The Mother Duck is a supporting character of Disney's 75th and final Silly Symphonies short, The Ugly Duckling.
Role in the short[]
In the short's beginning, the mother duck and her mate are anxiously awaiting the hatching of their eggs from which four beautiful baby ducklings are born. Although initially overjoyed, their mood changes to shock when the final (and noticeably larger) egg hatches to reveal a loud and highly abnormal looking duckling. The birth of the Ugly Duckling provoked a fight between them regarding why he was so different with them blaming the other for how he turned out so wrong.
As they go their separate ways, the mother duck takes the four ducklings with her down to the pond but leaves the ugly one behind, not wanting anything more to do with him. To her chagrin, she soon realizes that he followed them and even had the gall to ride on her back as if he was one of her own. Even after throwing him overboard, he continues to chase after them until her patience finally reaches its limit and losing her temper, she furiously snaps at him to go away and never come near them again. She then takes her ducklings and abandons him to his fate without a second thought.
Later, the mother duck and her ducklings are surprised to see the ugly one swimming alongside a beautiful swan and her cygnets, the latter of whom look exactly like him. As she realizes what he is and what he has the potential to become, she invites him to come back to them, but he refuses and proudly swims off with his new family.
Gallery[]
