A Garfield Christmas

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Title card.

A Garfield Christmas is the seventh Garfield television special first broadcast on CBS on 1987-12-21 and later released on home video and converted into a book. As with previous and later Garfield films, the soundtrack was composed by Ed Bogas and Desirée Goyette.

In the film, Garfield, Jon, and Odie drive out to the farm to spend Christmas with Jon's family. Although Garfield's initially against the idea, he slowly warms up to being on the farm and begins to enjoy himself and ultimately helps Jon's grandmother find happiness.

Personal

I watched some of this cartoon around the time it was first aired on television because my cousin Eric recorded the latter half of it on VHS, so I got to see that part again. My mom bought me the book, probably through the Scholastic book club, so that became my primary version of it for a while. My cousin Brian either had the VHS tape or recorded it from TV because I remember us rewinding the scene where everyone's mouths are O-shaped at the lighting of the Christmas tree. In the mid-1990s, I recorded the full special on VHS when it was re-run on TV, and I watched it several times over the Christmas break and memorized the entire script. In the 2000s, I bought the Garfield Holiday Celebrations DVD which had the special on it, and I have watched that version dozens of times as well, and many more times with my daughters. This is my favorite television Christmas special.

I own the film on DVD in the Garfield Holiday Celebrations compilation.

Cast

Actor Character
Lorenzo Music Garfield
Thom Huge Jon Arbuckle
Gregg Berger Odie
Pat Carroll Grandma
Pat Harrington Jr. Dad
David Lander Doc Boy
Julie Payne Mom
Lou Rawls Song vocals
Desirée Goyette Song vocals

Review

Good

  • This is a nice feel-good story. Grumpy Garfield eventually learns to not be so greedy and help others find happiness. Perfect for a Christmas special.
  • Of all the Garfield specials, I find this one has the best music and score.
  • There are plenty of good jokes and visual gags throughout the film.

Bad

  • Though not as bad as the earlier specials, the backgrounds are still pretty awful, and there are a couple scenes where Garfield isn't drawn very well.
  • The joke about Jon's mother cooking too much was recycled from the comic strip.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

Media

Covers

Videos

Links

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