- "What did brother Ugly teach us this time, children?"
"Never judge an egg by its color!" - —Mamma Quackling and Hello Quackling
The Ugly Quackling is an episode of the television series Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater that is based on the story of The Ugly Duckling.
Story[]
Mamma Quackling (Fangora) has just hatched four new eggs. But one of her tiny darlings (Chip) doesn't fit in. Will this odd little bird learn to be like the others… or discover something much more exciting?
Plot[]
Once upon a meow, on a farmland on a spring day, Mamma Quackling was impatiently awaiting the arrival of her four baby quacklings. After using a set of binoculars to get a better view, the stork finally arrived with her eggs. She opened up the sack to find that one of her eggs was scrambled, but the stork informed her that she had to take the rotten eggs with the good eggs, explaining that's "how life works." After heeding his words, Mamma took her eggs back to her nest.
As she lay on her eggs, her baby quacklings began to hatch one by one: Catnip Quackling, Hello Quackling, Melody Quackling, and lastly, a very ugly quackling. Mamma suggested that three out of four wasn't that bad, thus upsetting Ugly.
Summertime arrived, and the quackling children began to take their swimming lessons, unaware that they were being preyed upon by a duck-hungry fox. Mamma taught them how to swim, as Ugly tried it himself, incorrectly. Hello noticed that Ugly was heading straight for a waterfall as the fox prepared for his first catch. Before Ugly could plummet down the fall to his doom, the fox grabbed him from a tree, which sent them airborne as Ugly landed on a hay bale. This action taught the quacklings a lesson: never go near the waterfall.
As autumn covers the earth, the quacklings begin to pick corn and harvest pumpkins as the fox returns. Ugly tries to demonstrate himself to Catnip as she sends a runaway pumpkin directly at him. The pumpkin hits Ugly's as it flies straight on the fox's head where he was in position to catch Ugly rolling downhill on Catnip's pumpkin. The pumpkin eventually stops and sends Ugly flying into a bucket of goat milk. The quacklings arrive as Ugly makes a "milk and QUACKers" joke after his actions taught them another lesson: watch out for runaway pumpkins. The quacklings go back to gathering more food and to stay alert for the fox. Still having a pumpkin on his head, the fox pretends to be a scarecrow to which Hello knows it can scare anything like the fox away. Ugly taunts and angers a goat who prepares to ram him, only for Ugly to use the fox as fodder, ramming him and sending him flying towards a tree, leaving Hello to retract her statement.
Fall comes, and the quackling children take their final flying lessons before heading south. All three of them succeed, except for Ugly who runs off the top of the barn and crash lands on a haystack. This has taught the quacklings yet another lesson: always land in a haystack.
As the weather begins to transition from fall to winter, Mamma gives her children the direction they'll be traveling on the way south. She informs Ugly that he's better off walking the whole way. Hello and Melody already have their lunch sacks loaded and ready for flight, except for Catnip who left hers in the barn. She has Ugly help her load up as Mamma and her two other daughters already begin the journey south. As Catnip had just finished overloading her sack with corn to make it plenty for both of them, she finds that she is unable to lift it. She has Ugly do all the work for her since he's walking the way south as she begins to fly ahead of him. Distracted by Ugly persuading her to go slowly, Catnip flies straight into an apple tree as apples stack up on top of her. Ugly rushes to her aid while the rest of the quacklings fly further away. With a broken right wing, Catnip is unable to fly south as she cries. Ugly assures her that he'll help her the whole season, which is the reason why she's crying as the winter snow begins to fall.
Far away from them, Hello notices that Catnip and Ugly aren't with them and suggests that they should go back for them, leaving Mamma worried about them. But because of the strong winds, they can't go back north for them, thus they must carry on without them or else they won't make it to beat the snow as Mamma is swept away southward. Hello and Melody sadly say goodbye to Catnip and Ugly as they get swept away too.
Winter has fallen as Ugly gathers some snowballs for Catnip at their hibernation spot while the fox attempts to catch him but fails once more. A glum Catnip asks if winter is over; not yet, as Ugly gives her the snowballs to help her feel better. He tells her to eat them slowly as they're the last ones, as a hesitant growing cat-duck with a mending wing questions him about why she can't have more; winter is over and spring has begun to blossom again.
Catnip, who's feathers turn from yellow to blue, runs outside asking Ugly why he hadn't told her about it, just in time to reunite with Mamma, Hello and Melody as they both have grown too. After they have happily reconciled with each other, Mamma asks where Ugly is just as the fox appears! Before the quacklings were completely done for, the fox is then grabbed on and dropped into the river by a beautiful, heroic swan who saved the quacklings and sent the fox on the run. As they praise on this lovely sight of a bird, the swan turns out to be Ugly in a whole new look. Puzzled by how he became a swan or if he even is the same bird now, Mamma appraises Ugly's new look as a swan; the loveliest bird in the whole world, which thus explains why his egg looked oddball. After seeing Ugly as a swan now, Catnip Quackling becomes jealous. The transformation from an ugly quackling to a beautiful swan has taught everyone another lesson once more: never judge an egg by its color. Ugly, Mamma Quackling, Hello Quackling and Melody Quackling joyfully splash in laughter and they all lived happily ever after. The story concludes.
Characters[]
- Hello Kitty as Hello Quackling
- My Melody as Melody Quackling
- Catnip as Catnip Quackling
- Chip as The Ugly Quackling
- Fangora as Mamma Quackling
- Grinder as Fox
- Grandpa as Stork
Trivia[]
- This is Fangora's last ever appearance in the TV series.
- This is the only episode where Tuxedo Sam narrates the story instead of Hello Kitty.
- Running Gag:
- Ugly's actions teaching everyone a lesson.