Love That Pup
| Love That Pup | |
|---|---|
 Title Card | |
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Story by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices by | Daws Butler |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Animation by |
Ed Barge Ray Patterson Irven Spence Kenneth Muse |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) |
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| Color process | Technicolor |
| Running time | 7:17 |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Cat and the Mermouse |
| Followed by | Jerry's Diary |
Love That Pup is a 1949 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 44th Tom and Jerry short released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, produced by Fred Quimby, music scored by Scott Bradley, and animated by Ed Barge, Ray Patterson, Irven Spence and Kenneth Muse. (This is the first time Daws Butler voiced Spike the Bulldog in the late 1940s, because Butler took Billy Bletcher's place as an actor.)
Plot
Spike is sleeping beside his son Tyke when Tyke suddenly wakes up after a nightmare. Then Spike comforts his son back to sleep again. No sooner has Tyke dozed off again than Tom and Jerry enter the scene. Tom runs through a door (literally) and into some spades, rakes and hoes, as Jerry hides among the two dogs. To find Jerry, Tom picks Tyke up to look underneath the puppy. Spike yells out "Hey, you!, That's my boy you got in your hand!"
Tom holds up his right hand and sees nothing, then holds up his left hand, and drops Tyke in fear. Tom smiles nervously and attempting to run off, but just as he does Spike grabs Tom's whiskers and issues him an ultimatum: ("Listen pussycat. If I catch you bothering my boy again, I'll tear you apart, "Now beat it!".) Spike warns the cat will better to leave Tyke alone or will suffer the consequences. As Tom runs, crashing into (in turn) a tree, a fountain, a clothesline hanger and then into a trash can.
Jerry emerges from Tyke's ear and walks off casually until Tom comes running back. Jerry takes cover by diving into what appears to be Spike's jaw, but he really ducked under the dog's chin. Seeing the dog smack his lips as if having eaten the mouse, Tom then places his hand carefully in Spike's mouth while the dog is sleeping, and Jerry emerges from his hiding place and slams the bulldog's jaws shut with Tom's hand still in Spike's mouth. Tom yells in pain and leaps a meter back. Spike wakes up as Tom struggles to get his hand out of his mouth, pulling Spike's teeth out in the process. Tom smiles innocently again, and uses Spike's teeth as castanets while doing a Flamenco dance (while clicking to the tune of "The Mexican Hat Dance") out of the scene and runs away, dropping the teeth on the bucket.
A few moments later, Tom spies Jerry sleeping next to Tyke, now using the dogs as canine shields. Hiding behind Tyke's kennel, he reaches out for Jerry. Jerry quietly moves Tyke's tail into Tom's grip, so that Tom ends up grabbing Tyke. After running off with the little pup, Tom realizes his mistake. He turns around to see a sleeping Spike feeling for Tyke. Tom rushes back into Tyke's place, taking on the role of Tyke. To wake up the dog, Jerry then lifts up Tyke's kennel and slams it on Tom's tail, causing Tom to scream in pain. Spike, mistaking Tom as Tyke, picks him up and pats him on the back as he says "There, there son, Ain't no cat gonna hurt you". Just then, Tyke walks back onto the scene and whimpers. Spike looks at Tom suspiciously. Tom duplicates Tyke's whimpering and barking, but accidentally meows when he tries to duplicate his growl. Then Spike scowls angrily and ferociously at Tom until he clamps his jaws on the dog's nose and runs away, causing the dog to scream. Tom takes a detour to the side, sets up a rake for the dog to run into if he follows him, and then watches as Spike takes the original route. Knowing he's losing his opponent and he runs back through the detour but hits onto his own rake.
Tom finally realizes that in order to get Jerry, Spike, who is effectively Jerry's shield, has to be removed from the picture. He does this by dangling a large piece of T-bone steak from a clothesline. A sleeping Spike, holding a shotgun in his arms, senses the delectable piece of meat, and sleepwalks after the steak. Jerry, who had tied himself to Tyke as a precautionary measure, is privy to what Tom is trying to accomplish. All of Jerry's efforts to wake up the mesmerized dog fail, and he ends up getting literally flattened. Tom successfully locks Spike in a garden shed. An evil Tom smiles at Jerry. The horrified Jerry runs, Tom knows he could now attack Jerry if it weren't for his overprotective shield.
Tom catches Jerry, trapping him inside an upturned barrel and hammering a cork in its knothole. However, without Tom noticing, Jerry escapes through the side of the barrel as a free trap area and puts Tyke under the barrel instead. Spike busts himself out of the shed and under the impression the cat has been at Tyke again, he rushes up to Tom angrily and demands to know where is his son is (Where's my boy!? If he's under that barrel, I'll skin you alive!), threatening to skin the cat alive if he sees Tyke underneath the barrel by Tom's trick. Tom's confidently starts to lifts up the barrel until he hears a whistle, and looks to his side to see Jerry's lying on top of a nearby fence, waving and goodbye to him. Tom gulps twice in most fear, realizing he has been put into a serious trouble. Spike warns the cat will better to lift the barrel up. Shivering, Tom nervously begins to lift the barrel, but just as he does Spike impatiently snatches it up and Tyke is lying underneath it, wiggling his tail at his father. This proves to be the last straw and there is no chance to do so with Spike. Without talking, Tom makes a quick exit into the tree, fountain and clothes line, but instead of the trash can when he's stopped by the bulldog's fist. Tom runs away from him, but Spike corners him before he can run into the safe place and skins him alive off-screen. The cat lets off loud screams in pain when Spike is attacking with him.
Later at night, Tom has been literally skinned alive by Spike and is about to revenge by wearing an armor-plated barrel to cover the disappearance of his fur. While standing outside the gate, having been assigned by Spike to guard them with a baseball bat, he looks through the hole in the wall to see if his fur is being used as a cozy rug by the sleeping Spike, Tyke and Jerry, who hangs a "DO NOT DISTURB!" sign on the Spike's ear before falling asleep.
Voice cast
- Daws Butler as Spike the bulldog
Availability
DVD
- Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc One