Southbound Duckling is the 90th one reel

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...

. Released on March 12, 1955 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...

, it was directed 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....

 and produced by Fred Quimby

Fred Quimby

Frederick C. "Fred" Quimby was an American cartoon producer, best known as a producer of Tom and Jerry cartoons, for which he won seven Academy Awards...

 with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence with backgrounds by Vera Ohman and layouts by Richard Bickenbach. It is one of the few cartoons in which Tom emerges victorious over Jerry.

Plot

Quacker is convinced that all ducks fly South for the winter. He packs his suitcase, visits Jerry to tell him about his migration plans, and tries to leave but Jerry stops him. The mouse shows Quacker a book on ducks which compares wild ducks and domestic ducks (i.e. Quacker) to convince Quacker that he isn't supposed to migrate. Quacker unconvinced, sets off on his travels, even though he cannot fly. After about some hard running, Quacker is out of breath, and Jerry again shows his friend the book. Quacker won't to give up, loads himself into a catapult and flies straight into Tom's mouth.

Quacker flees and Tom peeks at a recipe for duck, then sets out to make this reality. Jerry pulls Quacker into a tree as he passes by. Soon Quacker places himself on one end of a seesaw and drops an anvil on the other to pelt himself into the air, but cannot stay up and falls into a frying pan Tom sticks out of the window. Tom covers Quacker with egg and flour, which blinds the duck temporarily. When he recovers and sees the cooking book, the recipe reads SOUTHERN FRIED DUCK, and Quacker realizes right away that Tom wants to eat him!

Jerry scoops up Quacker from the pan with a spatula and pulls it towards his hole, but drops the duck just in front. Tom grabs the duck, but gets his hand hit by the spatula and loses Quacker. Still persistent, the duck rides a rocket reading FLORIDA OR BUST into the distance, but Tom swallows the rocket to stop the duck from escaping, sending him across the landscape into a pool - all without swallowing Quacker.

Knowing he cannot escape alone, Quacker pleads for help from Jerry, who obliges after much pestering. The duck boards an air balloon and Jerry fills it up, sending Quacker floating into the air. This does not last long as Tom shoots the balloon from a hidden bunker and brings out a net to catch the duck. While the cat is focused on watching his prey's trajectory, Jerry cuts the bottom of the net out and takes Quacker.

Finally the mouse and duck go to the international airport and fly to Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

. Tom chases them into the airport and tries to run away from the oncoming plane, and he ends up stowing away by clinging to the wheel. On a Miami beach, Quacker and Jerry are sunbathing, glad to be rid of Tom, but he is actually right behind them and traps them under a bucket. Quacker is screaming in panic from beneath the bucket, as Tom snickers evilly and pulls down an umbrella to hide himself and the bucket, obviously planning to do his victims plenty of harm.