I enjoy reading Garfield in the comic section of the paper everyday. He is funny, his strip one of those that takes itself seriously next to never and if all the other strips fail, his is the only one that delivers. That is why this holiday based movie is kind of the pits. The funniest part was the first part where Garfield has the dream of the ultimate X-mas gift. After that it is time for Jon to take Garfield and Odie to the farm where they meet Jon's family and it just is not as funny as it should be as we meet grandma and everyone is trying to find the perfect gift. I realize it tries to impart a lesson on what X-mas should be, but there are more than enough specials of this ilk on the airwaves during the holiday season, what would be so wrong if we had something that was just funny? I want the sarcastic overweight Garfield, not the highly sympathetic one. I want Odie kicked off the table, not making a gift for Garfield. The entire special just is not like the comics at all, but then not many of the cartoon versions of Garfield are like the strip. Still, this was a change of pace back in 1987 as by then we had seen all the same holiday specials again and again. Though they still rank ahead of this one for the most part.
Review of A Garfield Christmas Special
A Garfield Christmas Special
(1987 TV Short)
A bit to sentimental, you would not find a strip in the comics this saccharine.
30 November 2011