Having missed out on this particular TV instalment as an eager kid at the height of my Garfield obsession in the 1980s, and still being an avid admirer of the sardonic ginger tabby cat even today, I was thrilled at the chance to finally catch up with it, along with a couple of the other best-loved specials, on its recent DVD release. And, putting it to the back of my mind that FOX had probably only granted it the light of digital day as a tie-in with the then just-out live action feature, I had a lot of fun with 'Garfield goes Hollywood', the one Garfield special which, from what I've seen, comes the closest to harbouring the spirit of the top-notch series, 'Garfield and Friends'. Nicely animated, and with a good range of genuinely funny gags, the enjoyable, if mildly predictable storyline sees Garfield, Odie and Jon Arbuckle heading out to the location hinted in the title for a once-in-a-lifetime shot at fame and stardom, via a national talent contest known as 'Pet Search'. Along the way, Garfield gets the itch for some creative freedom, not willing to settle for the hopelessly archaic song and dance routine devised for them by Jon, and goes to some pretty extreme lengths to obtain it.
Once the deciding round gets underway and the act in question has been severely revamped, with one member now excluded, the final outcome shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but Garfield's regular acerbic commentary upon his every experience, and the sheer volume of imaginative touches that just keep on coming as it goes leave you far too elated with what's in front of you to care. In addition to the wonderfully assorted variety of animal contestants entering in the 'Pet Search' competition (and just when you thought that 'Five Tap Dancing Pigeons and Herbie' skit couldn't get any more amusing
) we also get some neatly depicted glimpses of the local Hollywood scenery, a dream sequence paying homage to a handful of classic pictures ('the Wizard of Oz' and 'Singin' in the Rain' being among them), and, as per usual with any Garfield special, a square minimum of at least one agreeably catchy song number (in this one there are about three). On a side note, the humour here can occasionally get a tad more macabre than I'm used to from this cat (Garfield discovers a deviously sure-fire way of 'eliminating' a goldfish competing in a heat against him, while one woman is entering a pet who appears to have died, or at least passed out, prior to their turn), but certainly none the worse for it. Among the cream of Garfield's ventures, this slick trip to Hollywood is a delightful ride, and one which you can safely guarantee will never make you feel like you're too old to be revelling in cartoons. When they're loaded with this much quality, who on earth can resist?
Grade: A-
