Baby Butch

Infobox Hollywood cartoon
cartoon_name = Baby Butch
series = Tom and Jerry


caption = The title card of "Baby Butch"
director = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
story_artist = William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
animator = Irven Spence
Kenneth Muse
Ed Barge
background_artist = Vera Ohman
voice_actor =
musician = Scott Bradley
producer = Fred Quimby
distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
studio = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
release_date = August 14, 1954
color_process = Technicolor
runtime = 7 minutes 9 seconds
movie_language = English
imdb_id = 0046740
preceded_by = "Little School Mouse"
followed_by = "Mice Follies"

"Baby Butch" is the 84th one reel animated "Tom and Jerry" short, created in 1953 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. The cartoon was animated by Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge with backgrounds by Vera Ohman. It was released on August 14, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Plot

Down a dirty alleyway, Butch the alley cat is scavenging for food, taking leftover food from dustbins and putting them in a rather dilapidated shopping cart. Just then, he spots a bottle of milk by a doorstep. As Butch approaches the house, Tom replaces the milk bottle with an empty one just before Butch grabs it. Butch angrily looks for more food to steal. He first spots a nice leg of ham by the windowsill. As he attempts to snatch it, Tom inside the house takes it without even seeing Butch, and closes the window right on Butch's hands. Butch sees a huge refrigerator and makes plans to reach it.

Butch then has an idea. He dresses as a baby, and finds a discarded cradle to use. Planning to enter the house under the disguise of a baby, he knocks on Tom's door and cries out. The door is opened by a curious Tom who sees the abandoned "baby" and reads a note resting on Baby Butch's body: "I AM A POOR HUNGRY WAIF. FEED ME."

Tom takes the cradle into the house, and walks offscreen to fetch some milk. While Tom is gone, Butch runs to the kitchen and snatches the ham from the refrigerator. Running back to the living room, Butch is about to sink his teeth into the ham, when Tom returns with a bottle of milk. Butch hides the ham behind a sofa. Tom feeds Butch the milk, soon realising he has been given milk and yells "MILK!". (leaving the audience to wonder why he tried to snatch the bottle in the first place), before realizing that he might have blown his cover. Butch resumes drinking, as Tom leaves.

Butch gets out of the cradle to look for his ham, but Jerry has taken it. Butch grabs the ham off Jerry and hits him over the head with it.

Butch is about to gobble the ham again when Tom returns. Butch hides the ham under the cradle and resumes drinking his milk. Tom picks Butch up and pats him in order to get him to burp. Butch says "BURP!" and Tom puts Butch back in the cradle again, walking off. Jerry then takes the ham again.

Tom has prepared a jacuzzi for Butch, but Butch spots Jerry stealing the ham again and bops him a second time. Yet again, Butch must hide the ham as Tom approaches; this time he wraps the ham in the cradle and hides "under" the cradle. Tom fills the jacuzzi and takes the ham over to it, but Butch replaces it with himself before Tom can process what he has seen. Jerry takes the ham for the third time as Tom drops Butch in the boiling water. Butch screams in pain and drops back down in, sending Tom headfirst into the jacuzzi. Butch chases after Jerry and bonks his head on a desk. A bump forms on his head and unties the bib on his head, potentially exposing himself. As Tom approaches him, Butch cries and points to Jerry leaving with the ham; this distraction allows him to retie his bib. Butch then hides in the refrigerator.

Tom catches up with Jerry and returns the ham to the refrigerator, but instead he has put it in Butch's mouth. He retrieves it before Butch can chomp on it. Butch asks in baby-talk for the ham, but Tom places it on the counter and takes Butch back to the living room; however Butch takes the ham, followed by Jerry for the fourth time. Butch cries out again.

Tom chases Jerry and the ham, while Butch swipes the ham when Jerry passes him. Tom continues the chase until Jerry stops him and points towards Butch cleaning out the refrigerator. He gets ready to eat the ham, but Tom takes it. They fight over the ham until Butch slams the door in Tom's face and steals the ham. Butch flees and reveals himself, but Jerry closes the bottom section of the door such that all the food stays in and Butch is thrown out.

Tom cuts up some of the ham for Jerry and for himself until Butch, through the window, asks for some ham in baby talk. Tom allows him to cut his own and Butch cuts a tiny sliver.......and then chomps down on the rest of it while Tom and Jerry fight him.