Spike Bulldog is the deuteragonist of the Tom & Jerry franchise, he was gray rough bulldog that appears in many of Tom and Jerry cartoons. He has a somewhat minor friendship with Jerry and is a formidable enemy to Tom, though he is occasionally a rival to both protagonists, as he was in the short Dog Trouble.
He is also one of the two main protagnosts of the short lived series called Spike and Tyke.
History[]
Tom and Jerry original shorts[]
Spike made his early appearance as an unnamed Bulldog in the 1942 Tom and Jerry cartoon, Dog Trouble, he appears as a somewhat realistically designed mute bulldog. In his first named appearance and his first speaking role was in The Bodyguard (1944), where he was voiced by Billy Bletcher, he also appears to being an anthropomorphic bulldog. Spike was voiced by Bletcher until 1949, from which point he was voiced by Patrick McGeehan, Jerry Mann, Bob Shamrock, John Brown, Stan Freberg, and Daws Butler, with a thick New Yorker accent similar to Jimmy Durante's.
In his early appearance in Dog Trouble, Spike as an unnamed Bulldog as the short's antagonist, chasing and attacking both Tom and Jerry on sight, even trying to eat Jerry, which forced the two to work together to defeat him. However, in his second appearance in The Bodyguard, after Jerry willingly saved him from being poached in a dogcatcher truck, he became Jerry's protector whenever needed. In all subsequent shorts, Spike becomes typecast as the stereotypical dumb brute who is always duped into becoming a shield for Jerry from Tom. It is only in two episodes where Jerry gets Spike out of a jam and the dog willingly protects him from Tom in well-earned gratitude (The Bodyguard and Fit to Be Tied). On most occasions, Jerry causes trouble for Tom by luring him near Spike and harming him to get him angry, and in some cartoons when it's perfectly obvious that Tom is not responsible, as seen in The Invisible Mouse, Spike still blames Tom and hurts him instead of Jerry. Only on one occasion does Jerry fail to frame Tom, in Hic-Cup Pup where Tom unintentionally cures Spike and Tyke's hiccups, and Spike shakes Tom's hand.
Spike, however, is not without a softer and sympathetic side: in the episode Pet Peeve, after believing that Tom is willing to leave the house in Spike's favour, Spike feels sorry for him to the point that he offers to leave instead, which Spike does until he realises that Tom is only using reverse psychology to trick him into leaving. In The Truce Hurts, Spike is portrayed as a very intelligent and equilibrated character when he convinces Tom and Jerry to stop the fighting among the three of them and sign a Peace Treaty, but their newfound friendship comes to an end when they argue over how to share a big steak, symbolised when Spike tears the truce contract to shreds and they go back to fighting again after Tom accidentally threw the steak into the sewer drain. From the 1944 cartoon The Bodyguard to 1948 cartoon Heavenly Puss, he was voiced by Billy Bletcher. His first name is Bulldog in Dog Trouble, His name also varies in some shorts: in Puttin' on the Dog, Solid Serenade and Cat Fishin' he is named "Killer", and in The Truce Hurts he signs his name "Butch" on the treaty peace paper.
After Dog Trouble, Spike has appeared as a solo guest in Tom and Jerry cartoons for the next several years; his son Tyke was introduced in 1949, with Love That Pup.
Spike's later years and Tyke's debut[]
In Tom's later attempts to catch Jerry, he has to deal with Spike for bothering his son. In 1949's Love That Pup, Spike was given a puppy son, Tyke, who became another popular supporting character in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. His voice was taken over by Daws Butler, who styled Spike's voice after Jimmy Durante taking after his 1940s radio series with Garry Moore. He is named Spike from then on and is not changed again. When Tyke is introduced, Spike is given a softer approach (mainly towards his son) and is kinder and less aggressive, but is still portrayed as a dumb animal on more than one occasion. Spike's love and affection towards Tyke becomes Jerry's newest weapon against Tom, as his strategy goes from luring Tom towards Spike to inflicting harm on Tyke, and even when it is perfectly obvious that Jerry is responsible and not Tom, as seen in Love That Pup. Spike fails to notice this and still blames Tom (although this can be partially due to Spike's dislike of Tom).
A short-lived Spike and Tyke cartoon series was produced by MGM in 1957; only two entries were completed. Within a year, the MGM cartoon studio had shut down, and Hanna and Barbera took Spike and Tyke and retooled them to create one of the first television successes for Hanna-Barbera Productions, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy.
Later Apperances[]
Spikewould not appear in new Tom and Jerry cartoons, until the 1970s The Tom and Jerry Show, the 1980s The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, and 1990s Tom & Jerry Kids (in which Tom and Jerry themselves were made younger, but Spike and Tyke remained the same ages, and appeared both with Tom and Jerry, and in new episodes of their own with a girlfriend for Tyke). He had also made a cameo in the 1967 MGM Animation/Visual Arts production Matinee Mouse, which reused footage from Love that Pup and The Truce Hurts, and added some new animation in the final punchline. Spike would continue to appear in Tom and Jerry full-length features released in the early 2000s and finally, Tom and Jerry Tales.
Spike appear as a regular in the recent reboot series.
Spike made an appearance in the 2021 film, Tom & Jerry under the ownership of Ben. He was voiced by Bobby Cannavale.He also made a cameo appearance as a Toontown police officer in the very final scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit - he is viewed from the back, alongside Pete and Horace Horsecollar in security uniforms, just before Porky Pig and Tinkerbell close the movie.
Appearances[]
- "Dog Trouble" (1942)
- "War Dogs" (1943) (cameo)
- "The Bodyguard" (1944)
- "Puttin' on the Dog" (1944)
- "Quiet Please!" (1945)
- "Solid Serenade" (1946)
- "Cat Fishin'" (1947)
- "The Invisible Mouse" (1947)
- "The Truce Hurts" (1948)
- "Heavenly Puss" (1949)
- "Love That Pup" (1949)
- "The Framed Cat" (1950)
- "Slicked-up Pup" (1951)
- "Cat Napping" (1951)
- "Fit to Be Tied" (1952)
- "The Dog House" (1952)
- "That's My Pup!" (1953)
- "Two Little Indians" (1953)
- "Life with Tom" (1953)
- "The Three Little Pups" (1953) (cameo)
- "Hic-cup Pup" (1954)
- "Pet Peeve" (1954)
- "Pup on a Picnic" (1955)
- "Smarty Cat" (1955)
- "Barbecue Brawl" (1956)
- "Give and Tyke" (1957)
- "Tops with Pops" (1957)
- "Scat Cats" (1957)
- "Tom's Photo Finish" (1957)
- "Tot Watchers" (1958) (cameo)
- "Matinee Mouse" (1966)