy (1931)
Bosko's Soda Fountain (1931)
Bosko's Fox Hunt (1931)
Bosko at the Zoo (1932)
Battling Bosko (1932)
Big-Hearted Bosko (1932)
Bosko's Party (1932)
Bosko and Bruno (1932)
Bosko's Dog Race (1932)
Bosko at the Beach (1932)
Bosko's Store (1932)
Bosko the Lumberjack (1932)
Ride Him, Bosko! (1932)
Bosko the Drawback (1932)
Bosko's Dizzy Date (1932)
Bosko's Woodland Daze (1932)
Bosko in Dutch (1933)
Bosko in Person (1933)
Bosko the Speed King (1933)
Bosko's Knight-Mare (1933)
Bosko the Sheep-Herder (1933)
Beau Bosko (1933)
Bosko's Mechanical Man (1933)
Bosko the Musketeer (1933)
Bosko's Picture Show (1933)
Tales of the Vienna Woods (1934)
Bosko's Parlor Pranks (1934)
Hey-Hey Fever (1935)
The Lost Chick (1935)
Good Little Monkeys (1935)
Poor Little Me (1935)
Run, Sheep, Run! (1935)
Bottles (1936)
The Old Mill Pond (1936)
The Old House (1936)
Circus Daze (1937)
Swing Wedding (1937)
Bosko's Easter Eggs (1937)
Little Ol' Bosko and the Pirates (1937)
Little Ol' Bosko and the Cannibals (1937)
Little Ol' Bosko in Bagdad (1938)
Pipe Dreams (1938)
Art Gallery (1939)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1939)
The Bookworm (1939)
The Blue Danube (1939)
Peace on Earth (1939)
A Rainy Day (1940)
Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers (1940)
The Bookworm Turns (1940)
Papa Gets the Bird (1940)
The Lonesome Stranger (1940)
Abdul the Bulbul Ameer (1941)
The Little Mole (1941)
The Alley Cat (1941)
The Field Mouse (1941)
The Hungry Wolf (1942)
Personal Cleanliness (1945)
Drinking Water (1945)
Native Food (1945)
Cleaning Mess Gear (1945)
Use Your Head (1945)
Winky the Watchman (1945)
March of Progress (1945)
Easy Does It (1946)
Johnny Learns His Manners (1946)
The Hot Stoogie (1947)
Down the Drain (1947)
The Littlest Angel (1950)
Tom Thumb in King Arthur's Court (1963)

Ising only

Fiery Fireman (1928)
Homeless Homer (1929)
Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931)
Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (1931)
One More Time (1931)
You Don't Know What You're Doin'! (1931)
Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931)
Red-Headed Baby (1931)
Pagan Moon (1932)
Freddy the Freshman (1932)
Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee (1932)
Goopy Geer (1932)
It's Got Me Again! (1932)
Moonlight for Two (1932)
The Queen Was in the Parlor (1932)
I Love a Parade (1932)
You're Too Careless with Your Kisses! (1932)
I Wish I Had Wings (1932)
A Great Big Bunch of You (1932)
Three's a Crowd (1932)
The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933)
One Step Ahead of My Shadow (1933)
Young and Healthy (1933)
The Organ Grinder (1933)
Wake Up the Gypsy in Me (1933)
I Like Mountain Music (1933)
Shuffle Off to Buffalo (1933)
The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (1933)
We're in the Money (1933)
The Discontented Canary (1934)
The Old Pioneer (1934)
Toyland Broadcast (1934)
When the Cat's Away (1935)
The Calico Dragon (1935)
The Chinese Nightingale (1935)
Barnyard Babies (1935)
The Old Plantation (1935)
Honeyland (1935)
Alias St. Nick (1935)
The Early Bird and the Worm (1936)
Two Little Pups (1936)
The Pups' Picnic (1936)
Little Cheeser (1936)
The Pups' Christmas (1936)
The Hound and the Rabbit (1937)
The Wayward Pups (1937)
Little Buck Cheeser (1937)
The Little Bantamweight (1938)
Merbabies (1938)
The Little Goldfish (1939)
The Bear That Couldn't Sleep (1939)
One Mother's Family (1939)
The Fishing Bear (1940)
Home on the Range (1940)
The Milky Way (1940)
Romeo in Rhythm (1940)
The Homeless Flea (1940)
Mrs. Ladybug (1940)
The Prospecting Bear (1941)
The Rookie Bear (1941)
Dance of the Weed (1941)
Little Cesario (1941)
The Flying Bear (1941)
The First Swallow (1942)
The Bear and the Beavers (1942)
Little Gravel Voice (1942)
Bats in the Belfry (1942)
Wild Honey (How to Get Along Without a Ration Book) (1942)
Barney Bear's Victory Garden (1942)
Bah Wilderness (1943)
The Boy and the Wolf (1943)
Barney Bear and the Uninvited Pest (1943)

Characters

v t e Silly Symphony film series
1929	The Skeleton Dance El Terrible Toreador Springtime Hell's Bells The Merry Dwarfs
1930	Summer Autumn Cannibal Capers Frolicking Fish Arctic Antics Midnight in a Toy Shop Night Monkey Melodies Winter Playful Pan
1931	Birds of a Feather Mother Goose Melodies The China Plate The Busy Beavers The Cat's Out Egyptian Melodies The Clock Store The Spider and the Fly The Fox Hunt The Ugly Duckling
1932	The Bird Store The Bears and the Bees Just Dogs Flowers and Trees King Neptune Bugs in Love Babes in the Woods Santa's Workshop
1933	Birds in the Spring Father Noah's Ark Three Little Pigs Old King Cole Lullaby Land The Pied Piper The Night Before Christmas
1934	The China Shop The Grasshopper and the Ants Funny Little Bunnies The Big Bad Wolf The Wise Little Hen The Flying Mouse Peculiar Penguins The Goddess of Spring
1935	The Tortoise and the Hare The Golden Touch The Robber Kitten Water Babies The Cookie Carnival Who Killed Cock Robin? Music Land Three Orphan Kittens Cock o' the Walk Broken Toys
1936	Elmer Elephant Three Little Wolves Toby Tortoise Returns Three Blind Mouseketeers The Country Cousin Mother Pluto More Kittens
1937	Woodland Café Little Hiawatha The Old Mill
1938	Moth and the Flame Wynken, Blynken, and Nod Farmyard Symphony Merbabies Mother Goose Goes Hollywood
1939	The Practical Pig The Ugly Duckling
Related	Donald Duck Comic strip Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics Bucky Bug "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" The Thrifty Pig Mickey Mouse Works Once Upon a Studio
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