The Duck Doctor
| The Duck Doctor | |
|---|---|
| Tom and Jerry series | |
 Title Card | |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices by | Red Coffee |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Irven Spence Ray Patterson Ed Barge Kenneth Muse |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | February 16, 1952 |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:03 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Flying Cat |
| Followed by | The Two Mouseketeers |
The Duck Doctor is a 1952 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 64th Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby. It stars Quacker as a wild duck, rather than a farm duck.
Plot
A flock of wild ducks are flying, but Tom, armed with a shotgun, fires several shots at them, shooting a duckling in the wing. The duckling cries out in pain before spinning down from the sky, sliding across the ground, and being knocked out after tripping over a rock. Jerry, horrified to see the duckling lying lifelessly, hides it from Tom in the hole of a tree. Jerry splashes the duckling with water to wake him up and makes a makeshift sling for the duckling's wing.
Jerry then shushes the duckling as he sees Tom outside. The ducks flying in the sky are heard quacking (much to Tom's delight), causing the duckling to try and join its family again. The duckling knocks Tom down, but cannot get off the ground due to his injured arm, allowing Tom to shoot at it. Tom corners the duckling, but Jerry sticks a cattail weed into Tom's gun to make the bullet backfire and hit Tom.
Jerry carries the duckling back to his hole, but the duckling hears the quack of the ducks again, bids Jerry goodbye and runs out. Tom shoots the duckling's rear, but Jerry bandages it. Tom uses a duck caller to flush the duckling out of hiding. Jerry tries to cover the door, but the duckling mows over him. Tom pins the gun to the duckling's head, but the duckling barely dodges the bullet. Tom follows the wild duckling into a tree stump, and fires a shot into the stump, hitting the duckling again. Tom then pursues the duckling again, but accidentally shoots a pig, which jumps high into the air in pain and ends up flattening Tom before he can run away.
Jerry pulls the duckling into a hole, bandages him up further and ties an anvil around the duckling's waist to prevent him from escaping and for self-defense. Tom uses his caller again, but the duckling steamrolls Tom with the anvil. Tom pursues the duckling, but the duckling grabs a tree and the anvil swings around and hits Tom, shaping Tom into a stool. The duckling then gets stuck when the anvil gets caught between two trees. Tom tries to take advantage, but the anvil bursts free and smashes into Tom, sending Tom flying backwards into a water pump.
The duckling then succeeds in getting in the air but is held down by the weight of the anvil. Just then, Tom shoots at the duckling, but instead breaks the rope and the anvil falls down. The anvil follows wherever Tom attempts to run to, so Tom gives up, digs his own grave and smokes a final cigarette as the anvil hits him, he falls into the grave, and the anvil acts as his tombstone. The duckling now shakes the bandages off him and bids farewell to Jerry before reuniting with his fellow ducks.
Voice cast
- Red Coffee as The Duckling
Availability
- Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc One