As a child of the 80s, I grew up on the Garfield of the mid-80s-mid 90s: the Christmas special, "Garfield and Friends," and the like. I never saw this special before, and after seeing it, I knew this was Garfield as I know and love him.
This special is featured as the third episode on the DVD "Garfield as Himself." I took home the DVD from my video store job to watch the weekend before it came out. I watch it at work on Saturdays, and this one always cracks me up.
Jon Arbuckle needs a life. His days are filled with invigorating tasks like counting ceiling tiles and organizing the sock drawer. So he tries several approaches to meeting women--renting at a video, doing laundry at the laundromat, going to the beach ("I can't seem to find my muscles!"), and even going dancing to DISCO music. All fails, and he takes Garfield to a self-help group for people without lives, run my Lorenzo, a guy who sounds like a televangelist on TV, and a little timid man in person. There, he meets Mona, and actually gets a life, while Garfield...well, doesn't.
This special is pretty funny. I have only seen several other Garfield specials--the Christmas one, Garfield On the Town, and Here Comes Garfield (both are also on the DVD), plus I watched the cartoon series non-stop for 7 years (and in reruns now). At 21, I find the humor to be quite refreshing and silly. Garfield is sarcastic, and his point of view is classic. I love the voice--Lorenzo Music is so hard to compete with. It's a shame he isn't around to have done the voice for the movie (which I still haven't seen yet!). I think what makes this work is the animation--it has the best animation of the DVD specials. The other two look like Peanuts specials from the 1970s (same producers from the Peanuts cartoons on the two other DVD specials). Not that its a bad thing, but the animation certainly took a huge overhaul.
My favorite parts are the disco scene ("Wave your paws/Shake your tail"), where Jon finds out that disco died ("What? When?"), the self-help group session when Garfield gets paired up with a loser, and Garfield clinging to the back of the car window in a parody of the famous suction-cup plushes from the 80s. Remember those? But for me, the topper was the laundromat, where Jon hits on a woman by saying about her panties "I couldn't help but notice your little frilly thingy. Are you a ballerina?" and the woman says sarcastically "Why yes I am. I couldn't help but notice the teddy bears on your boxers. Are you a dweeb?" while Garfield smiles and says sarcastically "Why, yes he is!" Classic!!!
This is a good special. I highly recommend picking up "Garfield as Himself" on DVD to see it (it will probably be the only place its available, if only to rent. It's a cute diversion, and I think its worth every moment. It certainly helped me feel better!
This special is featured as the third episode on the DVD "Garfield as Himself." I took home the DVD from my video store job to watch the weekend before it came out. I watch it at work on Saturdays, and this one always cracks me up.
Jon Arbuckle needs a life. His days are filled with invigorating tasks like counting ceiling tiles and organizing the sock drawer. So he tries several approaches to meeting women--renting at a video, doing laundry at the laundromat, going to the beach ("I can't seem to find my muscles!"), and even going dancing to DISCO music. All fails, and he takes Garfield to a self-help group for people without lives, run my Lorenzo, a guy who sounds like a televangelist on TV, and a little timid man in person. There, he meets Mona, and actually gets a life, while Garfield...well, doesn't.
This special is pretty funny. I have only seen several other Garfield specials--the Christmas one, Garfield On the Town, and Here Comes Garfield (both are also on the DVD), plus I watched the cartoon series non-stop for 7 years (and in reruns now). At 21, I find the humor to be quite refreshing and silly. Garfield is sarcastic, and his point of view is classic. I love the voice--Lorenzo Music is so hard to compete with. It's a shame he isn't around to have done the voice for the movie (which I still haven't seen yet!). I think what makes this work is the animation--it has the best animation of the DVD specials. The other two look like Peanuts specials from the 1970s (same producers from the Peanuts cartoons on the two other DVD specials). Not that its a bad thing, but the animation certainly took a huge overhaul.
My favorite parts are the disco scene ("Wave your paws/Shake your tail"), where Jon finds out that disco died ("What? When?"), the self-help group session when Garfield gets paired up with a loser, and Garfield clinging to the back of the car window in a parody of the famous suction-cup plushes from the 80s. Remember those? But for me, the topper was the laundromat, where Jon hits on a woman by saying about her panties "I couldn't help but notice your little frilly thingy. Are you a ballerina?" and the woman says sarcastically "Why yes I am. I couldn't help but notice the teddy bears on your boxers. Are you a dweeb?" while Garfield smiles and says sarcastically "Why, yes he is!" Classic!!!
This is a good special. I highly recommend picking up "Garfield as Himself" on DVD to see it (it will probably be the only place its available, if only to rent. It's a cute diversion, and I think its worth every moment. It certainly helped me feel better!