Tops with Pops
Encyclopedia
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.
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 castanet
s 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 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 behold, Tyke is 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. The cat is screaming in pain as he is skinned alive.
In the final scene, Tom has literally been skinned alive, and is wearing a barrel to cover his lack of fur tapping his hand on a bat and peeking out in a hole in the fence. Tom's fur is being used as a snug rug by a sleeping Spike, Tyke and Jerry, who hangs a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign over Spike's ear and snuggles up between the father and son and sleeps.
Reel
A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage. Generally a reel has a cylindrical core and walls on the sides to retain the material wound around the core...
animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, created in 1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
, directed and produced by William Hanna
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
and Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century....
with music by Scott Bradley. It is a shot-for-shot CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
remake of 1949's Love That Pup
Love That Pup
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, scored by Scott Bradley, and animated by Ed Barge, Ray Patterson, Irven Spence and Kenneth Muse.- Plot :Spike...
. 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
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
and marks the final appearance of Tyke in Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts produced before 1959.
Plot
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 castanet
Castanet
Castanets are a percussion instrument , used in Moorish, Ottoman, ancient Roman, Italian, Spanish, Sephardic Music, and Portuguese music. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string. They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or...
s while doing a Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
dance out of the scene and placing them on a pail.
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 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
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
for him, and behold, Tyke is 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. The cat is screaming in pain as he is skinned alive.
In the final scene, Tom has literally been skinned alive, and is wearing a barrel to cover his lack of fur tapping his hand on a bat and peeking out in a hole in the fence. Tom's fur is being used as a snug rug by a sleeping Spike, Tyke and Jerry, who hangs a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign over Spike's ear and snuggles up between the father and son and sleeps.