Garfield Holiday Specials

Some everyone's favorite fat cat's holiday moments.
On
January 02, 2012
The holidays maybe over but, since I was busy with preparing for them I didn't write a holiday themed article so here I go now. Let's talk about Garfield holiday specials. The specials I will be talking about in this holiday themed article is "Garfield's Halloween Adventure," "Garfield's Thanksgiving," and "A Garfield Christmas." SPOILER ALERT WARNING: I WILL GIVE AWAY THE ENDINGS TO THE SPECIALS

"Garfield's Halloween Adventure" was first broadcasted on CBS on Oct. 30, 1985.



Halloween was so much fun as a kid. You go out and get candy that's all there is to it. I used to love dressing up in different costumes and getting a whole bunch of CANDY-CANDY-CANDY-CANDY. Well so does Garfield even though he is a cat. Garfield gets an idea that he can get dumb ole Odie to go with him and get twice the candy. Garfield tells Odie "If he does a good job he can get his very own piece."

Garfield must first decide what to wear. Garfield and Odie go up into the attic to look for some costumes. Garfield could be an astronaut, a robot, a hobo or clown. Or an alien creature going out on the town. Garfield decides that Odie and him should dress up as pirates. Garfield is "Orangebeard the Pirate" and Odie is his first mate "Odie the Stupid." Retrojunk writer Mr. Cleveland is right Odie does get the shaft a lot.

Garfield and Odie Trick-or-Treating



Well Odie and Garfield go trick-or-treating. In a cartoon that is plausible, but in real life a cat and dog would get sick from eating candy. After trick-or-treating Garfield finds a rowboat. Feeling venturous Garfield and Odie row down the river. Here is a fun fact the name on the back of the boat is "Carolyn" the name of Jim Davis' (the creator of Garfield) first wife. On the other side of the river there is an old house with a creepy old man.

This guy really has an eeriness to him



I just watched this episode on you tube and I still think that man is creepy and I'm not the only one who thinks so. The creepy old man tells Garfield and Odie that 100 years ago pirates were pursued by government troops had hidden treasure under the floorboards in that same house. They had each signed a contract written in blood to return for the treasure 100 years later at the stroke of midnight. Even if meant returning from the dead. He knows all this because he was a 10 year old cabin boy on that ship. There is no escaping them. They know were here. THEY KNOW WHO WE ARE. So then as Garfield and Odie are about to leave the old man takes off with the boat and the candy inside. So, The boat is gone, the candy is gone, dead pirates are coming any minute, It's past his bedtime, Garfield wants to go home.

Garfield and Odie escape the pirate ghosts by jumping into the river. Garfield can't swim so Odie saves his life. They find the rowboat with the candy untouched. Garfield being grateful for Odie saving his life gives Odie his share of the candy.

"Garfield's Halloween Adventure" is my second favorite Garfield Special the first is "Garfield Goes Hollywood" which I should have to write about sometime. Even though the creepy old man was creepy this special was a lot of fun. The songs "What Should I Be" and "Scaredy Cat" are a nice touch. Also there is a lot of fun gags leading up to the spooky parts. Overall "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" is pretty much perfect. I hardy call anything perfect by the way.

"Garfield's Thanksgiving" was first broadcast on CBS on Nov. 22, 1989.



Thanksgiving That's the day people celebrate food by eating as much of it as possible. That is what is to Garfield anyway. However due to the veterinarians orders Garfield is on a diet and can't enjoy Thanksgiving.

The day before Thanksgiving Jon takes Garfield to the vet. Garfield hates the vet and would prefer to not go there. At the vet Jon asks Liz the veterinarian to Thanksgiving dinner at his place. Liz says no at first. Jon holds his breath until he collapses and she finally says yes because she just can't stand to see a big dumb animal suffer referring to Jon.

Jon and Garfield with Liz the Veterinarian



On Thanksgiving Garfield starts his diet. A diet is the last thing Garfield wants. Garfield tries to sneak some food from the kitchen where Odie continuously catches him and literally blows the whistle on him. Later Jon starts the Turkey dinner in which he fails miserably. Jon has know idea what to do. Garfield keeps on bringing stuff that reminds Jon of Grandma, hoping he will call Grandma. Jon just doesn't get it until Garfield brings a picture of her. Meanwhile Liz comes over and determines that Garfield's diet may not be in his best interests and instead puts him on a mild exercise program. Grandma comes over and fixes Jon's horrible mistake of a dinner.

So now I know you use a chainsaw to cut the turkey

Jon stalls Liz with a boring lesson on the real meaning of Thanksgiving. Grandma fixes the dinner without Liz ever knowing that she was there. Then they all have a nice Thanksgiving dinner and Liz was pleased.

I haven't seen this special in awhile nor not as much as the Halloween or Christmas specials. Thanks to YouTube I was able to watch it again bringing back some memories. I especially like the the parts with Odie catching Garfield with the whistle and Jon finding just the right outfit. Garfield's Thanksgiving is very nice for the whole family.

"A Garfield Christmas" was first broadcast on CBS in Dec. 27, 1987.



This is my favorite of the Garfield holiday specials. This special is funny and it has a lot of heart.

Garfield wakes up on Christmas Eve morning from a dream about Christmas. In his dream Garfield got to eat his way from pan to pan of lasagna to get his special Christmas gift. The gift that literally keeps on giving. The gift is a gift giving machine shaped liked Santa Claus. It works like this: you sit on Santa's lap and then put on Santa's hat and think about what you want. The hat reads your mind and gift comes out of Santa's bag.

It's the gift that keeps on giving



Jon uses it to get a elf hat for his elf outfit. Garfield however uses it to get a whole mess of items that quickly fill up the room. When Garfield wakes up from his dream he is grumpy about having to leave to comfort of his home to go to see Jon's family down at the farm.

Jon with Dad and Doc Boy



Jon sees his family: Mom, Dad, his brother Doc Boy, Grandma, and well that's it. They eat Christmas Eve dinner. Then they decorate the tree. The family can't quite get the star on so they ask Garfield to climb up the tree and put it on. Then they light the tree, oohh so pretty and nice touch.

The family's reaction to the pretty Christmas tree lights



Afterwards Dad reads their favorite Christmas story "Binky Saves Christmas." This is where you see two grown men who were acting pretty grown-up til now start acting like little children. They even correct the reading of the words "Hey Kids" in the story. It should be read as "HEEEEEEEYY KIIIIIIDDS"

A photo of Grandma and Grandpa the heart of the special



Meanwhile Grandma remissness about how Grandpa and her would celebrate Christmas when they were young. This is one of the heart-filled moments of the episode. Later late at night when everybody is asleep Jon and Doc Boy like little kids wake up their parents at 1:30 in the morning asking if they can open up their presents since it is technically Christmas morning.

Christmas morning on the farm


Later when it is a more reasonable time when everybody is awake then they very eagerly open their presents. The most special gift is some lost love letters that Garfield found in the Garage that are addressed to Grandma, from Grandpa from fifty years ago. This to is a very meaningful moment in the show. After Grandma get those letters Garfield gets one last present made by Odie himself. It's a back scratching post. Garfield loves it and thanks Odie for it. Then it ends with a song.

Even Garfield has enough Christmas spirit to hug Odie



This is my favorite Garfield holiday special because it has heart to it and not just some jokes put together. Garfield says in the special, "Christmas: it's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving." That is what we should be focusing on Christmas; the love not the gifts. As a kid it was about the presents, but I realize now that is not what Christmas is all about. Happy belated holiday's and a Happy New Year.
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