Garfield on the Town

I had completely forgotten this TV special from my childhood until coming across it online. This one has Garfield stranded in the city, where he's accosted by a gang of tough street cats named The Claws. Running for his nine lives, Garfield is rescued by a female cat who turns out to be his mother. From there we get some touching moments, which the Garfield specials I've seen were always good at, and a life lesson or two. I especially like how one particular plot point doesn't go the way you might expect. It's a good cartoon with nice simplistic animation, fun songs (The Claws' theme is a classic), and a story with humor and heart. Definitely worth a look, even if you're not an avid Garfield fan.

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.

Garfield is one of my favorite comics, and as a 24-year-old woman, I do not remember the other Garfield TV specials, except for the holiday ones; my favorite is Garfield's Halloween Adventure. I did buy the DVD "Garfield as Himself," which features the three TV specials: Here Comes Garfield (the first Garfield TV special), Garfield on the Town, and Garfield Gets a Life. And after watching all three, I found that I love Garfield on the Town the most.

In this special, Garfield gets lost in the city and encounters the Claws, an unfriendly alley cat gang. He confronts the leader and runs away to an abandoned restaurant, where he meets his long-lost mother. The family, including his maternal grandfather, half-brother Raoul, and cousin Sly, are all mouse-catchers. The Claws surround the building, demanding Garfield come out for offending them.

I love the animation for this special. It came from the famous Peanuts cartoon team of Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, giving it a similar look. I also like Lou Rawls and Desiree Goyette doing the songs. And one last thing: I think Garfield's mom is pretty.

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-

'Garfield on the Town' was my favourite Garfield film. I saw it when I was very young, and I always felt very sad when Garfield goes back to the place where he was brought up as a kitten, and he remembers everything about this place (and his mother) and recalls how it used to be and how it has now changed. It's a very emotional scene, and you really do get to see another side to Garfield beyond the funny comments and the laid-back attitude.

I don't think the film had too much more to offer, sadly, than this scene. At least, the rest of it is not very memorable. I first saw this when I was about five-years-old - when it was first on television. I saw it a few years after that, and besides the scene where Garfield visits his old place, I don't think it had much more to offer.

I cannot say whether or not I recommend it. I can just state that I did enjoy it, and it was a very memorable film to me.