Release Date:

December 17, 1955

Main Character(s):

Sylvester

Summary:

At the Dog and Cat Hospital, Butch J. Bulldog meets his new son, a bulldog puppy. Back at home, Butch teaches his son how to act tough, and also teaches him to attack cats. Once he encounters Sylvester, the puppy realizes what he is and keeps trying to get at him. Every time Sylvester tries to dispose of the puppy, Butch punishes Sylvester for it.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1378 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

As of this writing, this is the only 1955 cartoon to not be restored, as well as one of only two Sylvester cartoons to not be restored (the other is “Tom Tom Tomcat” with Tweety). It’s possible that the original negatives sustained some damage, and that might be why there is currently no restoration of the cartoon, but since it’s presented uncut on both MeTV and Tubi and also doesn’t contain anything problematic, there is a very high possibility that Warner Archive will restore this one for a future Collector’s Vault set.

The cartoon’s plot was previously used for the 1953 Tom and Jerry cartoon “That’s My Pup” at MGM.

Gerry Chiniquy is the sole animator on the cartoon. As is the norm for cartoons that have only one animator, we will not be pointing out who animated what scene here.

With the title and bulldog father’s name making this relevant, the grandparent name for my paternal great grandfather (1923-2017) was “Pap” while the family nickname for his firstborn son (and my paternal grandfather’s brother) is “Butch” (he got the nickname when he was born due to the nurses at the hospital thinking he looked like a tough guy and calling him a “little butch”. Another coincidence is that the cartoon begins at a hospital).

Strangely, Butch doesn’t appear to have a wife.

There is no dialogue in this cartoon except at the beginning and end.

The stork in this cartoon wears the same hat as the Drunk Stork but is not him.

Carl Stalling scored this one.

Favorite Scene:

Sylvester attempts to get the puppy to fetch a stick from the busy street in order for him to get run over, only for Butch to make Sylvester fetch it himself.

What Happens in This One:

The camera pans across during the night where the silhouette of a stork is seen flying a newborn to the Dog and Cat Hospital. In the waiting room, Butch is seen nervously pacing back and forth and smoking one of numerous cigarettes. A male nurse then enters and asks, “Mr. Butch J. Bulldog?” Butch excitedly answers, “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” before he is told, “It’s a boy!”, revealing the bulldog puppy yipping and panting on a pillow. Butch is so happy that he ends up fainting front-first.

The next day, Butch’s doghouse is inscribed, “Butch and Son”. Butch begins teaching his son to put on a gruff demeanor and also walk on all four’s in a tough manner. He adjusts the puppy’s lip and his eyebrows, as well as his legs, to appear that way. The puppy does the gruff, tough walk back and forth a few times, much to Butch’s satisfaction.

Butch shows the puppy a stuffed cat hanging from a rope and writes “Cat” on its chest. He then demonstrates that dogs are supposed to attack cats by tearing the stuffed cat’s right leg off. After the puppy is given an “It’s your turn” gesture by Butch, the puppy puts on his tough face by adjusting his lip and eyebrows himself this time before biting at the stuffed cat by the tail. This causes it to come down right on top of him to which the puppy runs off in fright behind Butch.

Later, the puppy is seen chasing and attacking a ball, which rolls past a wooden chest on the side of the house that Sylvester is sleeping next to. The puppy mistakes something red sticking out into view from behind the chest for the ball, unaware that it’s actually Sylvester’s nose. Upon pulling Sylvester by the nose into full view, the puppy becomes scared by him and runs off, but after looking at the stuffed cat, realizes what Sylvester is and runs back towards him. The puppy begins gnawing off Sylvester’s tail fur, to which an annoyed Sylvester shakes him off. The puppy then gnaws off some of the fur on Sylvester’s left arm, so Sylvester picks him up and puts him under a can. Butch appears and prevents Sylvester’s attempt to run away by stepping on his tail. He then takes the can off of the puppy and takes said can and Sylvester with him into the yard’s work shed where he forces the can to get stuck on Sylvester by putting it on his head and hammering him down to size with a mallet. After Butch leaves on all four’s with the puppy following him, Sylvester comes out with only his feet visible from under the can.

To the tune of “Ain’t We Got Fun”, Butch watches a disgruntled Sylvester walk past his doghouse with the puppy chewing on his tail. Once Sylvester walks out of view behind the fence, he slaps the puppy off of him, who runs off in fear again. Angered at this, Butch runs to where Sylvester is and beats him up offscreen. Coming back into the yard slightly dazed, Sylvester reluctantly holds out his tail for the puppy to continue chewing on it. He sadly walks past Butch with the puppy hanging onto him and also gives Butch a nervous smile and meek wave.

Irritated with the puppy, Sylvester attempts to send him away by throwing a stick into the opposite direction. The puppy promptly brings it back and continues annoying Sylvester with his yipping. Sylvester then takes notice of cars whizzing past in the busy street and intending to have the puppy get run over, he throws it into the street. The puppy brings the stick back without getting hit, so Sylvester attempts to throw it into the street again, only for Butch to catch the stick himself, and whistle for Sylvester to get it before throwing it into the road. Butch points to the road as a demand for Sylvester to go and get the stick, clearly showing that he’s not taking no for an answer. Sylvester manages to get the stick and run back without getting hit, only to get hit by someone driving a motor scooter along the sidewalk.

With the puppy still not leaving him alone, Sylvester throws the ball the puppy was playing with earlier to his right, causing it to roll into Butch’s doghouse. Once the puppy runs in there to get the ball, Sylvester nails several boards over the doghouse’s entrance before lighting a dynamite stick and planning to slip it into a hole on top of the doghouse’s roof. To his misfortune, Butch pops up from behind the doghouse, lifts it up off of the puppy, and puts it down atop Sylvester, also holding it, so Sylvester can’t get away. Sylvester tosses the dynamite stick out of the hole to which Butch puts it back. Sylvester tosses it out again, so Butch nails a board over the hole. Before Sylvester can remove the second nail off of this board, the dynamite goes off, blowing up the doghouse and leaving a charred and mostly fur-less Sylvester in a completely still pose in the middle of his nail-removing process, to which the second nail now falls out.

Sylvester uses a chair propped up against the house to hold a gun steady while he ties a bone to said gun in order for it to go off and shoot the puppy when he tries to tug at the bone. Noticing Butch behind him with an angry stare, Sylvester runs up to the gun and put his finger in the barrel to prevent it from shooting the puppy. The puppy’s persistent tugging results in his finger getting shot numerous times.

Sylvester pulls his finger out of the gun, which causes the gun to then blast him in the face, removing all of his facial fur. A knock on the gate is then heard and Sylvester opens it to find the stork with a basket and asking, “Butch J. Bulldog live here? I have an addition to his family”. He opens the basket, revealing more identical bulldog puppies! They all begin jumping up at Sylvester and yipping at him in unison. Irritated at having to deal with more puppies, Sylvester proceeds to chase the stork into the distance with the gun, with the puppies following after him.

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½