The Vanishing Duck
| The Vanishing Duck | |
|---|---|
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 Title card | |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Story by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices by |
Red Coffey George O'Hanlon June Foray William Hanna (Tom's Screams) |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Lewis Marshall Kenneth Muse Carlo Vinci James Escalante |
| Layouts by | Richard Bickenbach |
| Backgrounds by | Robert Gentle |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | May 2, 1958 |
| Color process |
Technicolor CinemaScope Perspecta |
| Running time | 7:04 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Royal Cat Nap |
| Followed by | Robin Hoodwinked |
The Vanishing Duck is a 1958 one reel animated Tom and Jerry short, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse, Carlo Vinci and James Escalante, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. Red Coffey, June Foray and George O'Hanlon provided the voices for this film. It was released on 2 May, 1958 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and marks the final appearance of Quacker, who appeared in seven previous Tom and Jerry shorts. As such, The Vanishing Duck is the antepenultimate Tom and Jerry short of the Hanna and Barbera era. O'Hanlon would go on to star as the voice of George Jetson on the ABC-TV animated series, The Jetsons, also produced by Hanna-Barbera, four years later.
Plot
In a plot reminiscent of 1947's The Invisible Mouse, Quacker is a singing duck whom George bought for Joan for her birthday. They leave the house for dinner and a show, with Joan wondering if Quacker will be all right with Tom around. George assures her that he will be fine, since Tom is outside and the house is locked up tight. But Tom manages to sneak in, anyway, and immediately goes to look for Quacker.
After nearly being swallowed alive by Tom, Quacker escapes to Jerry's mouse hole, where the two become friends. When Tom catches Quacker, Jerry trips Tom up with some extension cord, causing Tom to lose his grip on Quacker, sending him straight into a tub of vanishing cream. An invisible Quacker is able to come to Jerry's rescue, where he shows him the secret of the vanishing cream. Thus invisible, the two decide to teach Tom a lesson, and they torment him by spitting watermelon seeds at him, force him to eat aspirin and shove it down his throat, vanish his long tail short and fool him by cutting off a tail from a coat with a pair of scissors that resembles his own tail to make him look like a Manx cat. All this bamboozles poor Tom who thinks that the house is haunted. After Tom hears Quacker's voice of singing the same birthday song coming from his supposed tail, he tries to catch them whilst Jerry and Quacker run under the mat. They finally make him leave the house using some tongs and a coal shovel.
As Jerry and Quacker celebrate their victory, Tom sees through the window how they tricked him and retrieves the vanishing cream. After testing it on himself, he decides to get his own back by being completely invisible. Jerry and Quacker are certain that Tom is gone, until the invisible cat comes behind them and hits them with the coal shovel, enough to get Jerry and Quacker their bullying and fool. Jerry and Quaker run off whilst Tom chases them around the house, still hitting them alternately with the shovel.
Availability
DVD
- Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc Two
External links
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