The Thing in the Box is an episode from the seventh season of Garfield and Friends.
Synopsis
When a package arrives for Bo, the contents thereof becomes a hot topic among the barnyard animals, since they will have to wait until Bo shows up to open it.
Plot
At the mailbox, Orson and Roy check for letters; Roy has brought a wheelbarrow, since he's expecting plenty of fan mail addressed to him. Instead of an avalanche of letters, the rooster only gets one letter from his mother. Meanwhile, Orson has received a book worth $97 about how to avoid getting ripped off when ordering anything by mail, and Booker and Sheldon find a package with holes addressed to Bo.
The presence of the package causes Wade to fear the (possibly living) contents thereof. Roy tries to open the package, but Orson him from doing so, since it's not his mail. The chicks agree with Orson, while Wade imagines a mail order monster hidden in the box. After everyone claims to not be curious about the content of the box, they surround Orson to intercept Bo's mail. Orson declares that Bo will open the package when he's back, and leaves it at that.
Orson keeps Bo's mail near his mud puddle for the night. He tries not to wonder what's inside, but finds it hard to resist. Booker and Sheldon, unable to sleep, imagine the possible content of the package. Their ideas vary from a wolf creature and a (small) giant monster robot to a purple octopus creature. Roy also speculates about the package; he believes that it is an alien from outer space (disguised as an ordinary package), which will devour the Earth (along with other such creatures). Wade imagines all sorts of possibilities, eventually proclaiming that whatever it is, he will be afraid of it.
Panicked, everyone rushes to check what exactly has been mailed to Bo. Orson keeps them at bay, insisting that only Bo will open the package, just before Bo shows up. As Bo removes the top of his package, everyone watches anxiously (a terrified Wade hides his head in the ground).
Finally, it turns out that Nermal has been delivered to Bo. According to "The World's Cutest Kitten's" explanation, Garfield was planning to send him to Abu Dhabi as usual; due to a lack of stamps, he had to send Nermal to another segment of the cartoon. When Wade asks him what he would do on the farm, Nermal performs much of what Garfield finds annoying and because he is so cute he would have no work to do; Orson and the others, unimpressed, decide to send him back.
Nermal gets returned to sender with a note- that the farm animals would rather have a monster mailed to them than Nermal. Garfield states that it is the eighth time in one month that he has tried to get rid of Nermal. He leaves the package with the kitten in a waste basket, with Nermal complaining about being sent back again and how no one appreciates cute anymore.
Major Characters
Minor Characters
- Roy's Mother (mentioned)
- Imagined Creatures
- Lanolin Sheep
- Garfield
- Herman Post
Trivia
- Nermal and Garfield both make guest appearances in this episode.
- Booker and Sheldon have a blue football flag displayed in their bedroom, with "Peck" written on it.
- Roy has a photograph of a busty hen with light purple eye shadow close to his bed.
- Wade is shown not to have his own house in this episode - he sleeps on a haystack in the barn, with cows as neighbors.
- In this episode, Garfield and Nermal talk as usual (without moving lips), contrasting with the U.S. Acres cast, (who do move their lips).
- When Bo opens the package, Nermal's feet can be seen.
- This is the last episode to feature Lanolin, Bo, and Nermal.
Cultural References
- In the scene where the imagined-by-Roy package monster attacks the big city, the creature is disturbed by a plane that resembles World War 1 aircraft.