Garfield on the Town

Everybody's favourite overweight, lazy, cynical, lasagne-loving, Monday-loathing, orange-striped feline (one of many reasons why Garfield stands as such an unrivalled creation – have you ever seen such a unique combination of character traits?) received his second TV outing back in 1983 in this endearing tale of family unity and survival. Having been separated from his owner Jon Arbuckle and lost out on the streets of the city, where the local strays will defend their territory to the finish, Garfield has mixed experiences when he runs afoul with one particularly aggressive gang of moggies, only to be taken in and sheltered by another, much more lax group who, as it turns out, have a flesh-and-blood connection to him. But although his mother, who Garfield hasn't seen since his days as a kitten, is keen to welcome him, reservations soon arise as to whether or not our leading cat could ever fit in with the rest of his impoverished clan.

Admittedly, I've never really found any instalment in Garfield's TV special canon to be quite as dazzling as his equivalent adventures in the series 'Garfield and Friends' – the stories there were a lot shorter, but usually managed to pack in a lot more wit, charm and imagination to boot (although 'Garfield goes Hollywood', which almost felt like it could have been an extended segment of 'GaF', came extremely close). That said, 'On the Town' is still a fun and timeless 30-minute delight, made memorable by its touching story, pleasant music, playful humour, and, most crucially of all, an utterly inspired back-alley showdown between Garfield and a taunting purple stray (which consists mostly of flailing about and sizing each other up back and forth – and Garfield's problems with his claws and his shadow come as brilliant touches). The animation too is as about as high in quality as you'd expect from a project of this nature – basic, but clean, rounded and very easy on the eye; an improvement on that used in his debut special 'Here Comes Garfield' (which still succeeded in terms of heart and story), and better even than a handful of his later adventures like 'In the Rough' and 'In Disguise'. There are some technical glitches which keep things from running completely smoothly, including a rather awkward moment where Garfield's grandfather is moving his head and finger like he should be saying something, but nothing at all comes out (I assume it arose from a slip-up in the editing department). Also, has anyone else noticed that when the purple cat sings, he sounds nothing like he does when he talks? Well, I guess it's the kind of minor detail which only someone as insecure and nit-picky as me would make that big a thing out of…after all, these Garfield specials never aimed to be anything more than an enjoyable, light-hearted exercise in charm and entertainment for all the family, and this one certainly gets that job done well enough, so why try to find a huge deal of fault with it? Besides, I really owe too much to Garfield for all the times he's made me smile throughout my lifetime – and 'On the Town' is no exception. It features Liz at her most devilishly catty. The flashback sequence is handled perfectly. And the last few moments are absolutely wonderful.

Grade: A-

When I was really little, I always thought that "Garfield on the Town" was really funny. As I aged, I thought less of it. Of course, I like the thought of someone's reconnection with his roots (such as Garfield's growing up in an Italian restaurant). What's really cool to me nowadays is knowing that Garfield's voice artist was Lorenzo Music, who was also the original voice artist of Peter Venkman (Bill Murray's character) on "The Real Ghostbusters"*. In all, Music was a sarcastic, lasagna-loving cat hunting evil spirits! Anyway, this movie isn't really anything special, unless you look at it from the perspective of retracing ones roots.

*Incidentally, Bill Murray provided Garfield's voice in the 2004 movie.

We all know how much Garfield hates going to the vet. So after wrecking Jon's house the fat cat is dragged, kicking and screaming, into the car. But even on the way there Garfield can't sit a peace. Until he falls out of the window and into the busy street.

He quickly learns that freedom from Jon and life on the streets isn't all fun and games. No one is kind to him, he's cold and quickly hungry. So when he dips into a smelly garbage can he's met with hostility from a punk alley cat.

Being house cat and used to home comforts, Garfield cannot match the aggression of this alley cat. More so when a hundred of them (looking more like the Critters from the movie of the same name, than alley cats) come after him.

Garfield takes refuge in an old building which just happens to be Italian Restaurant where he was born. There he meets him mother and the rest of his family. Tho he doesn't belong. And Garfield learns that his real family is Jon and Odie.

It's a very sweet natured story and the ending is cute and touching. There is a good reason why it won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.

Find the character of Garfield, 'Garfield and Friends' and his specials to be even better now than as a child. Really liked to loved them then, still do and am not saying this out of nostalgia. Have stressed the point a few times of not all my childhood favourites holding up. Have found the humour funnier and cleverer as an adult and have found more things to like and invested emotionally more, the main reasons why the character, 'Garfield and Friends' and his specials still have appeal today.

'Garfield on the Town' is not for me one of the best Garfield specials (all of which worth watching at least once, so that is not in any way a knock). It is still very good and very enjoyable, with it being nice to see a different side to everyone's favourite orange cat and in terms of tone, but misses the extra something of the best ones. Again not a knock, because saying that is only meaning that the best ones are so great with a high standard hard to live up to. Do have a personal preference for the holiday specials as far as Garfield goes, especially 'A Garfield Christmas Special' and 'Garfield in Disguise', both quintessential when it comes to things to watch on Christmas and Halloween and essential Garfield.

Other Garfield specials are funnier when it comes to the humour, approach their subject more imaginatively and perhaps more refined in terms of animation.

That is not saying that the animation is poor, far from it. It is still bright and colourful with some nice detail, just that the drawing and movement have been smoother elsewhere. Cannot fault the music, which is incredibly infectious and hard to forget, complete with clever lyrics. "The Claws" is one of my favourite songs of any of the Garfield specials.

Humour is still playful and classic Garfield, but it is the emotion that sets 'Garfield on the Town' apart from the other specials. On top of being charming and nostalgic, 'Garfield on the Town' has a lot of heart and is likely to evoke tears (the reminiscing has always done with me), with being saccharine or over-sentimental. Garfield is still an immensely likeable character, with a different side to him and some proper character development, and Lorenzo Music was born to voice him and hasn't been equalled or bettered since.

In summation, very enjoyable and heartfelt. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I remember watching this 1983 animated movie back in my childhood, so it was a nice thing to return to watch it again here in 2025.

Writers Jim Davis and Lorenzo Music put together a nice storyline and script with an entertaining and enjoyable narrative.

The voice acting in "Garfield on the Town" is good, and it is good to have the familiar voices of Lorenzo Music and Thom Huge voicing Garfield and Jon respectively. In addition, George Wendt and Allyce Beasley also lends their voices to the animated movie.

Having grown up with reading the "Garfield" comic strips, there is a great sense of familiarity and nostalgia with the art style and animation style seen in this 1983 animated movie.

If you like "Garfield", then this 1983 animated movie is definitely an enjoyable movie to watch.

My rating of director Phil Roman's 1983 animated movie "Garfield on the Town" lands on a six out of ten stars.