Butch

Origin

Butch first appeared in animation, debuting in the animated short “Bone Trouble” (June 28, 1940), where Pluto tried to steal his bone. Since then, he has served as an antagonist for Pluto. Butch also appeared in the newspaper comic strip, but he would not appear in a comic book until 1953. Since then, another primary conflict between him and Pluto is the affection of Dinah the Dachshund.

In Other Media

Back in animation, Butch became a frequent opponent for Pluto. His animated appearances include:

• “Bone Trouble” (June 28, 1940).
• “T-Bone for Two” (August 14, 1942).
• “Canine Casanova” (July 27, 1945).
• “Pluto’s Kid Brother” (April 12, 1946).
• “The Purloined Pup” (July 19, 1946).
• “Pluto’s House Warming” (February 12, 1947).
• “Figaro and Frankie” (May 30, 1947).
• “Pluto’s Puchase” (July 9, 1948).
• “Pluto’s Sweater” (April 29, 1949).
• “Pluto’s Heart Throb” (January 6, 1950).
• “Wonder Dog” (April 7, 1950).

Bone Trouble

The plot was relatively simple. Pluto was hungry and his food bowl was empty. He decided to sneak into the neighbor’s yard and steal a bone from the sleeping Butch. The bulldog woke up and angrily chased the thief through the city streets. The two ended up in a carnival, where Pluto sneaked in the Hall of Mirrors and had fun with the various distorted reflections of himself, then used the mirrors to trick Butch and scare him away.

Figaro and Frankie

Figaro the cat is owned by Minnie Mouse in this short, along with the canary Frankie. By all appearances, Figaro had eaten Frankie, causing Minnie to drive him out in a rage. In truth, Frankie had been hiding behind a curtain, and tried to fly out the window, but instead slowly began to fall toward Figaro’s open mouth. Before Figaro could catch the bird, Butch appeared behind Figaro, driving him up to the window sill. Frankie landed on Butch’s nose instead, who also tried to attack the bird. Frankie was caught with his weak wings inbetween the dog on the ground and the cat in the window, until Figaro had a crisis of conscience (being smacked by his shoulder angel’s halo) and pushed a flower pot onto Butch’s head, driving him away.