A Tall Tale is the third segment from the sixty-first episode of Garfield and Friends.
Synopsis[]
Nermal tells his version of Paul Bunyan stories by the director's request. Garfield is unimpressed by the story.
Plot[]
While Garfield sleeping in the kitchen, Nermal sneaks in from the pet door to get something from the fridge. The fridge's new alarm system goes off, warning Nermal to back away from the fridge, as well as waking Garfield. Nermal explains to Garfield that he is on the show to tell a story, requested by the network. A network executive appears and tells Garfield that the "Guest Star Cute Ability Quotient" increases the show's ratings. If Garfield refuses, his show will be replaced with a new series about house-breaking snails, for fun and profit. Garfield acquiesces and lets Nermal tell the story.
Garfield goes to sit in the director's chair, and getting food from the caterer, tells the latter to charge the meal to Nermal's bank account. Nermal begins his story, first declaring it true and that it had once happened. It's about a local folk legend, Paul Bunyan and his big blue cat. Nermal asserts Bunyan was the greatest lumberjack who ever lived, and while Bunyan worked in the forests, his cat would sleep, using an entire valley. When not annoying small puppies, the cat would have the groups of cooks, lumberjacks and villagers feed him massive quantities of food.
The big blue cat would drink large amounts of soda, and when to burp, the nearby lumberjacks would hide. As well as working to keep the cat fed, the workers would have wagons with sand fill up a giant sandbox. When Nermal states the workers would dig up the sand from the California coastline, Garfield stops him from continuing.
Garfield tells him that no viewer would ever believe the story, being too fantastical. When Nermal begins to protest, the executive returns and proclaims the "Low-Believability Curve" during the segment has caused ratings to plummet, and as a result, fires Nermal. Nermal worries about his future work but is told by Garfield that in Studio 7, the producers are looking for a cute host. Nermal thanks Garfield and when arriving, finds himself in a sci-fi film fest where dinosaurs roam the earth. As Nermal begins to complain, Garfield sits back and enjoys the show.
Characters[]
Main characters[]
Major characters[]
- Jon Arbuckle (as Paul Bunyan)
Minor characters[]
- Odie
- Network executive (voiced by Gregg Berger)
- Caterer (voiced by Gregg Berger)
- Cooks (voiced by Gregg Berger and Thom Huge)
- Lumberjacks (voiced by Gregg Berger and Thom Huge)
- Davy Crockett
- Kit Carson
- Daniel Boone
- Dinosaur
- Bird
Trivia[]
Cultural references[]
- Nermal's tale is of Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack in American folktale. Babe the Blue Ox, Bunyan's companion, is replaced with a big blue cat.
- The American frontiersmen and pioneers Davy Crockett, Kit Carson and Daniel Boone are referenced at the beginning of the story.