Garfield on the Town
Encyclopedia
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music
Lorenzo Music
Lorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast October 28, 1983 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. It has been released on both VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
home video.
Plot
JonJon Arbuckle
Jonathan Q. Arbuckle is a character from the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis. He has also appeared in the animated television series Garfield and Friends, the computer-animated The Garfield Show, and two live-action feature films....
becomes very concerned and angry about Garfield
Garfield (character)
Garfield is a fictional character and the title protagonist from the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis.-Personality:Garfield is an anthropomorphic ginger cat. He loves eating , and sleeping. He is teased about being overweight. He is also selfish...
's behavior after he and Odie
Odie
Odie is a fictional character in the Jim Davis comic strip Garfield. He has also appeared in Garfield and Friends, The Garfield Show, two live-action feature films, and 3 CGI films....
mess up his house. Somewhere in between being dragged out of the house and being driven to the vet, Garfield accidentally falls out from Jon's car and is lost in the inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
. Not losing his optimism, Garfield attempts to make the most of it until he runs into a gang
Gang
A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
of unfriendly alley cats that call themselves the Claws. Garfield confronts the gang leader, who then calls for the rest of his gang, for which Garfield runs away and ends up in an abandoned restaurant where he is reunited with his long lost mother. The building they are in used to be an Italian restaurant called "Mama Leone's", which is Garfield's birthplace and also where he discovered a love for lasagna
Lasagna
Lasagna is a wide and flat type of pasta and possibly one of the oldest shapes. As with most other pasta shapes, the word is generally used in its plural form lasagne in Italy and the U.K. Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions,...
. Meanwhile, Jon calls Garfield's vet, Dr. Liz Wilson to ask her about Garfield, but she just hangs up on him. Second, Jon calls Lost and Found and asks them to hang posters to find Garfield, but he has to make sentences shorter only because it costs him lots of money.
The next day, Garfield's mother takes him to see the rest of his extended family including his tough maternal grandfather, as well as his sickly half brother Raoul and his cousin Sly, who is the security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
on watch for the Claws. Garfield is appalled to learn that everyone in the family are mousers. The Claws have tracked Garfield down and are surrounded the building, demanding Garfield come out for offending them. The family decides to fight instead of giving up Garfield to the Claws. Garfield hides cowardly while the family fights and finally chases the Claws away. Garfield's grandfather calls him a "lardball" and demands that Garfield leave for showing cowardice during the fight. Reassured by his mother that they all envy his easy life at Jon's house, Garfield says goodbye and leaves. Garfield is out in the soaking rain until Jon was driving by and eventually chases Jon and collapses on the sidewalk, Odie was with Jon and they found Garfield and put him into the back seat of the car and drive home and Jon puts Garfield into bed. The next day, Garfield wakes up in Jon's house and presumed that his entire experience may have been a dream, but when he sees his mother departing Jon's front yard, Garfield knows that she is still looking out for him.
A story somewhat similar to the special ran in the comic strip beginning December 3, 1984 and ending on December 26.
Cast
- Lorenzo MusicLorenzo MusicLorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
- Garfield - Thom Huge - Jon Arbuckle
- Gregg BergerGregg BergerGreggory "Gregg" Berger is an American voice actor, who is known for his longtime role as Odie the dog from the Garfield franchise...
- Odie / Ali Cat - Julie PayneJulie PayneJulie Payne may refer to:*Julie Payne , American actress whose career lasted from 1959 to 1967...
- Dr. Liz Wilson - Sandi HugeSandi HugeSaundra "Sandi" Haseman Huge is a voice actress who is better known as the voice of Garfield's mom in the TV Specials, Garfield on the Town and Garfield: His 9 Lives. Sandi has also provided voices for characters in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. Sandi is also a motivational speaker...
- Garfield's Mom - George WendtGeorge WendtGeorge Robert Wendt III is an American actor, best known for the roles of Norm Peterson and Tug Clarke on the television shows Cheers and Modern Men.-Early life:...
- Raoul - C. Lindsay Workman - Garfield's Grandfather
- Desiree GoyetteDesirée GoyetteDesirée Goyette is a singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia Pig, Honey Bunny and numerous others for radio, television and toys...
- Girl Cat #1 - Allyce BeasleyAllyce BeasleyAllyce Beasley is an American actress. She is known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series Moonlighting. For several years , she has been the announcer on Playhouse Disney, a morning lineup of programming for toddlers on The Disney Channel...
- Girl Cat #2-3
Songs
- "Just Another Crazy Day" performed by Lou RawlsLou RawlsLouis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
- "Startin' from Scratch" performed by Lou Rawls
- "Home Again" performed by Desirée GoyetteDesirée GoyetteDesirée Goyette is a singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia Pig, Honey Bunny and numerous others for radio, television and toys...
- "The Claws" performed by Goyette / Rawls
- "Home Again (reprise)" performed by Desirée Goyette
Awards
1984 Primetime Emmy AwardPrimetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for Outstanding Animated Program
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
Animation
The animation for the first two Garfield specials came from the famous PeanutsPeanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
cartoon team of Bill Melendez
Bill Melendez
José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...
and Lee Mendelson
Lee Mendelson
Lee Mendelson is an American television producer. He is best known as the executive producer of the many Peanuts animated specials....
, giving them a look similar to the Peanuts cartoons. All future specials and the popular Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show was produced by Film Roman, in association with United Feature Syndicate and Paws, Inc., and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994, with...
TV series were animated by Film Roman
Film Roman
Film Roman is an animation studio founded by Phil Roman, best known for producing the animation for The Simpsons, King of the Hill for 20th Century Fox, as well as the Garfield and Peanuts animated TV specials....
studios.