Butch (formerly known as Spike) is an animated cartoon character created by American animator Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Portrayed as an anthropomorphic Irish bulldog, the character was a recurring antagonist in the Droopy shorts, and appeared in his own series of solo shorts as well.
History A prototype of Butch first appeared in the 1949 short Bad Luck Blackie directed by Tex Avery where he antagonises a small kitten. In this short, he was designed as a large grey bulldog with a spiky collar and a hench build similar to that of Spike from the Tom and Jerry shorts. He would officially debut in the same year in the short Wags to Riches in his finalised design, being tan colored and slightly more anthropomorphised, where he would take on the role as Droopy's rival. From there on, Avery would continue regularly pitting the character against Droopy as well as featuring him in his own shorts such as being pitted against Blackie Cat (The Counterfeit Cat, 1949 and Ventriloquist Cat, 1950), a gopher (Garden Gopher, 1951) and keeping watch of a sleeping bear (Rock-A-Bye Bear, 1952). His name was officially changed to Butch in 1955's Deputy Droopy as he was occasionally referred to as Spike. This change was made to avoid confusion with Spike from the Tom and Jerry cartoons (ironically the name Butch is also used in the Tom and Jerry cartoons for the name of a rival alley cat). All of the original 1940s and 1950s shorts were directed by Avery and Michael Lah at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio.Adamson, Joe, Tex Avery: King of Cartoons, 1975, Da Capo Press Butch would not appear in new material again until Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring in 2002.
Filmography # Title Release date DirectorProduced by Notes1 Bad Luck Blackie January 22, 1949 Tex AveryFred Quimby Prototype.2Wags to Riches August 13, 1949First appearance with Droopy. Academy Award shortlisted cartoon.3 The Counterfeit Cat December 24, 1949 4 Ventriloquist Cat May 27, 1950 5 Garden Gopher September 30, 1950 6The Chump ChampNovember 4, 19507 Cock-a-Doodle Dog February 10, 1951 8Daredevil DroopyMarch 31, 19519Droopy's Good DeedMay 5, 195110Droopy's Double TroubleNovember 17, 195111 Magical Maestro February 9, 1952 Named as Poochini.12 Rock-a-Bye Bear July 12, 1952 13Deputy Droopy October 29, 195514 Cellbound November 25, 1955 15Millionaire DroopySeptember 21, 1956Tex Avery, Michael Lah (Uncredited)William Hanna Joseph BarberaA CinemaScope remake of Wags to Riches. Despite Avery being credited, he had no involvement in this short.16 Cat's Meow January 25, 1957 Tex Avery, Michael Lah (Uncredited) A CinemaScope remake of Ventriloquist Cat. Final short where he isn't paired with Droopy.17Grin and Share ItMay 17, 1957Michael Lah18One Droopy KnightDecember 6, 1957Michael LahA pseudo-remake of Señor Droopy, Academy Award nominee.19Mutts About RacingApril 4, 1958Michael Lah20Droopy LeprechaunJuly 4, 1958Michael LahFinal Golden Age appearance.
Later appearances Butch would re-appear in the Tom and Jerry direct-to-DVD films throughout the 2000s such as Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring as an antagonist and Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, alongside Droopy.
His latest appearance was in 2014's The Tom and Jerry Show. He appeared in the episode "Double Dog Trouble", where Spike and Butch are two separate characters who are twins, in order to poke at the character's retitling, while detectives Tom and Jerry mistake each one for the other after Spike buys a room at the town's motel.
Voice actors Tex Avery (Bad Luck Blackie, Wags to Riches, The Counterfeit Cat, Ventriloquist Cat, Garden Gopher, Cock-a-Doodle Dog, Daredevil Droopy, Droopy's Good Deed, Magical Maestro, Rock-a-Bye Bear, Millionaire Droopy, Cat's Meow) William Hanna (screaming in Wags to Riches, Garden Gopher, Rock-a-Bye Bear, Cellbound and Millionaire Droopy) Sara Berner (laughing in Wags to Riches, Garden Gopher, Rock-a-Bye Bear and Millionaire Droopy, screaming in Wags to Riches and Millionaire Droopy) Daws Butler (The Chump Champ, Droopy's Double Trouble) Bill Thompson (Droopy's Double Trouble, Grin and Share It, One Droopy Knight, Mutts About Racing, Droopy Leprechaun) Carlos Julio Ramírez (Magical Maestro) Frank Ross (Magical Maestro) Mary Kaye (Magical Maestro) Paul Frees (Magical Maestro, Cellbound) Norman Kaye (Magical Maestro) Mel Blanc (sneezing in Rock-a-Bye Bear (reused from The Hungry Wolf)) Jeff Bergman (Cartoon Network bumper, Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes) Jim Cummings (Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring) Joe Alaskey (Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz) Bill Farmer (The Tom and Jerry Show)
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