It wouldn't be the holidays without the Garfield specials. I don't remember when it was that I first saw these shows, but I always looked forward to them each year. This DVD collects the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas specials all in one place. Now I don't have to sit through commercials, plus I can watch them whenever I want without having to wait for the holiday's to role around each year.
The three specials all feature a simple story, very much in the tradition from its origins on the funny pages. In addition to the simplistic story, they each employ a minimalistic approach to the animation. The backgrounds are basic, movements are kept to a minimum, the colors are bright and colorful. They do add music to the Garfield world, each special features some original songs combining Garfield's innate character traits with the subject of the holiday.
The first episode presented is Halloween. The tale follows Garfield as he plans the evening's festivities, keeping purely focused on the gathering of candy, candy, candy, candy... ahem, and getting as much of it as he can, to the point of employing Odie in his schemes. They go searching through Jon's old stuff in search of a costume, settling on a pirate look. Night falls and Garfield and Odie make their way out to capture their spoils. Their greed gets the best of them as they try for another section of town, only to get wrapped up in a ghostly adventure which shows them the true meaning of friendship, and how greed is not a good thing. The whole thing is told with Garfield's dry, sarcastic wit delivered by Lorenzo Music.
Next up is the Thanksgiving episode. This time around we get more of Jon, as he takes Garfield to the vet. He wheedles a date out of the veterinarian, who will always be the object of his affections. Garfield's biggest problem is dealing with a diet, it severely impacts one of his favorite pastimes, eating! Anyway, the day comes and Jon is making dinner, which for a bachelor living alone with two pets is no easy feat. He ends up enlisting help from his family, specifically his grandmother. The gang learns about being thankful for what one has.
Article comments
1 - Andertoons
To be fair, I haven't seen this, but somehow I can't find myself attreacted to Garfield showing me "the true meaning of friendship." I'd be much happier if he showed me the true meaning uf funny.
2 - Justene
This review was chosen for Advance.net. You will be able to find it on newspaper sites including Cleveland.com.