Barbecue Brawl

"Son, now you know why dogs hate cats!"

So says "Spike" to his little bulldog pup "Tyke" after Tom winds up in the salad bowl. All Spike is trying to do is have a barbecue with some steak and salad, but Tom keeps interrupting by chasing Jerry, who hides in the salad bowl, bag of charcoal, etc., and Tom blindly disrupts things always forgetting Spike is there.

This cartoon theme is similar - too similar - to another Tom and Jerry animated short in the '50s, called "Pup On A Picnic." In that one, Spike takes his pride-and-joy, baby bulldog "Tyke," on a picnic out in the woods. In this cartoon, he's preparing a barbecue out in the backyard. The material in both cartoons is basically the same. This is really noticeable when you're viewing these on the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume Three, which I was, because they come almost back-to-back.

Even the endings on both cartoons feature the same twist: a army of ants (complete with trumpeter), invading the premises and stealing the food.

So....overall, not bad but too much of a rip-off of the other cartoon. Were the writers running out of ideas?