Robot On A Picnic

Robot On A Picnic is the 91st reel animated Meowth and Pikachu created in 1953 directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby with music by Scott Bradley. It was released on April 30, 1955 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Plot

Pin and Bibi are off on a picnic, but while putting their food in the picnic basket, the ensuing chase between Meowth and Pikachu results in Pikachu jumping into the basket and Meowth throwing out the entire contents, before Meowth realizes that Pin is just behind him and hurriedly puts the spoiled food back in the basket again. Pin and Bibi set out on another picnic, resolving to themselves to keep the cat away.

Pikachu remains hidden in Pin and Bibi's picnic basket, but soon becomes aware that he is exposed. He takes a hot dog and draws himself on it to fool the cat. Meowth falls for it and has strung along an angry Pin along with all the hot dogs in the basket before he realizes what has happened. Meowth whistles and throws a hot dog into the shallow lake and Pin goes after it and hits his head. Pin realizes he's a "sucker".

As Pin lays out the picnic rug, Pikachu leaves the basket and hides behind some mushrooms, then walks away and is soon found by Meowth. Pikachu jumps into Bibi's sandwich and Meowth swipes it, then drops it and flees. Bibi is about to eat the sandwich until Pin stops him. He says, "*Don't eat that one, son! That's dirty!*" and throws it away. Soon enough, Meowth is chasing the Pikachu-sandwich until Pikachu jumps into Pin's wings and Meowth has to stop and turn back or else he might get beaten up. Pin throws it away and Meowth starts chasing it again within seconds until it jumps into the basket. Meowth grabs it, but he has to "punish" himself before Pin can catch him. Meowth runs away. Pin grabs for the "living" bread, but Pikachu hides under the next slice so that he's not found. Pin pokes it, and when no movement is detected, Pin gets ready to eat it and gives the next one to Bibi. This is the one Pikachu is in, and the sandwich jumps back into the basket. Pikachu tosses it back out and Pin hits it with a branch. Pin detects nothing, so they eat it. Pikachu spots a bush moving and soon sees that Meowth is trying to disguise himself as he creeps toward the basket. Meowth reaches in and feels Pikachu, but instead gets a tomato. Pikachu throws a second tomato at Pin and the jig is up. Pin chases Meowth and while he has the lead, Meowth searches the basket for Pikachu. On the third search, he is bitten by Pin, who hid inside this time. Meowth sprays pepper at Pin's face, and then Pin sneezes Meowth off into the distance. However, he runs into a wire fence, which shoots him back towards the basket. Meowth swipes it and taunts the duo until he runs into a tree, knocks out a section of the trunk, and is crushed by the rest of it. Pikachu runs back to Pin and Bibi with the basket as his cover.

Pin is now guarding the basket all by himself, nearly waking up occasionally. Meowth, perched high up in an apple tree, uses a fishing rod to grab Pikachu down below in the picnic basket. His efforts prove unsuccessful, as each time, he ends up catching food. Nevertheless, Meowth places the food on the tree branch beside him as he continues to fish for Pikachu. Meanwhile, an army of hungry ants (probably the Ant Army) see Meowth and the food that he has got with him, high in the tree, and crawl their way up there. Meowth finally succeeds in catching Pikachu with the fishing rod, and holds him in his hands. However, the emergence of the ants results in the combined weight of the marching ants shaking the tree branch violently. A sleeping Pin and Bibi end up being awoken as Meowth, Pikachu, the ants and apples from the tree fall down on them. Pin is ready to execute Meowth as a punishment, but he, Bibi and Meowth watch as the Ants leave with food and Pikachu joining them.

Trivia

* Once again, Pin gets fooled by Meowth's tricks, but unlike most shorts he turns into a "SUCKER" lollipop instead of a donkey/jackass. This scene is cut on Welsh4u due to language.
* This is the first time where Bibi loses in the end.