May 11, 1935 – The Silly Symphony, Water Babies, is Released to Theaters
“…it was inspired by the story Water-Babies, written in 1863 by Charles Kingsley, the great English writer and naturalist.” – Walt Disney
On May 11, 1935, the Silly Symphony Water Babies was released to theaters. It was loosely based on the children’s novel The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby by Reverend Charles Kingsley, which was published in 1863. The short was directed by Wilfred Jackson. Merbabies, released in 1938, is considered to be its sequel.
The short opens just as the sun is beginning to rise over a quiet pond. Two birds wake and begin to chirp, flying over the lilypads and trying to rouse the water babies sleeping inside. Once the water babies wake, the jump into the pond and begin to swim away. One baby has decided to remain sleeping, until the flower he’s sleeping in gives him a harsh slap to wake him. With a yawn, and trepidation over the temperature of the water, the baby joins the others as they splash and play around in the pond.
The Water-Babies riding of the back of a swan during a mini parade
As they play, they all hear the trumpets sound and excitedly swim in that direction. A parade has begun, with babies playing flower trumpets and ride on the backs of turtles and swans. Some travel on leaves, and a trio is seen riding on fish. The festival leads the babies to a patch of land where they begin to play in the weeds and with the frogs that live there. Three babies are seen using a spiderweb as a trampoline, and another trio are seen riding bullfrogs as if they were at a rodeo.
Another baby is seen preparing for a bull(frog) fight, pulling down a red petal to use as the red flag. The bullfrog gets his head caught in a flower, and uses the stem as a horn to try and attack the baby. Luckily, the baby sneaks back into the bullfrog’s cage before it can attack him.
All the Water-Babies heading home after the day’s festivities
The trumpets sound again soon after the fight finishes, and the babies all head back to the pond to travel home at the end of a long eventful day. As the sun begins to set, the babies crawl into their lilypad beds after saying their prayers, and quickly fall asleep as the flower petals close up protectively, leaving the audience with a beautiful moonlit night on the pond.
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