The Vanishing Duck

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 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.

This is one of the very few shorts in the series in which Tom emerges victorious over Jerry.

Plot
In a plot reminiscent of 1947's The Invisible Mouse, 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 decide to teach Tom a lesson and they torment him by spitting watermelon seeds at him, pretend his tail is cut off that made him look like a Manx cat and shove aspirin down his throat which bamboozles the poor cat. They finally make him leave the house using a clipper 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 they have seen the last of Tom, until the invisible cat appears behind them and hits them with the coal shovel, enough to get Jerry and Quacker their bullying and of them making fun of him. Jerry and Quaker run off whilst Tom chases them around the house, still hitting them with the shovel.

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc Two