Tops with Pops

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Tops with Pops Tom and Jerry series
The title card of Tops with Pops
Directed by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Produced by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Story by	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Music by	Scott Bradley
Animation by	Ed Barge Ray Patterson Irven Spence Kenneth Muse
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	February 22, 1957
Color process	Technicolor, CinemaScope, Perspecta Stereo
Running time	7 min 55 secs
Preceded by	Barbecue Brawl
Followed by	Timid Tabby
IMDb profile

"Tops with Pops" is a 1956 Tom and Jerry cartoon, released in 1957, produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (by this time, Fred Quimby had retired and left the studio.) 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, due to the fact that 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 also the final appearance of Tyke.

[edit] Plot

Spike with his son Tyke.

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, hiding 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. Spike wakes up as Tom struggles to get his hand out of his 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.

Spike warns Tom that he'll tear him apart if he bothers his boy again.

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. Jerry then lifts up Tyke's kennel and slams it on Tom's tail. Tom yells out 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" not realising that he is holding Tom. Just then, Tyke walks back onto the scene and whimpers. Spike looks at Tom suspiciously, realising 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. The game is up, and Spike finally realizes, but Tom bites him on the nose and runs off.

In the next scene, we see 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, 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 hypnotised 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 trodden on. Tom lures Spike into a garden shed and barricades the door so that Spike can't get out.

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 that he doesn't know. "If he's under that barrel, I'll skin ya alive!" 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. Realizing he's in trouble, Tom gulps in panic. "Come on, lift it up!" Spike yells. Tom struggles, so Spike lifts up the barrel for him, and lo and behold, Tyke is lying underneath it. Tom runs off but before he can escape, Spike corners him and attacks him offscreen. We hear Tom yowling in pain. In the final scene, Tom has literally been skinned alive, and is wearing a barrel to cover his lack of fur. 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.