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Overview

Here Comes Garfield is the first Garfield television special.

Synopsis[]

The newspaper comic strip about a lazy, lasagna-loving, egocentric, yet loveable cat named Garfield. The story finds Garfield attempting to rescue his slow-witted friend, Odie the Mutt, from the dog pound.

Plot[]

When Garfield wakes up one morning in the Arbuckle residence, he complains about mornings, then dogs, due to Odie giving him a fright. After noticing the lack of food in his bowl, Garfield wakes Jon Arbuckle up. Jon asks why Garfield does not eat mice before Garfield claims "bad breath". Garfield pushes Odie off the table, before Odie scares him while he is eating. Garfield retaliates by shoving food in Odie's face, before the two fight. Jon tells them to go outside where they enjoy romping through flowers.

Hubert and Reba's dog Honey Bun appears and bites Garfield's tail. Garfield threatens the dog before she runs back to Hubert. Garfield and Odie decide to annoy them both by entering their property. Hubert first warns them, before trying to attack them with his stick, only to hit the hanging pot plant onto his head. In anger, Hubert calls the City Pound, who capture Odie while Garfield flees.

After Garfield knocks the front door down onto Jon, the cat tries to explain to Arbuckle where Odie is by doing impressions. Jon then asks if Garfield has fleas, much to the cat's annoyance. Later, Garfield goes to watch TV but finds that a "Pleasure Motors" ad is on all channels. He begins to miss Odie and remembers when they were puppy and kitten. Garfield goes to bed before waking up at Midnight. After having a large midnight snack, he decides to break Odie out of captivity.

He arrives at the city pound and tries to take the cell keys from the City Pound Guard, only to be thrown into the cell. Garfield finds Odie and scolds him about the situation. Another captured animal named Fast Eddy tells Garfield to take it easy on Odie as if no one comes to retrieve the latter, he will be put down at dawn. He then tells Garfield the history of the captured animals before everyone goes to sleep.

With no escape for either of them, Garfield consoles Odie through the night. When dawn arrives, Garfield sadly has memories of when the two were young. A guard comes to take Odie away while Garfield tries to stop him. Garfield is unable to, before him and Odie say goodbye by holding each other's paws. He then cries as he watches Odie being dragged away.

Meanwhile, a little girl and her family arrive to adopt a pet, before she selects Garfield. With the cage open, Garfield and the other pets run out. Garfield bites the guard, freeing his grip on Odie before the two try to make it out. The dog catcher blocks the main door, making the animals attack him. They manage to break the door down as they all run free. As Jon is fixing the front door, Garfield and Odie bash it down onto him again, before they celebrate their escape. Jon assumes that they had been out all night singing on the fence and chasing cars while he was worrying. They assure him they were do that before both give Jon a kiss.

The next morning at breakfast, Garfield derides Odie for begging at the table, before seeing Odie being given a steak from Jon. Garfield begs, and much to his annoyance, gets a plate of bacon and eggs, which he throws back into Jon's face, admitting he is "only human".

Characters[]

Main characters[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Songs[]

Soundtrack[]

Main article: Here Comes Garfield (soundtrack)

A soundtrack album was released by Epic Records on vinyl LP and cassette formats. It includes 10 songs, some of which were not featured in the special, and dialouge excerpts.

Three songs from the album would later be re-recorded for Am I Cool or What?

Trivia[]

  • This is the only time Sandy Kenyon provided the voice of Jon Arbuckle.
  • This television special, along with several others, has many quotes taken from the comic strip.
  • The special's plot is similar to a 1981 comic strip storyline.
  • Gregg Berger is not credited for voicing Odie.
  • Besides her contributions to the music of this special, Desirée Goyette was also the performance model for Garfield's dance during the title song.[1]
  • The special aired on the same day as the series premiere of Newhart.
  • Dialogue from the special was sampled in "Fat is Where It's At."

Cultural references[]

  • After Odie is taken to the pound, Garfield laments "Ten thousand dogs in the city and I have to live with Tweedledee the Wonder Dummy", referencing the duo from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
  • When Garfield attempts to tell Jon what happened to Odie, Jon simply asks if Garfield has fleas, to which Garfield replies, "What we have here is failure to communicate," a reference to the film Cool Hand Luke.
  • During the food sequence, Garfield, with spaghetti on his head, imitates Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind.

Awards[]

Organization Recipients Award Result
Primetime Emmy Jay Poynor
Lee Mendelson
Bill Meléndez
Outstanding Animated Program
Nominated
Primetime Emmy Phil Roman Outstanding Individual Achievement - Animated Programming Nominated

References[]


Television Specials
"Here Comes Garfield" "Garfield on the Town" "Garfield in the Rough" "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" "Garfield in Paradise" "Garfield Goes Hollywood" "A Garfield Christmas" "Happy Birthday, Garfield" "Garfield: His 9 Lives" "Garfield's Babes and Bullets" "Garfield's Thanksgiving" "Garfield's Feline Fantasies" "Garfield Gets a Life"
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