The Vanishing Duck (1958)

 

This short film marks the last theatrical appearance of Quacker the duck. He had appeared in seven of the 114 Hanna and Barbera theatrical shorts. The character would continue to be used in many of the Tom and Jerry comic books around this time and would appear in many of the later Tom and Jerry TV series. This also marks the last appearance of George, the man in the couple that owned Tom in the later Hanna and Barbera Tom and Jerry shorts. However, his wife Joan would appear in one more short, Tot Watchers (1958). The cartoon also marks the last time we hear Tom's trademark scream, which as many of you may know was provided by Willaim Hanna himself. 

The storyline of this short is similar to that of The Invisible Mouse (1947). Only in this short not only does Jerry turn invisible but Quacker turns invisible too. Naturally both use this as a way to get back at their foe Tom. 

As was true of many of these later day Hanna and Barbera Tom and Jerry shorts, this cartoon is more charming than actually funny. The storyline may be familiar, but it works. It is charming in its simplicity and moves by at a very fast and fun pace. The conclusion however is unexpected but very satisfying. Though none of the gags may be laugh out loud funny, there were a couple moments that made me smile or even lightly chuckle. My favorite gag is when Jerry and Quacker make Tom think his tail came off and Quacker makes it look like Tom's tail is performing the song he sang at the start of the picture. The backgrounds here are also excellent. They are sparser than those in the 1940's films, but they have a great stylized charm to them and there still is a bit of an attention to detail here (such as in the fireplace). The backgrounds also have a delightfully 1950's suburban feel to them that is simply charming. Scott Bradley's music is still excellent and just as great as it was in the 1940's shorts. 

The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Lewis Marshall, Carlo Vinci and James Escalante. James Escalante only received credit on the final four Hanna and Barbera directed Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts. Around the same time he received credit on two Michael Lah directed Droopy cartoons at the MGM studio, Sheep Wrecked (1958) and Droopy Leprechaun (1958).   The credited background artist is Robert Gentle, and the credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach.  Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts.   The credited background artist is Robert Gentle. Robert Gentle would also work on many of Bill and Joe's later TV shows including The Huckleberry Hound Show, Quick Draw Mc Graw, The Atom Ant Show, Space Ghost, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends, Pac Man and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. He also worked on the Hanna-Barbera feature films Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (1964), The Man Called Flintstone, Charolette's Web, Hedi's Song (1982) and Rock Odessey (1987) as well as the Loopy De Loop theatrical shorts.

This marks the 112th Tom and Jerry theatrical short. The cartoon is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 5, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3, Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 1, Tom and Jerry: Pint-Sized Pals, Tom and Jerry: Follow That Duck! and Tom and Jerry: 85th Anniversary Kids Collection. It is also available on the recent Blu-ray set Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection as well as the Laser Disc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II. 

-Michael J. Ruhland