In a quarrel over baby talk, the president of the University of Washington sent a letter today to the chairman of the Walt Disney Company that said, essentially, “Did not!”

Disney complained earlier this week that a news release issued by the university had unfairly maligned the company’s Baby Einstein line of DVD’s and videos. The release described the results of a study by university researchers, published in The Journal of Pediatrics, that documented that infants who watched baby DVD’s and videos had smaller vocabularies than those who did not watch such products.

Disney asked the university to retract its release, but the university’s president, Mark A. Emmert, said in today’s letter that there was no problem with the release and the university would not withdraw it.

As a next step, Goofy, Pluto, and the Washington Husky could square off in a grudge match. A video of that might entertain all ages. Just don’t invite Michael Vick. —Richard Monastersky