This short film marks the third appearance of Tyke, the small son of Spike the Bulldog. It is also the first appearance of this character since Slicked Up Pup (1951). After this short the character would appear more frequently in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. It would be less than a year before he appeared in another cartoon. In 1957 Spike and Tyke would receive a short-lived cartoon series of their own, though that would only last two cartoons.
In this short film Spike wants to teach Tyke the basics of being a dog. This includes how to chase cats. To make sure his son does well Spike threatens Tom if he doesn't let Tyke chase him. Jerry overhears this and feels he can use this to get back at his foe.
This is a delightful short and one of the best cartoons to feature Tyke. This film reminds me of the Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1940's with the sheer wealth of great gags. One of my favorite gags is when Jerry is barking at Tom pretending to be Tyke. The character animation of Jerry gleefully doing this while being down on all fours like Tyke is hilarious. The punchline at the end of the gag is also laugh out loud funny. The way Tom uses a fake cat tail to trick Tyke is also very funny. This film also has one of the best Tex Avery inspired giant takes in a Tom and Jerry cartoon (pictured above). Seeing Tom coming out of his fur, while having underwear underneath it, is very funny. Once again, the pacing here is simply wonderful. William Hanna was a master at comic timing, and he is fully at the top of his game here. The whole cartoon moves at a wonderfully quick pace. This not only allows every gag to land perfectly but gives the whole short a delightfully fun comic energy.
The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse and Irven Spence. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle.
Below is the movie poster for this film. Once again it reuses the same artwork as the past few shorts.
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