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 |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Lewis Marshall Kenneth Muse Carlo Vinci James Escalante |
| Layouts by | Richard Bickenbach |
| Backgrounds by | Robert Gentle |
| Studio | MGM Cartoons |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | May 2, 1958 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| 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. It is one of the very last cartoons in the Hanna-Barbera era. 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, William Hanna, June Foray and George O'Hanlon provided the voices for this film. It was released on May 2, 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. The cartoon has a similar premise to an earlier film, The Invisible Mouse, released in 1947.
This short is one of the select few in which Tom emerges victorious over Jerry, and is the last short of the Hanna-Barbera era to have that distinction.
Plot
George has bought wife Joan a singing duck named Quacker for her birthday, much to her delight. They then leave the house to go out, but Joan is worried about leaving Quacker alone in the house with Tom outside. Despite George assuring her, Tom sneaks inside behind the two's back and immediately goes to look for Quacker. Tom swallows the duckling, but Quacker escapes and retreats to Jerry's mouse hole. The two become friends. Tom grabs Quacker, but Jerry trips him with an extension cord, causing Tom to release Quacker, who flies straight into a tub of vanishing cream. Quacker turns himself invisible and returns the favour by saving Jerry from Tom. Jerry then joins his friend and the two turn invisible to have fun pranking Tom.
The ghosts eat Tom's watermelon and spit the seeds at him, shove aspirin down his throat, jam his tail into a door and cut it short, and fool the cat with a disguise tail. A poor Tom is bamboozled, and Jerry and Quacker finally trap him in the house door and bash him outside with a coal shovel. As Jerry and Quacker celebrate their victory, the cat overhears them mention the vanishing cream, and sneaks behind them to test it on himself. Fed up of Jerry and Quacker's playing and bullying, Tom gleefully decides to exact revenge and turn invisible to give Jerry and Quacker a taste of their own medicine. The mouse and duckling are happily gloating until the invisible cat hits them from behind with the coal shovel. Jerry and Quacker run away in fright as a victorious Tom chases them around the house, hitting them alternately with the coal shovel.
Availability
DVD
- Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc Two