I enjoyed Garfield when I was growing up, but Beth was a much bigger fan than I was. We’ve watched a few of the fat cat’s television specials together, but she decided we should watch all of them in order, with some exceptions for seasonal ones. These are four of the first five, as I’ve already written about Garfield’s Halloween Adventure. I know I’d seen at least two of these before, so they were pretty nostalgic for me.
Here Comes Garfield – The first Garfield special, from 1982, when Garfield’s design was mostly the same as it is now, but somewhat more feline, especially in his movements. The main plot involves Odie being caught by the dog catcher when he and Garfield are messing with a neighbor’s dog, and Garfield trying to get him out. The structure is a little weird, though, as the cat still finds time to eat and play with food (which Jon apparently left lying out on the table for some reason) before doing anything about it himself.
Jon is also unaware, not understanding Garfield’s attempts to communicate with him, and not being concerned that Odie hadn’t come back inside before he goes to bed. That probably reflects an earlier approach toward pet care, where people just left their pets outside overnight and didn’t think anything of it. As is typical in cartoons, the pound is shown as a prison for cats and dogs, with all the usual unsavory characters. A cat named Fast Eddy tells Garfield that Odie only has until dawn to be claimed before he’s euthanized (although of course that wasn’t spelled out).
How long has he been in there? Why would Odie be particularly unlucky in this respect? Regardless, there’s a mass jailbreak, and the two get home without Jon realizing anything had happened. It’s interesting how sentimental this special gets, mostly with Garfield realizing he really does love Odie, showing some flashbacks to how they met (with no Lyman, so I guess it was a retcon).
Garfield on the Town – When Jon is taking Garfield to the vet, the cat falls out of the car while struggling. He encounters the Claws, a gang of tough cats, some of whom have weird designs.
Hiding from them in a defunct Italian restaurant, he has a touching reunion with his mother, and meets some of his other relatives as well. His mother is voiced by Sandi Huge, who was married at the time to Thom Huge, the voice of Jon (except in Here Comes Garfield). Garfield’s sickly brother Raoul has the voice of George Wendt, Norm from Cheers.
And his grandfather is voiced by the same guy as the weird old man in the Halloween special.
Anyway, the Claws get into a fight with Garfield’s family, who fight them off while our protagonist cowers on the floor. Everyone agrees that Garfield, who isn’t cut out for fighting or catching mice, is better off going home. Jon and Odie eventually manage to find him after he’s collapsed on the sidewalk. I believe this is the first animated appearance of Liz, although it’s a small part and Jon doesn’t try to hit on her this time. There was one scene in Jon’s house that had some unusual pictures on the wall, presumably to fill out the background.
Garfield in the Rough – This one starts out in black and white, reflecting how the color has gone out of Garfield and Jon’s lives. Jon decides to go on vacation, and Garfield has a few fantasies of places they could go, only to find out they’re going camping. Jon sings two songs during the course of the special, one with Garfield making sarcastic asides, and that’s the main thing I remembered from when I saw this as a kid. There’s a very similar song sequence in the Christmas special. There’s also a reappearance of the song “So Long Old Friend” from Here Comes Garfield, played on the radio as “fun music.” The campground is at Lake Wobegon, presumably a Garrison Keillor reference. At the park, there are some nice watercolor backgrounds, and a brief appearance by a rabbit and a beaver, voiced by Orson Bean (the Rankin/Bass Bilbo Baggins and a To Tell the Truth participant) and Hal Smith (Otis from Andy Griffith and sometime voice of Winnie-the-Pooh and Owl), respectively.
A panther has wandered into the campground, and its design makes it look like it’s wandered in from a different comic as well.
Garfield, despite his normal cowardice and selfishness, distracts the panther long enough for the rangers to tranquilize it, and it ends with Jon and his pets driving away.
Garfield in Paradise – This is one I remember seeing more than once as a kid, and a kid in my class had the book version. None of it takes place at Jon’s house, instead starting on a plane, which Jon and Garfield are taking to Paradise World, sort of a discount version of Hawaii. Jon dresses Garfield as his son so he doesn’t have to ride in the baggage compartment, and somehow it works. And if you’re wondering where Odie is in all this, he’s stowing away in Jon’s luggage. Frank Nelson appears as two brothers on the island, one running a motel and the other a car rental agency, both of them using Nelson’s famous “Yeeeeeeeees?”
And Wolfman Jack voices the chief of a native tribe with a variety of skin tones, and a society based on 1950s American culture, including worshipping the convertible Jon rented.
Their chant of “chrome” really stuck with me over the years. They speak English, although the shaman, whose name is Pigeon, talks in nonsensical rambling including fifties slang and stereotypical Hawaiian expressions. Jon and Garfield both get temporary love interests in the chief’s daughter and her cat. In order to stop an erupting volcano, the local mechanic has to drive the car into the crater, with Odie lying on the hood. They both survive, although there’s a minute where it looks like they don’t, allowing for Garfield to have one of his sensitive moments. It ends with everyone in the village celebrating. This one also has a fantasy sequence during the opening credits, with the cat performing in Hawaii as Garfield Ho. And again, the exotic setting includes some pretty backgrounds.
VoVatia 