El Pequeño Patito

The Tom and Jerry cartoon series introduces yet another cloyingly cute character for Tom to menace and for Jerry to befriend: a duckling by the name of 'Little Quacker', who winds up in Tom's frying pan after the naughty cat pilfers an egg from a nest while the mother is having a swim. The duckling escapes from Tom and hides in Jerry's mouse-hole, where he tells the surprised mouse of his ordeal. Jerry decides to help the poor little bird find his mother.

The colourful farm setting for this short makes a nice change from the suburban household of many an earlier adventure, but the action essentially remains the same, Jerry repeatedly foiling Tom's ambushes, causing the cat much pain in the process. After lots of close shaves, Little Quacker is reunited with his mother, who calls upon her macho duck husband to teach Tom a lesson (yes, the idea of a duck beating up a cat is ridiculous, even for a cartoon!).

Tom steals an egg from a nest while the mother duck goes for a swim, delighting at the prospect of a fried egg, only to find that when he cracks the egg a little duckling appears. He then has a sudden change of mind and decides to make a duck dish.

The duckling escapes Tom's clutches and hides in Jerry's mouse-hole. Jerry then tries to keep the little duckling away from Tom in various amusing ways.

This was the first appearance of this little duckling, who would appear quite a few more times throughout the T&J series. I just love his voice (which was done by the same guy that voiced Donald Duck and his nephews), with that unique, cute, 'quacky' twang to it!

The cartoon's enjoyable and funny too. Check it out!

Now here is something different: Tom versus a little chick, at least for awhile until Jerry comes to little fowl's aid. The story begins outdoors on a farm, which also is unusual for a T & J 'toon. Tom robs an egg while the mother duck is busy elsewhere. He races home and plans on making an omelet, except the egg hatches on the skillet.

Running for his life after Tom tries to kill the poor bird, the little featured guy winds up in Jerry's mouse hole. He explains - this is talented chick who speaks English the moment he's born! - to Jerry what's going on, so Jerry turns Good Samaritan.

Most of the time, Tom is doing his Lizzy Borden impression, trying to chop the little ones, so anything he gets in here he has coming to him!

There are so some decent gags mixed in with a cute ending as the Jerry leads the little guy to find his mother, who then gets the man of the house to take care of bad 'ol Tom.

I was never a great fan of Tom and Jerry because there is so much sameness to the cartoons. This one is better because it takes place on a farm. Tom picks on an innocent victim, a duckling, thinking it will be his dinner. Jerry intervenes and what happens are a series of Tom's efforts backfiring. Sound familiar. The difference here is that many of them are quite funny.

If you forgive the fact that the plot is fairly predictable, then you are in for a treat. Little Quacker is a really cute and funny Tom and Jerry cartoon, made significant by the debut of the adorable little baby duck, Little Quacker, voiced by Red Coffee. Little Quacker may be annoying to some, but I for one find him simply adorable, from his appearance to his voice that does remind me of Clarence Nash's Donald Duck somewhat.

The animation is absolutely exceptional here, if I have to be honest, Little Quacker is one of the most beautiful-looking Tom and Jerry cartoons. The music is jolly, playful and fun, in short it is outstanding. The gags are plentiful, and thanks to the quick pacing they come thick and fast from when Tom mistakes dynamite for a duck caller and gets "blown up" to the part when the father duck attacks Tom with a lawn mower. Little Quacker's dialogue is inspired, I could just about understand what he was saying, from his hand gestures you kind of get the gist of what he's saying anyway. Overall, a wonderful cartoon, one of my personal favourite Tom and Jerry cartoons featuring Little Quacker. 10/10 Bethany Cox