Pup on a Picnic

Pup on a Picnic is a 1955 one reel animated Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence, with backgrounds by Robert Gentle. It was released on April 30, 1955 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Plot
Spike and Tyke are off on a picnic, but while putting their food in the picnic basket, the ensuing chase between Tom and Jerry results in Jerry jumping into the basket and Tom throwing out the entire contents, before Tom realizes that Spike is just behind him and hurriedly puts the spoiled food back in the basket again. Spike and Tyke set out on another picnic, resolving to themselves to keep the cat away.

Jerry remains hidden in Spike and Tyke's picnic basket, but soon becomes aware that he is exposed. He takes a hot dog and draws a likeness of himself on it to fool the cat. Tom falls for it and has strung along an angry Spike along with all the hot dogs in the basket before he realizes what has happened. Tom whistles and throws a hot dog into the pool and Spike goes after it and hits his head. Spike realizes he's a "sucker".

As Spike lays out the picnic rug, Jerry leaves the basket and hides behind some mushrooms, then walks away and is soon found by Tom. Jerry jumps into Tyke's sandwich and Tom swipes it, then drops it and flees. Tyke is about to eat the sandwich until Spike stops him. He says, "Don't eat that one, son! It's dirty!" and throws it away. Soon enough, Tom is chasing the Jerry-sandwich until Jerry jumps into Spike's hands and Tom has to stop and turn back or else he might get beaten up. Spike throws it away and Tom starts chasing it again within seconds until it jumps into the basket. Tom grabs it, but he has to "punish" himself before Spike can catch him. Tom runs away. Spike grabs for the "living" bread, but Jerry hides under the next slice so that he's not found. Spike pokes it, and when no movement is detected, Spike gets ready to eat it and gives the next one to Tyke. This is the one Jerry is in, and the sandwich jumps back into the basket. Jerry tosses it back out and Spike hits it with a branch. Spike detects nothing, so they eat it. Jerry spots a bush moving and soon sees that Tom is trying to disguise himself as he creeps toward the basket. Tom reaches in and feels Jerry, but instead gets a tomato. Jerry throws a second tomato at Spike and the jig is up. Spike chases Tom and while he has the lead, Tom searches the basket for Jerry. On the third search, he is bitten by Spike, who hid inside this time. Tom sprays pepper at Spike's face, and then Spike sneezes Tom off into the distance. However, he runs into a wire fence, which shoots him back towards the basket. Tom swipes it and taunts the dogs until he runs into a tree, knocks out a section of the trunk, and is crushed by the rest of it. Jerry runs back to Spike and Tyke with the basket as his cover.

Spike is now guarding the basket all by himself, nearly waking up occasionally. Tom, perched high up in an apple tree, uses a fishing rod to grab Jerry down below in the picnic basket. His efforts prove unsuccessful, as each time, he ends up catching food. Nevertheless, Tom places the food on the tree branch beside him as he continues to fish for Jerry. Meanwhile, an army of hungry ants (probably the Ant Army) see Tom and the food that he has got with him, high in the tree, and crawl their way up there. Tom finally succeeds in catching Jerry with the fishing rod, and holds him delightfully in his hands. However, the emergence of the ants results in the combined weight of the marching ants shaking the tree branch violently. A sleeping Spike and Tyke end up being awoken as Tom, Jerry, the ants and a barrage of apples fall out of the tree and topple them. Spike is ready to execute Tom as a punishment, as both characters (and Tyke) watch the food being taken away by the ants, with Jerry waving from inside a sandwich being carted off by several of the ants.

Availability
DVD
 * Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3, Disc Two