What happens to the duck in Peter and the Wolf?

Peter and the Wolf (Пе́тя и волк in Russian) is a combination of children's story and musical composition by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. During performances, a narrator tells the story while accompanied by music played by an orchestra. Each character in the story is represented by a Leitmotif played on a unique instrument.

The story tells the tale of an encounter of a young boy named Peter with a wolf. The other characters are Peter's grandfather, a duck, a bird, a cat and an unspecified number of hunters.

The work has been recorded numerous times by many different orchestras, and has also been adapted to a variety of other media, including animation, stop-motion animation (namely, a 2006 animated short), theatre and ballet. It has also inspired many variants and parodies, some of which include different characters and instruments. The best known of these adaptations in Western media is probably the one from Disney's Make Mine Music (1946), which gives the animals and hunters names.

Advertisement:

This work provides examples of:

• Adaptational Heroism: In the Disney version, the cat (described as "a peaceful, fun-loving sort, maybe a little shy on brains — you know the type") takes on a much more heroic role. While initially trying to eat the bird, he afterwards teams up with Peter to capture the wolf and save the bird's life.
• Adaptational Villainy: The cat, in at least one version, is in cahoots with the wolf.
  • A similar situation occurs in the Sesame Street version, where the cat is played by Oscar the Grouch. Here he is more interested in causing trouble, reluctantly helping Peter and the Bird (Elmo and Zoe respectively) catch the wolf. He later comments on the eventual happy ending, saying that he doesn't like where the story is going, preferring that Peter get punished by Grandfather (played by Big Bird).
• The Alcoholic: In one adaptation (the one narrated by Sting), the duck nearly misses her cue because she's too busy drinking at the bar, and she is literally thrown onto the set by the production crew. She then offers her drink to Peter, who responds with a scolding finger. She continues to carry the bottle with her for the rest of the scene until she accidentally drops it in the pond while arguing with the bird.

Advertisement:

• Always Chaotic Evil: The wolf, except in the 2006 version. In the Disney version, the wolf is pure evil, and the only character in the film without any personality or sentience.
• And I Must Scream: "If you listen very carefully, you'll hear the duck quacking inside the wolf's belly, because the wolf in his hurry had swallowed her alive."
• Avian Flute: The bird is represented by the flute
  
  . While this may not be the Trope Maker, it is almost certainly the Trope Codifier.
• The Big Bad Wolf: The titular wolf of the story is the villain and antagonist of the story. He eats the duck and attempts to eat the other characters.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: The hunters in the Disney version.
• Broken Aesop: Peter is told by his grandfather NOT to go outside because the Wolf might get him. In the end Peter is taken inside, but when the wolf arrives: guess who does go outside and saves the day? So... er... what's the moral of the story again? Lampshaded when the grandfather muses "What if Peter hadn't caught the wolf''," implying that he's embarrassed by how wrong he was.
• Butt-Monkey: The duck. The clumsiest of the characters, gets embarrassed by the bird, and in all versions but the Disney version, is devoured alive - and is still alive, inside the wolf, at the end of the story.
• Cats Are Mean: The main role of the cat is to serve as a pursuer to the bird, though the wolf is the Big Bad of the story. The 2006 version of the cat is a more of a Big Fat Jerk who gets his by first plunging into the icy pond when going after the Sparrow, and then getting pooped on by the Sparrow when he gets out of the water.
• Cat Up a Tree: In this case, the cat is up the tree to escape the wolf, not to get rescued by the fire department.
• The Cavalry: Subverted in the Disney version, where the hunters appear while Peter struggles with the wolf. But as they come to aid, Peter has already overpowered the wolf.
• Celebrity Cameo: The fairy tale has been narrated by countless celebrities over the decades, including Basil Rathbone, Sterling Holloway (voice of Winnie the Pooh in the original Disney cartoons), Eleanor Roosevelt, Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov (twice!), Boris Karloff, José Ferrer, Captain Kangaroo, Leonard Bernstein, Sean Connery, Richard Attenborough, David Attenborough, Jacques Brel, Mia Farrow, David Bowie, Terry Wogan, William F. Buckley Jr., Paul Hogan, John Gielgud (twice!), Sting, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Patrick Stewart, Dame Edna, Ben Kingsley, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Loren (twice), Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Possibly. It is never implied that Peter is an orphan, but at the same time we only know he has a very protective grandfather. His parents are never mentioned.
• Cowboy Episode: Peter Schickele wrote a comical alternate text, "Sneaky Pete and the Wolf," which recasts the story as a showdown between Pete and a desperado named El Lobo. Hilarity Ensues.
• Darker and Edgier or Lighter and Softer: These tropes apply to some adaptations. For example, the Walt Disney adaptation has Peter hunting the wolf using a pop gun and makes it clear that the duck survives, whereas the "Weird Al" Yankovic version makes it very clear that the duck dies a horrible, painful and slow death inside the belly of the wolf... and then there's Neil Torbin's Peter and The Werewolf where the duck (now a raven) is practically the Sole Survivor... which was played for laughs.
  • Then there is a middle ground of sorts in the 2006 version, where Peter is sullen and lonely boy living in a poor town, the hunters are drunken bullies, and the duck (Peter's best friend) is killed by the wolf and we see the whole thing. But then somewhat subverted in how the wolf is portrayed - she is dangerous since she is a hunter looking for a meal but also somewhat noble in that she does not hurt anyone when Peter sets her free, walking beside him with an identical expression until they reach the city gates. The script reveals the intended unfilmed ending: The wolf was trying to find food for her pups, and returns to them after she is freed.

    What does the duck do in Peter and the Wolf?

    The bird distracts the wolf by flying over his head while Peter lowers a noose and catches the wolf by his tail. Hunters then come out of the woods and fire at the wolf but Peter stops them. They all bring the wolf to the zoo and at the end, the duck can be heard quacking in the wolf's stomach.

    Why does the oboe represent the duck in Peter and the Wolf?

    Sometimes an oboe can sound dark and smooth and sometimes an oboe can sound bright and shrill. Some people would even describe an oboe as sounding honky - just like a duck! Perhaps that is why Prokofiev chose the sound of the oboe to play the duck in Peter and the Wolf.

    What is the moral of the story Peter and the Wolf?

    Peter and the Wolf was an immediate success and has been loved by children all over the world. The music is sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adults, even through repeated hearings. Its moral —you can't be a hero if you don't take risks — delights children as much as it must have cheered the composer.

    What did the bird chirp in Peter and the Wolf?

    "All is quiet" chirped the bird happily. Just then a duck came waddling round. She was glad that Peter had not closed the gate and decided to take a nice swim in the deep pond in the meadow.