Merbabies

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.

Merbabies
Directed by	Rudolf Ising Vernon Stallings
Story by	Pinto Colvig Jonathan Caldwell Maurice Day
Produced by	Walt Disney Hugh Harman Rudolf Ising
Starring	Pinto Colvig Leone LeDoux[1]
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Lee Blair Thomas McKimson Carl Urbano Jim Pabian Pete Burness Michael Lah Melvin Shaw Rollin Hamilton Frank Smith Jack Zander
Layouts by	Don Smith John Niendorff Maurice Day
Backgrounds by	Art Riley Don Schaffer
Color process	Technicolor
Production companies	Walt Disney Productions Harman-Ising Studio
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	December 9, 1938 (1938-12-09)
Running time	8:34
Country	United States
Language	English

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]

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]