Puppy Tale is a 1954 Tom and Jerry cartoon directed by Hanna-Barbera.
One night, Jerry sees a motorcar throw a bag into the river. After fishing it out, he finds it is full of puppies. When one of the pups takes to him, Jerry decides to bring it home. Unfortunately, it's too big to fit through his mouse hole, so Jerry has to sneak the puppy through the front door. This proves to be difficult as Jerry is forced to keep Tom from noticing the puppy, which is further complicated when the pup gets into Tom's milk and bed.
Tropes appearing in this cartoon:
- Blanket Tug O' War: When the puppy falls asleep in Tom's bed, it ends up taking his entire blanket. This results in Tom waking up with a sneeze.
- Drowning Unwanted Pets: The cartoon begins with someone in a car throwing a bag of puppies into a river. Jerry sees this and rescues them, and one decides to follow him home.
- Go Fetch: In an attempt to get rid of the puppy, Jerry threw a stick for it to fetch. Unfortunately, while chasing after it, the puppy went over a hill and nearly fell in the river, requiring Jerry to save it.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: The second time Tom throws the puppy out, it lands in an empty milk bottle, requiring Jerry to use a blind cord to pull it out.
- Imagine Spot: While ridden with guilt, Tom imagines Jerry and the puppy getting swept away by the storm. When the two are heading for a storm drain, he impulsively reaches up to grab them.
- Metaphoric Metamorphosis: Tom imagines himself turning into a skunk when he remembers throwing Jerry and the pup out into the rain.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In one of his rare moments, Tom becomes overcome with guilt for throwing out Jerry and the puppy when he sees it storming and goes out to save them.
- Precious Puppy: The puppy that Jerry adopts, as well as its lookalike siblings.
- Rescue Reversal: Wracked with guilt, Tom went out into the storm to save Jerry and the puppy, unaware that they were taking shelter underneath the house. During his search, he ends up getting blown off the bridge into the river, with Jerry and the puppy being the ones to save him.
- Running Gag: The puppy really enjoys slurping either Tom or Jerry.
- Slippery Skid: While chasing Jerry and the puppy in a circle, Tom eventually picks up a bar of soap and places it in Jerry's path before waiting for him to come around. Sure enough, Jerry ends up stepping on it, causing him and the puppy to slide out the door.
- Suddenly Voiced: Tom can clearly be heard yelling "Help!" when he gets caught in the flood.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: After the pup helps save his life, Tom agrees to let it stay. The puppy even invites the rest of its siblings. Even Tom's heart melts at this.
