Little Quacker
Encyclopedia
Little Quacker is a 1950
one-reel animated cartoon
and is the 47th Tom and Jerry
short directed by William Hanna
and Joseph Barbera
and produced by Fred Quimby
. It is the first Tom and Jerry short to be released in the 1950s. Little Quacker marks the debut of the eponymous character, Quacker the duckling who would go on to appear in seven more shorts, making him one of the more enduring supporting characters in the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. The voice of Quacker and his parents (who make their only speaking appearance in this cartoon), along with a single WAH WAH! line by Tom, was supplied by (uncredited) Red Coffee
, though the voice has often been mistaken for Clarence Nash
's, who was better known as the voice of Donald Duck
.
On a farm, a momma duck goes out for a swim, leaving behind an egg in her nest. Tom craftily reaches into the nest and takes the egg for cooking. He rushes back to his kitchen and places a frying pan over the hob. However, when Tom breaks the egg open, instead of getting the albumen and yolk, he gets Quacker, a duckling. Not to be put off, Tom decides he will cook roast duck instead.
Tom feeds Quacker on plenty of bread to fatten and stuff him up, and while the duckling is not looking, Tom gets hold of a meat cleaver and attempts to chop Quacker up, but misses. Quacker escapes into Jerry's mouse hole and into his bed. Jerry uncovers Quacker, who informs Jerry of what Tom has tried to do to him.
Jerry emerges from his mouse hole cautiously, but Tom cuts him down with his meat cleaver... almost. Quacker, believing that Jerry has been beheaded, pulls at Jerry's legs, only for the camera to pull away, showing that Tom has only managed to catch Jerry by the whiskers. Jerry is set free and gets his revenge on Tom by placing Tom's tail outside of the hole, such that Tom ends up chopping his own tail. He screams in pain and retaliates by chasing Jerry and Quacker.
The chase continues outside, where Tom's efforts to chop away at Jerry and Quacker result in him being flattened by falling buildings or falling posts. Later on, while Quacker and Jerry search for his momma, Tom uses a duck call to lure in Quacker, but Jerry is clued up to what Tom is doing, and substitutes his duck caller for a stick of dynamite which blows up in his face. He then chases them to a large tree with a single barrel hunting rifle. He thrusts the rifle in, only for the barrel to bend towards his rear end, which he accidentally fires at. Jerry and Quacker flee, but they ram into a tire and hide in it. Tom grabs a sledge mace from the ground and tries to flatten them to death, but it doesn't work; he ends up smacking himself square in the face with it. Entranced, he places the mace on the ground and slumps down. Jerry and Quacker escape. Tom awakens from the trance, grabs a lawnmower and charges after them.
Tom chases after Jerry and Quacker with the lawnmower, but ultimately ends up running over Quacker's mother, revealing her undergarments. She covers them with a look of shock and embarrassment on her eyes. Momma and baby are reunited, but Tom grabs Quacker from the momma duck and she grabs her baby back. After Quacker tells his momma what has happened, she demands to know what Tom thinks he's doing, saying, "He did?" Tom's only answer is scornful mimicry of her quacking (It is presumed by some that it is his way of replying, "I did" or, "So what?"). Irritated, the momma duck calls her mate ("HENRY!") and tells him how she was minding her own business when Tom ran over her with the lawnmower "and he got smart, too!" Henry, tattooed like a sailor and strong as an ox, snarls "He did?" and glares at Tom. Tom tries to flee, but the drake chases after him. Tom slams face first into a tree, enabling Henry to continuously run the lawnmower down and up on the cat's back, thus giving numerous amounts of painful cuts.
The final scene has Momma Duck and Quacker swimming in the pond, with Momma Duck towing Jerry on a little raft. Jerry uses the duck caller to attempt to sound like momma and baby.
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
one-reel animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
and is the 47th Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
short directed by William Hanna
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
and Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century....
and produced by Fred Quimby
Fred Quimby
Frederick C. "Fred" Quimby was an American cartoon producer, best known as a producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, for which he won seven Academy Awards...
. It is the first Tom and Jerry short to be released in the 1950s. Little Quacker marks the debut of the eponymous character, Quacker the duckling who would go on to appear in seven more shorts, making him one of the more enduring supporting characters in the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. The voice of Quacker and his parents (who make their only speaking appearance in this cartoon), along with a single WAH WAH! line by Tom, was supplied by (uncredited) Red Coffee
Red Coffee
Red Coffey was a voice actor and comedian best known for playing Quacker in the Tom and Jerry cartoons at MGM from 1950 to 1957.Coffey's first role in animation appears to have been in Little Quacker , and he subsequently was hired to play the little duck in another seven cartoons...
, though the voice has often been mistaken for Clarence Nash
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
's, who was better known as the voice of Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
.
Plot
Tom feeds Quacker on plenty of bread to fatten and stuff him up, and while the duckling is not looking, Tom gets hold of a meat cleaver and attempts to chop Quacker up, but misses. Quacker escapes into Jerry's mouse hole and into his bed. Jerry uncovers Quacker, who informs Jerry of what Tom has tried to do to him.
Jerry emerges from his mouse hole cautiously, but Tom cuts him down with his meat cleaver... almost. Quacker, believing that Jerry has been beheaded, pulls at Jerry's legs, only for the camera to pull away, showing that Tom has only managed to catch Jerry by the whiskers. Jerry is set free and gets his revenge on Tom by placing Tom's tail outside of the hole, such that Tom ends up chopping his own tail. He screams in pain and retaliates by chasing Jerry and Quacker.
The chase continues outside, where Tom's efforts to chop away at Jerry and Quacker result in him being flattened by falling buildings or falling posts. Later on, while Quacker and Jerry search for his momma, Tom uses a duck call to lure in Quacker, but Jerry is clued up to what Tom is doing, and substitutes his duck caller for a stick of dynamite which blows up in his face. He then chases them to a large tree with a single barrel hunting rifle. He thrusts the rifle in, only for the barrel to bend towards his rear end, which he accidentally fires at. Jerry and Quacker flee, but they ram into a tire and hide in it. Tom grabs a sledge mace from the ground and tries to flatten them to death, but it doesn't work; he ends up smacking himself square in the face with it. Entranced, he places the mace on the ground and slumps down. Jerry and Quacker escape. Tom awakens from the trance, grabs a lawnmower and charges after them.
Tom chases after Jerry and Quacker with the lawnmower, but ultimately ends up running over Quacker's mother, revealing her undergarments. She covers them with a look of shock and embarrassment on her eyes. Momma and baby are reunited, but Tom grabs Quacker from the momma duck and she grabs her baby back. After Quacker tells his momma what has happened, she demands to know what Tom thinks he's doing, saying, "He did?" Tom's only answer is scornful mimicry of her quacking (It is presumed by some that it is his way of replying, "I did" or, "So what?"). Irritated, the momma duck calls her mate ("HENRY!") and tells him how she was minding her own business when Tom ran over her with the lawnmower "and he got smart, too!" Henry, tattooed like a sailor and strong as an ox, snarls "He did?" and glares at Tom. Tom tries to flee, but the drake chases after him. Tom slams face first into a tree, enabling Henry to continuously run the lawnmower down and up on the cat's back, thus giving numerous amounts of painful cuts.
The final scene has Momma Duck and Quacker swimming in the pond, with Momma Duck towing Jerry on a little raft. Jerry uses the duck caller to attempt to sound like momma and baby.
External links
- Little Quacker at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...