By Michael Lyons
Who can’t relate to Garfield? He hates Mondays. He’s obsessed with Lasagna. He loves Halloween. Okay, maybe he just loves, what he calls “The Candy! Candy! Candy!”
In the 1980’s few comic strip characters were as iconic or popular as Garfield and smack dab in the middle of that decade, in 1985, he starred in his own special, “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure,” an entertaining TV special that has been embraced by many through the years, especially the “‘80’s kids” who grew up with it.
Created by cartoonist Jim Davis in 1976 (the strip originally had the title, “Jon,” as it focused on Garfield’s owner), “Garfield” would connect with readers and go on to appear in over 850 million newspapers by 1981.
Garfield’s rotund, orange shape and sleepy eyes were everywhere in the ‘80’s, most notably on the popular, suction-cup plush that were affixed to car windows. The character has inspired merchandise that has generated $750 million to $1 billion, annually.
This immense popularity gave way to a series of prime-time animated specials on CBS. One of these was “Garfield in Disguise,” later renamed “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure.”
The plot is pretty basic (and very “Halloweeny”), Garfield (the sluggish, sarcastic voice of Lorenzo Music, most famous for his role as Carlton the doorman on the sitcom “Rhoda”) and his dim-witted sidekick, Odie the dog venture out for a night of trick or treating on Halloween. While out, they find themselves at a spooky, deserted house and they encounter...ghost pirates.
The scenes with the ghost pirates features some stylish, effective animation and is surprisingly scary for what seems to be a tame special, but provides a real sense of the season.
“Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” was directed by Phil Roman, who started his career as an animator for the legendary Chuck Jones and also worked as an animator on many of the classic Charlie Brown TV specials. In fact, while on CBS, “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” was often paired with the annual airing of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”
Like that classic, Garfield’s special celebrates Halloween, especially for children and is the type of Halloween-night-spooky-kids-adventure that many grown adults wish they had when they were younger.
Originally airing on October 30, 1985 and celebrating its 35th anniversary this season, “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” combines all we love about Halloween and all we love about Garfield. It’s no wonder many have such fondness for it, as watching it is like seasonal, comfort food TV from a bygone era.
Plus, there’s all that “Candy! Candy! Candy!”
Wishing everyone a very Safe and very Happy Halloween!
Sources:
IMDb
Wikipedia
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