Tops with Pops
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| Tops with Pops | |
|---|---|
| File:Topswithpops title.jpg Title Card | |
| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Produced by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Animation by | Ed Barge Ray Patterson Irven Spence Kenneth Muse |
| Layouts by | Richard Bickenbach |
| Backgrounds by | Don Driscoll |
| Color process | Technicolor CinemaScope Perspecta |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Running time | 7:55 |
Tops with Pops is the 105th one reel animated Tom and Jerry short, created in 1956, directed and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera with music by Scott Bradley. It is a shot-for-shot CinemaScope remake of 1949's Love That Pup. The only major differences are that the cartoon is in a Widescreen format as opposed to fullscreen, and the ink lines around the characters are thicker and more defined because any imperfection would be noticeable on the screen. Also, the backgrounds are more stylised than detailed, as was the style in the late 1950s. It was released on February 22, 1957 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and marks the final appearance of Tyke in Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts produced before 1959.[1]
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (February 2010) |
The cartoon begins with Spike sleeping beside his son Tyke. When Tyke suddenly wakes up, Spike comforts him back to sleep again. Just then, Tom and Jerry enter the scene. Tom runs through a door and into some spades, rakes and hoes, as Jerry hides among Spike and Tyke. To find Jerry, Tom lifts Tyke up to look underneath the little bulldog. Spike sees Tom manhandling his son, runs onscreen up to Tom and yells out "Hey, you! That's my boy you got in your hand!"
Tom realizes that he has Tyke in his hands and smiles nervously, attempting to run off, but Spike grabs Tom by the whiskers and issues him an ultimatum: "Listen, pussy cat. If I catch you bothering my boy again, I'll tear you apart. Now beat it!" Tom gets the message, and runs off in the opposite direction hitting everything - a tree a fountain,etc. He finally makes it and hides in a trash can.
Jerry emerges from behind Tyke and walks off casually until Tom comes running back. Jerry takes cover by diving into a sleeping Spike's mouth...at least, that's what Tom is led to believe. Tom places his hand carefully in Spike's mouth while the dog is sleeping. It turns out that Jerry was hiding between Spike's arms. He puts his hands on the bottom of Spike's jaw and slams the bulldog's jaws shut with Tom's hand still in Spike's mouth. He yelps in pain and Spike wakes up. Tom struggles to get his hand out of Spike's mouth. Eventually, he does, pulling out Spike's teeth. Tom looks nervously and uses Spike's teeth as castanets while doing a Flamenco dance out of the scene and placing them on a pail.
In the next scene, Tom spies Jerry sleeping next to Tyke. Hiding behind Tyke's kennel, he reaches out for Jerry. Jerry, knowing that Tom is about to grab him, moves Tyke's tail into Tom's grip, so that Tom ends up grabbing Tyke. After running off with the little pup, moments later, 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 so Spike doesn't know that he took Tyke. Jerry then lifts up Tyke's kennel and slams it on Tom's tail.
Tom yells in pain, and Spike picks him up and pats him on the back. "There, there, son. Ain't no cat gonna hoot you, no sir" not realizing that he is holding Tom. Just then, Tyke walks back onto the scene and whimpers. Spike looks at Tom suspiciously, realizing that he is not his son at all. So Tom whimpers in the same manner as Tyke. Then Tyke yaps, which Tom also does. Finally, Tyke growls and woofs, to which Tom growls, but accidentally meows he puts his paw over his mouth hoping Spike didn't notice (which he does). The game is over, and Spike finally realizes, but Tom bites him on the nose and runs off. Tom sets a rake, if Spike chases him, he will be hit at the trap. But, Spike is running forward. Knowing that he lost his opponent, Tom goes back, but he is hit in the rake.
In the next scene, a piece of steak being transported across a washing line, and the movement is controlled by Tom. The steak stops moving, directly above Spike's nose (who is holding a shotgun), that he can smell it. Tom moves the steak back towards him, and Spike, still sleeping, is entranced by the smell of the steak, following it, all the while with his eyes closed. Jerry is wise to what's going on and tries to stop the hypnotized Spike. He drags him by the tail, but ends up getting his own head caught in a tap. Then he knocks on Spike's eyelids and opens his eyelid, but the bulldog does not respond. Finally, Jerry ends up being stomped flat. Tom lures Spike into a garden shed and barricades the door so that Spike can't get out. He snickers evilly, and chases Jerry. Which he ended up in a barrel.
Tom then catches Jerry, trapping him inside an upturned barrel. However, without Tom noticing, Jerry escapes through the side of the barrel and puts Tyke under the barrel instead. Spike breaks through the shed door and rushes up to Tom angrily, demanding "Where's my boy?!" Tom responds as if to say "I don't know". "If he's under that barrel, I'll skin ya alive!" Spike warns. Tom confidently attempts to lift up the barrel, until he hears a whistle, and looks to his side to see Jerry lying on a nearby fence. Realising he's in trouble, Tom gulps in great panic. "Come on, lift it up!" Spike yells. Tom struggles to do so, so Spike lifts up the barrel for him and Tyke is revealed lying underneath it wagging his tail at his father. Tom runs off but before he can escape, the bulldog corners him and skins him alive.
In the final scene, Tom had been skinned alive and wears a barrel to cover his lack of fur, with him tapping his hand on a bat, and peeking out in a hole in the fence. Tom's fur is seen being used as a cosy rug by Spike, Tyke and Jerry, who hangs a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on Spike's ear and he snuggles up between the father and son and sleeps.
References
- ^ This cartoon is NOT the final appearance of Tyke during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He later appeared in Give and Tyke(released March 29, 1957) and Scat Cats(released July 26, 1957)