Pup on a Picnic is the 91st reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1955.
Plot[]
Spike and Tyke are off on a picnic, but while putting their food in the picnic basket, the ensuing chase between Tom and Jerry results in Jerry jumping into the basket and Tom throwing out the entire contents to look for Jerry, before Tom realizes that Spike is just behind him and hurriedly puts the spoiled food back in the basket again. Spike and Tyke set out on another picnic, resolving to themselves to keep the cat away.
Jerry remains hidden in Spike and Tyke's picnic basket, but soon becomes aware that he is exposed. He takes a hot dog and draws a likeness of himself on it to fool the cat. Tom falls for it and has strung along an angry Spike along with all the hot dogs in the basket before he realizes what has happened. Tom whistles and throws a hot dog into the shallow lake and Spike goes after it and hits his head. Spike realizes he's a "sucker".
As Spike lays out the picnic rug, Jerry leaves the basket and hides behind some mushrooms, then walks away and is soon found by Tom. Jerry jumps into Tyke's sandwich and Tom swipes it, then drops it and flees. Tyke is about to eat the sandwich until Spike stops him. He says, "Don't eat that one, son! It's dirty!" and throws it away. Soon enough, Tom is chasing the Jerry-sandwich until Jerry jumps into Spike's hands and Tom has to stop and turn back or else he might get beaten up. Spike throws it away and Tom starts chasing it again within seconds until it jumps into the basket. Tom grabs it and put it back into the basket, but he has to "punish" himself by slapping his hand before Spike can catch him. Tom runs away. Spike grabs for the "living" bread, but Jerry hides under the next slice so that he's not found. Spike pokes it, and when no movement is detected, Spike gets ready to eat it and gives the next one to Tyke. This is the one Jerry is in, and the sandwich jumps back into the basket. Jerry tosses it back out and Spike hits it with a branch. Spike detects nothing, so they eat it. Jerry spots a bush moving and soon sees that Tom is trying to disguise himself as he creeps toward the basket. Tom reaches in and feels Jerry, but instead gets a tomato. Jerry throws a second tomato at Spike and the jig is up. Spike chases Tom and while he has the lead, Tom searches the basket for Jerry. On the third search, he is bitten by Spike, who hid inside this time. Tom sprays pepper at Spike's face, and then Spike sneezes Tom off into the distance. However, he runs into a wire fence, which shoots him back towards the basket. Tom swipes it and taunts the dogs until he runs into a tree, knocks out a section of the trunk, and is crushed by the rest of it. Jerry runs back to Spike and Tyke with the basket as his cover.
Spike is now guarding the basket all by himself, nearly waking up occasionally. Tom, perched high up in an apple tree, uses a fishing rod to grab Jerry down below in the picnic basket. His efforts prove unsuccessful, as each time, he ends up catching food. Nevertheless, Tom places the food on the tree branch beside him as he continues to fish for Jerry. Meanwhile, an army of hungry ants see Tom and the food that he has got with him, high in the tree, and crawl their way up there. Tom finally succeeds in catching Jerry with the fishing rod, and holds him delightfully in his hands. However, the emergence of the ants results in the combined weight of the marching ants shaking the tree branch violently. A sleeping Spike and Tyke end up being awoken as Tom, Jerry, the ants and a barrage of apples from the tree fall down on them. Spike is ready to execute Tom as a punishment, but he, Tyke and Tom watch as the Ants leave with food and Jerry joining them.
Characters[]
Voice Actors[]
- Daws Butler as Spike
- William Hanna as Tyke
Notes[]
- This cartoon, much like Pet Peeve, Touché, Pussy Cat! and Southbound Duckling preceding it, were originally produced in both Academy ratio and CinemaScope versions.
- Unlike the previous three shorts, the Turner print previously shown on TV (including Cartoon Network and Boomerang) uses the Academy ratio version as opposed to using a cropped pan-and-scan print from the CinemaScope version.
- The Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection DVD presents the cartoon in 16:9 aspect ratio instead of its CinemaScope format by mistake.
- The cartoon is shown in its correct CinemaScope aspect ratio on YouTube for $0.99 and on HBO Max (later renamed to Max).
- This is the first cartoon to have Daws Butler (in the style of Jimmy Durante) voice Spike. He would continue to voice Spike until his last vocal appearance in Tom's Photo Finish.
- Portions of this short and Cat Napping, focusing on the ants, is shown in Bamboo's 1998 music video "Bamboogie".
- Once again, Spike gets fooled by Tom's tricks, but unlike most shorts, he turns into a "SUCKER" lollipop instead of a donkey/jackass. This scene is however cut on S4C due to language.
- This is one of the rare occasions where Tyke expresses anger towards Tom.
- Barbecue Brawl acts a successor to this cartoon, as it follows a similar format of Spike and Tyke having quality time together with an outdoor meal, only for Tom and Jerry to keep interfering, before having their meal stolen in the end by the ants.
- On the WB Kids YouTube channel, clips from the cartoon are shown in its correct Cinemascope aspect ratio (with the sides shown uncropped) on one of their Classic Cartoon Compilation videos "Tom & Jerry Love Food!".
- Like in Little Runaway, Tom swang into the pole and got crushed by the section of it.
Gallery[]
Taken from the WB Kids YouTube video "Tom & Jerry Love Food!"
Taken from the "Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3" DVD.
