The Vanishing Duck
Encyclopedia
The Vanishing Duck is the 112th one reel
animated
Tom and Jerry
short
, created in 1957, 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 Coffee
, 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 short is one of the rare ones in which Tom triumphs over Jerry.
, Quacker is a singing duck whom George bought for Joan. After nearly being swallowed alive by Tom when George and Joan are out at dinner, 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 gleefully torment and bamboozle poor Tom by teaching him a lesson as they eat his watermelon, vanish and seemingly cut half of his tail off with a pair of scissors, and leave him with a short tail, and force him to eat aspirin, and kick him out of the house, until he overhears their secret and renders himself invisible, and finally when Jerry and the duck think Tom is gone, he hits them both with a coal shovel and pliers, enough to give Jerry and Quacker their defeat and comeuppance
.
Reel
A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage. Generally a reel has a cylindrical core and walls on the sides to retain the material wound around the core...
animated
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...
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
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, created in 1957, directed and produced 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....
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 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...
, June Foray
June Foray
June Foray is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of many animated characters...
and George O'Hanlon
George O'Hanlon
George O'Hanlon was an American screen actor, comedian, and voice actor.-Early life and career:George O'Hanlon was born in Brooklyn, New York City on November 23, 1912....
provided the voices for this film. It was released on May 2, 1958 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. 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
George Jetson
The following is a list of major characters in The Jetsons. The Jetsons is an animated television comedy produced by Hanna-Barbera and first broadcast in prime-time on ABC as part of the 1962–63 United States network television schedule. Additional episodes were produced from 1985–1987, with the...
on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-TV animated series, The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...
, also produced by Hanna-Barbera, four years later.
The short is one of the rare ones in which Tom triumphs over Jerry.
Plot
In a plot reminiscent of 1947's The Invisible MouseThe Invisible Mouse
The Invisible Mouse is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 33rd Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It was released on September 27, 1947.-Plot:...
, Quacker is a singing duck whom George bought for Joan. After nearly being swallowed alive by Tom when George and Joan are out at dinner, 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 gleefully torment and bamboozle poor Tom by teaching him a lesson as they eat his watermelon, vanish and seemingly cut half of his tail off with a pair of scissors, and leave him with a short tail, and force him to eat aspirin, and kick him out of the house, until he overhears their secret and renders himself invisible, and finally when Jerry and the duck think Tom is gone, he hits them both with a coal shovel and pliers, enough to give Jerry and Quacker their defeat and comeuppance
Comeuppance
Comeuppance is the first full album released by British progressive rock/jazz fusion band Sphere3.-Track listing:#"A Good Example of Arbitrary Presumption"#"Shrimp.SNG"#"Sidewalking"#"Natural Light"#"First Kiss"#"Eat First, Ask Questions Later"...
.