Here Comes Garfield

In 1978, Garfield appeared in numerous comic strips throughout the nation.

4 years later, the comic strips became a favorite to millions of people. So Garfield get's his own animation form in this old TV special.

Made 24 years ago, and is still a piece of history for the orange cat himself.

The story is about Garfield going through the same routine he normally goes through every morning. He and his so called pal Odie the Dog decide to mess around with a neighbor next door, who eventually called the pound to catch them. Garfield escapes but Odie let himself get caught. Garfield didn't care much if Odie is sent to the pound, cause he hates dogs and plays tricks on Odie a lot.

Garfield feels like he's the household pet of the house for a change, but the more he enjoys himself the more he starts to regret that it was his fault for Odie to end up at the pound. So he decides to go to town to save the dog he cares about deep down.

The animation is very dated, but very well made for it's time. The characters look similar to their comic appearances. Course Garfield's looks change within the years. This cartoon has some humor and great acting from the original and late voice of Lorenzo Music as Garfield.

But a highly appreciated TV special for all Garfield fans.

This, the first in a steady line of entertaining Garfield specials, came about before the flabby tabby had completely found his footing in the character design department, so if the animation standard occasionally dips into crude or off-model waters (goodness – was Odie's neck really ever that spindly?), there's your answer. Slightly more vexing is a minor plot-hole that occurs around the final third simply to move things to a tear-jerking climax in which Garfield is forced to re-examine a few of his attitudes (exactly how long does an animal have to be in this particular pound before the possibility of being 'removed' starts looming over them? Odie hasn't even been there for a day, and already the other animals are predicting that he'll be next to go.). As wickedly superior as Garfield's scripting tends to be in comparison to a lot of your typical animated family fare, there are a small number of details which you'd be better off not thinking too diligently about in this one. Sit back instead and enjoy it for what it is: a simple, breezy and surprisingly touching little escapade, one which ranks as a sure-fire classic in the field of comic-strip TV spin-offs. Here, Garfield finds it in his lethargic paws to rescue Odie from ill-kismet in the local pound, having landed him in there after a series of pranks on the disgruntled old man next door.

With hindsight, I have to laugh at just how much this basic 24-minute cartoon managed to get my heart racing when I rented the video as a considerably younger viewer. Back then, the notion that Garfield might choose not to save Odie at all (as he considers for a brief while) just horrified me, not to mention the heartbreaking scene where the two of them spend what could well be their last few moments together. Really, the story is as safe and foreseeable as the next piece of family viewing, and when I recently got my hands on the DVD and gave it a re-visit, I wasn't too surprised that it had lost the power to have me dangling on the edge of my seat. What it still refused to give up doing, however, was to move me just as much as it did before. In its perfectly contented simplicity, 'Here Comes Garfield' goes for the most tried and trusted way of giving the human heart-strings a good tugging – matching a lachrymose tune with an ingenuous flash-back at just the right moment – and succeeds hands down. Sure, I'm fully aware that I'm a total softie, and it doesn't take much to have me snivelling, but really, if you're not in the slightest bit moved by the sequence in question, you'd have to be at least three times more cynical than Garfield himself, the King of Sardonic (and even he gets dewy-eyed at one point in this special).

On the lighter side, 'Here Comes Garfield' is also packed with many an amusing moment, continuing the tradition laid out by 'Lady and the Tramp' to have impounded animals spouting prison clichés (and each one of them has an amusing story to tell about how they came to be in the pound – me, I like Rocky's myself). Top it all off with Lorenzo Music's magnificent voice-work, in what would later immortalise him as our leading cat's vocals, and the usual selection of catchy easy-listening tunes, and you have compulsory viewing for every Garfield fan. A bit simplistic, perhaps, but then we all need a bit of light-hearted entertainment every now and then to keep those inner kids of ours happy.

Grade: A-

I would have rated this attempt by Jim Davis and Co. about a five because I felt as though it wasn't creative and didn't seem to show that true Garfield spark we saw later on, but I changed my mind and gave it brownie points for the musical talent. The Song we hear as Odie is taken away to be put to sleep is soulful and beautifully sung (by who I'm not sure) and it captures the thoughts Garfield was having as he contemplated life without his best friend... I say CLOSE but not QUITE what I'll call a Jim Davis triumph- for that you'll have to watch, Garfield Goes to Hollywood and A Garfield Christmas.

Most feature-length movies achieve only half of what Here Comes Garfield does. Even though it's only 24 minutes long. Garfield and Odie may have a love/hate relationship but deep down they need each other.

The feline and the canine torment an old neighbor, who promptly calls the animal pound, who takes Odie away. Garfield bids good riddance but later at night the guilt and dread of a missing Odie overpowers him and he sets about rescuing him from the pound.

Garfield may have come from a simple comic strip but there are some touching moments in this TV Special that prove why he has been so consistently popular for the past 25 years.

The animation mimics Jim Davis' early incarnation of Garfield (this was made in 1982) and although it's not as refined as the modern Garfield he's still the same great, fat cat. The late Lorenzo Music is his voice (or thoughts), though Thom Huge is not the voice of John, he would appear in the further TV Specials and the later TV Series.

A genuine classic.

Have always had a big soft spot for Garfield as both a child and as a young adult, who is in a way a child at heart but with a significantly broader knowledge of film and television. He is such a funny and endearing character and his specials and 'Garfield and Friends' are every bit as good, and perhaps even better, now. 'The Garfield Show' and especially the 2004 live action film, not so much.

When it comes to the Garfield specials, 'A Garfield Christmas Special' and 'Garfield in Disguise' are my personal favourites when the character was more settled. For the special that introduces everybody's favourite orange cat, 'Here Comes Garfield' is a great start. While not as hilarious or as imaginative as 'Garfield in Disguise' or as poignant or charming as 'A Garfield Christmas Special', 'Here Comes Garfield' is definitely a must watch and important for Garfield's development. It doesn't really have an awful lot wrong, just that the specials that followed had a little more to them.

The animation is still as colourful as remembered with the smooth drawing, far from sparse backgrounds and attention to detail holding up really well. The music is playful and never placed questionably. The songs are upbeat, have emotional impact and above all they're memorable. Not a dud in the lot and that has not been said a lot, there are other personal favourites featuring songs (either musicals or song heavy) that still have a song that doesn't quite do it for me.

Entertainment value is constant, with extremely funny wry and witty humour peppered throughout. Very few animation characters make or have made asides as hilarious and as endearing as Garfield does. Yet there is also an emotional impact that doesn't get schmaltzy, underneath all the fun there is also a big warm heart. Also constant is the charm and the cuteness doesn't get excessive. The story is slight but not simplistic and it doesn't try to do too much and it becomes cluttered and muddled, and the sprightly pace keeps things continually compelling.

Garfield never stops being funny and lovable and who can't help love adorable Odie? The voice acting is on point, Lorenzo Music owned Garfield and no voice actor since him voiced him better or as well, that is including the multi-talented Frank Welker.

Concluding, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox