Merbabies Review

Merbabies is a 1938 Disney animated short film

from the Silly Symphony series. It is a

superbly animated, but such a problematic film.

This film is basically a remake of ‘Water Babies’ and it is in terms of quality pretty much the same when compared to the original. The plot is once again non-existent and we basically just follow the merbabies as they swim, play around and eventually get attacked by a whale. The film was honestly a bit slow and boring to me. And certainly overlong.

But the animation is great except for the character designs which are just horrible. I don’t get Disney’s obsession with baby butts during this time period, but here they are mermen and they should not have visible butts at all. It was a horrible and stupid choice. But the overall animation is actually something special as it is made during the release of their first feature film when they mastered animation and it shows as the results are more than stellar. The bubbles are great, the water imagery is just splendid and some of the scenery honestly felt like a work of art. So beautiful.

Merbabies is beautifully animated with some gorgeous scenery, but the plot is dull and the character designs are horrendous.