Baby Butch is an animated Tom and Jerry short released on August 14, 1954 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby.
The episode begins with Butch the black cat looking for food among the trash cans during night for dinner. He grabs a disposed baby car and starts grabbing some empty cans and other things with barely any food left along the way... until he approaches the house where Tom lives. After failing to grab a bottle full of milk (Tom just happened to open the door to grab it and then put an empty bottle in its place), Butch notices a big, very appetizing ham near the window. When he couldn't directly grab that either, he comes up with the plan of disguising as a baby so Tom can receive him as such and thus infiltrate with the purpose of finding that ham to eat it whole.
This short was reissued on September 1959.
This animated feature provides examples of:
- The Bad Guy Wins: Butch manages to best Tom and Jerry in the end by swiping the ham that they had been keeping him from getting throughout the episode by making it look like he'll only take a small portion before getting the whole thing and eating it while holding the duo back.
- Cranial Eruption: At one point, the eponymous cat (while disguised as a baby) chases Jerry to take a big chunk of jam away from him, only to end up banging his head on a cabinet. As a result, a very tall bump erects from his head, enough to take his (fake) baby hat off and potentially expose his real identity.
- Cut a Slice, Take the Rest: At the end of the episode, Butch the alley cat cuts a small slice of ham for Tom and Jerry each, then takes the rest for himself.
- Does Not Like Spam: During the start of the episode, Butch spots a bottle of milk next to the entrance to Tom's house; he tries to grab it but fails. When he disguises as a baby and Tom offers him a feeding bottle full of milk, he starts drinking it until he realizes he doesn't actually like it at all and hastily spits it. However, he then realizes that not drinking the milk would blow his cover, so he proceeds to drink it again anyways.
- The Door Slams You: Near the end of the episode, Tom and Butch are disputing a big chunk of ham via grab-of-war. Unable to outsmart Tom, Butch violently opens the fridge that is in front of them to hit him in the face with the door.
- Doorstop Baby: Butch disguises as an abandoned baby and puts himself into a crib before knocking on the entrance door of Tom's house. Tom, none the wiser, opens the door and welcomes the "baby" with open arms. All of this is part of Butch's plan to infiltrate into the house to look for a big piece of ham to eat it.
- Fingore: During the start, Butch tries to grab a big chunk of ham placed next to a window from outside Tom's house. Just when he puts his fingers inside, an unsuspecting Tom closes the window, resulting in Butch's fingers being crushed and exaggeratedly swollen, shimmering in pain.
- Pull the Thread: This is how Jerry realizes that the "baby" Tom has been raising (Butch) is anything but. During the course of the episode, Tom is consistently fooled by Butch (who only disguises as a baby so he can snatch a sought-after big chunk of ham); Jerry, who happens to see the ham in the open (not knowing yet that Butch is hiding it from Tom), tries to take it for himself until Butch starts attacking him. Butch manages to prolong his farce by gaslighting Tom into thinking that Jerry tries to steal the meal. Realizing that the black cat is using blame-shifting to keep his cover intact, Jerry finally sees what Butch is up to and, while being chased by Tom, points at the "baby" trying to steal all the food from the house's fridge (not just the ham).
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Played with. Jerry notices that the "baby" Tom is raising is acting in very suspicious ways. A newborn kitten wouldn't try to steal a big chunk of ham, let alone be able to eat it whole; most importantly, a kitten wouldn't respond violently when that ham is taken away from them, nor would run in two legs (well, hind paws). It doesn't take too long for Jerry to realize that this "baby" is actually an adult cat pretending to be one.
- Wingding Eyes: After watching Tom put a ham into the fridge, the titular black cat's eyes balloon out into full refrigerators with open doors.