Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Water Babies" is a 1935 Silly Symphony by Disney, so this little cartoon is already over 80 years old. It runs for 8 minutes, slightly longer than cartoons usually did at this time, but not much, just by a minute. There is no denying that visually this film is a delight and it is also a success in terms of the music we hear. Unfortunately, the most crucial element is missing here. This film is just a collection of impressions and for me personally, it does not cut the cake. I was not particularly entertained from watching this and Disney has made many more interesting films around that time already. Lets keep in mind, this was several years before World War II already. I have watched animated films from the last 2 decades that look older than this one here. But before I get too positive here, lets go with another negative point. This film clearly supports the abysmal activity of bull(frog) fighting. Oh yeah, that's all I guess. If you liked it more than I did, then you may want to check out the sequel they made 3 years later. It's called "Merbabies". As for "Water Babies": Not recommended.

Robert Reynolds This is a color cartoon in the Silly Symphonies series produced by the Disney studio. There will be mild spoilers ahead:This is a Disney cartoon done in the mid-1930s, so it's essentially a given that it would be visually beautiful. Disney animators had more or less hit their stride by that point, so making a cartoon which had beautiful animation and backgrounds was a cinch.It's also a plot less cartoon for all practical purposes (there are two brief sequences which could almost have been sub-plots, with a few water babies "dressed" as cowboys, with cowboy hats and leaves for chaps and then one water baby being a matador to a charging "bull"frog, with that last one indeed being too cute for words) and it's derivative of bits and pieces of other shorts.Technically, it's an interesting cartoon. But let's face it, this eight minutes of cherubic-looking children swimming and frolicking with birds, frogs fish and insects. It's all a bit too twee for my tastes, even though it's very lovely. A nice cartoon, if not entirely to my taste.This is available on the Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD set and both it and the set are worth finding. Recommended.

TheLittleSongbird Water Babies was such a beautiful and charming silly symphony, that left me speechless. What about the animation? The opening and ending sequences were like the finest watercolour paintings, and everything else is flawlessly done. The music was phenomenal, was the composer listening to Tchaikovsky when he wrote this, because it is very reminiscent of his very lyrical ballet music. The Water Babies were so cute and adorable, and the frogs, birds and swans were also sweet.Forget the fact, it is virtually plot less, and that it bears little resemblance to the classic book by Charles Kingsley(unless it was deliberately detaching itself from the book). See it solely for the animation, characters and music, that way you have a flawless and utterly relaxing gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Ron Oliver A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.The WATER BABIES emerge from their flowery beds to spend another day frolicking with the pond creatures or romping in the forest.There's virtually no plot in this little cartoon, but its action/reaction animation is pleasant enough. Aside from the title, there's no connection with Charles Kingsley's classic book.The babies are all naked (and apparently sexless), thus giving the Disney artists much scope for their favorite bare bottom gags. MERBABIES (1938), a forthcoming Symphony, would bare a striking resemblance to this film.The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.