The Legend of the Lake

The Legend of the Lake is an episode from the second season of Garfield and Friends.

Synopsis

Garfield tells the tale of a cave cat who went against the odds to get to his destination.

Plot

Garfield, as a tour guide, leads a group of tourists around a cat museum. He shows attractions such as a man who tried to invent an inflatable scratching post and a cat who managed to eat an entire horse. He then brings them outside to the main attraction- a lake. He tells the crowd a legend ("in verse, no less") about the lake (despite lack of interest).

Far back in the past, prehistoric cats lived nearby the lake. Most of them did not mind having a low quality diet, but one cat (bearing a resemblance to Garfield) wanted more - namely lasagna growing on trees from another island. Unfortunately for him, there were two major obstacles: prehistoric dogs and a long distance between the islands.

Despite his friends (and girlfriend) trying to dissuade him, the orange male is determined to reach the island. He tries out various methods, including a boat, wings, and a catapult, but none of them are successful. Eventually, he simply swims to it, finally making it after seven hours. However, his excitement becomes deterred when he finds the dogs to be much larger than he thought. With that, he heads back to the lake and swims away, never to be seen again.

Garfield concludes the legend by revealing that the lake was named Lake Stupid in memory of the prehistoric cat.

Major Characters

• Garfield
• Garfield-like prehistoric cat

Minor Characters

• Jon
• Tourists
• Dr. E. Leopold Witznitski
• Buttons
• Arlene-like prehistoric cat
• Three Stooges-like prehistoric cats
• Odie-like prehistoric dogs

Trivia

• The female prehistoric cat (who was also featured in Garfield: His 9 Lives) resembles Arlene; apart from fangs and a bulkier body, the Arlene-like prehistoric cat wears violet eyeshadow and lipstick without outlines.
  • Along with Remote Possibilities, this marks one of the only depictions of Arlene in Garfield and Friends.
• Jon appears to be among the tourist crowd.
• The prehistoric dogs from the lasagna tree island are modeled after Odie, with various patterns added on their fur.

Cultural References

• Three of the prehistoric cats resemble Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard of The Three Stooges.
• During the first attempt to reach the lasagna tree island, Garfield's prehistoric look-alike strikes a pose similar to George Washington in Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.

Prehistoric clubbing.

Gallery

The episode gallery can be seen here.