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Overview


Tops with Pops is the 105th one reel animated Tom and Jerry short created in 1956. The short is a Cinema-Scope remake of the 1949 short, Love That Pup and is the second of the three CinemaScope remakes, with backgrounds by Don Driscoll and layouts by Dick Bickenbach. Also in the remake, their doghouses have their official names on them, instead of "Father" and "Son" as seen in the original version.

Plot[]

Spike is sleeping beside his son Tyke when Tyke suddenly wakes up from a bad dream. Spike then comforts his son back to sleep again. No sooner does Tyke doze off then 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 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 holds up his right hand and sees nothing, then holds up his left hand, drops Tyke in fear, quickly catches and gives him to Spike. Tom smiles nervously, attempting to run off, but Spike viciously grabs Tom's whiskers and issues him an ultimatum: the cat had better leave Tyke alone or Spike will make him suffer the consequences ("Listen, pussy cat. If I catch you bothering my boy again, I'll tear you apart. Now beat it!"). Tom runs and was hit in the tree, fountain, clothesline hanger and into the 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 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. Tom screams in pain, and Spike picks him up and pats him on the back ("There, there son. Ain't no cat gonna hoit you, no sir"). 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. Spike then growl at Tom ferociously until Tom clamps his jaws on the dog's nose and runs away. 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 lost his opponent, he runs back through the detour... and onto his own rake. Tom finally realizes that in order to get Jerry, Spike, who is effectively Jerry's shield, must be removed from the picture. He does this by dangling a large piece of steak from a clothesline. A sleeping Spike (who holds a rifle) senses the delectable piece of meat, and sleepwalk 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. A horrified Jerry flees. Tom can now attack Jerry without his protector. Tom then 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 and puts Tyke under the barrel instead. Spike busts himself out of the shed and under the impression that the cat has been at Tyke again, rushes up to Tom angrily and demands to know where his son is, threatening to murder the cat if Tyke is underneath the barrel ("Where's my boy?! If he's under that barrel, I'll skin ya alive!"). Tom confidently starts to lifts up the barrel, until he hears a whistle, and looks to his side to see Jerry lying on a nearby fence, waving to him. Tom does a double gulp, realizing he is in serious trouble with Spike. Spike demands that Tom lift up the barrel. Shivering, Tom nervously begins to lift the barrel. Spike says "Come on, lift it up!", only fir him to impatiently swipe it. Tyke is lying underneath it, wiggling his tail at his father. Tom makes a quick exit, into the tree, fountain, and clothes line and Spike, who attacks the cat and then skins him alive after cornering him. Later that night, Tom literally had been skinned alive by Spike, and he is wearing a barrel to cover his lack of fur (aka. the Bankruptcy barrel), with him being assigned by Spike to guard them with a baseball bat and looking through a hole in the wall to see if his fur is being used as a cozy rug by a sleeping Spike, Tyke, and Jerry, who hangs a "Do Not Disturb" sign on Spike's ear, snuggles up between Spike and Tyke and starts sleeping.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

  • Notably, the characters look more magnified on pan-and-scan, as the drawings on the widescreen print are cropped from top to bottom.
  • This cartoon uses the same audio from the past short, as did The Egg and Jerry for Hatch Up Your Troubles and Feedin' the Kiddie for The Little Orphan. However, this cartoon and Feedin' the Kiddie are both recorded in Perspecta Stereo, while The Egg and Jerry retains its source material's original Western Electric Sound System soundtrack.
  • Much like the other Cinemascope remakes, this short rarely airs on US television today, as the original version currently airs on such.
  • This is the last appearance of Spike and Tyke together in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Spike makes later appearances alone.
  • Jerry previously put a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the cradle in Quiet Please!.
  • The animation of Jerry running out the door and Tom storming out, breaking a hole through it, was used in The Dog House.
  • This is last of the five cartoons where Spike attacks Tom off-screen. The others are Quiet Please!, Love That Pup, Cat Napping, and Fit To Be Tied.

Gallery[]

Tom and Jerry Cartoons
1940 Puss Gets the Boot
1941 The Midnight SnackThe Night Before Christmas
1942 Fraidy CatDog TroublePuss n' TootsThe Bowling Alley-CatFine Feathered Friend
1943 Sufferin' Cats!The Lonesome MouseThe Yankee Doodle MouseBaby Puss
1944 The Zoot CatThe Million Dollar CatThe BodyguardPuttin' on the DogMouse Trouble
1945 The Mouse Comes to DinnerMouse in ManhattanTee for TwoFlirty BirdyQuiet Please!
1946 Springtime for ThomasThe Milky WaifTrap HappySolid Serenade
1947 Cat Fishin'Part Time PalThe Cat ConcertoDr. Jekyll and Mr. MouseSalt Water TabbyA Mouse in the HouseThe Invisible Mouse
1948 Kitty FoiledThe Truce HurtsOld Rockin' Chair TomProfessor TomMouse Cleaning
1949 Polka-Dot PussThe Little OrphanHatch Up Your TroublesHeavenly PussThe Cat and the MermouseLove That PupJerry's DiaryTennis Chumps
1950 Little QuackerSaturday Evening Puss • Texas TomJerry and the LionSafety SecondThe Hollywood BowlThe Framed CatCue Ball Cat
1951 Casanova CatJerry and the GoldfishJerry's CousinSleepy-Time TomHis Mouse FridaySlicked-up PupNit-Witty KittyCat Napping
1952 The Flying CatThe Duck DoctorThe Two MouseketeersSmitten KittenTriplet TroubleLittle RunawayFit To Be TiedPush-Button KittyCruise CatThe Dog House
1953 The Missing Mouse • Jerry and JumboJohann MouseThat's My Pup!Just DuckyTwo Little IndiansLife with Tom
1954 Puppy TalePosse CatHic-cup PupLittle School MouseBaby ButchMice FolliesNeapolitan MouseDownhearted DucklingPet PeeveTouché, Pussy Cat!
1955 Southbound DucklingPup on a PicnicMouse for SaleDesigns on JerryTom and ChérieSmarty CatPecos PestThat's My Mommy
1956 The Flying SorceressThe Egg and JerryBusy BuddiesMuscle Beach TomDown Beat BearBlue Cat BluesBarbecue Brawl
1957 Tops with PopsTimid TabbyFeedin' the KiddieMucho MouseTom's Photo Finish
1958 Happy Go DuckyRoyal Cat NapThe Vanishing DuckRobin HoodwinkedTot Watchers
1961 Switchin' KittenDown and OutingIt's Greek to Me-ow!
1962 High SteaksMouse into SpaceLanding StriplingCalypso CatDicky MoeThe Tom and Jerry Cartoon KitTall in the TrapSorry SafariBuddies Thicker Than WaterCarmen Get It!
1963 Pent-House Mouse
1964 The Cat Above and The Mouse BelowIs There a Doctor in the Mouse?Much Ado About MousingSnowbody Loves MeThe Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse
1965 Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of LifeTom-ic EnergyBad Day at Cat RockThe Brothers Carry-Mouse-OffHaunted MouseI'm Just Wild About JerryOf Feline BondageThe Year of the MouseThe Cat's Me-Ouch
1966 Duel PersonalityJerry, Jerry, Quite ContraryJerry-Go-RoundLove Me, Love My MousePuss 'n' BoatsFilet MeowMatinee MouseThe A-Tom-Inable SnowmanCatty-Cornered
1967 Cat and Dupli-catO-Solar-MeowGuided Mouse-illeRock 'n' RodentCannery RodentThe Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R.Surf-Bored CatShutter Bugged CatAdvance and Be MechanizedPurr-Chance to Dream
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