''Garfield in Paradise'' is a 1986 animated television special directed by

Phil Roman Philip Roman (born December 21, 1930) is an American animator and the director of the ''Peanuts'' and ''Garfield'' animated specials. He is the founder of animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment. Early life Philip Roman was ...

, based on the ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

'' comic strip by Jim Davis. It features Lorenzo Music as the voice of

the house cat, other regulars Thom Huge and

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from '' The Transformers'', Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter from '' ...

, and guest star

Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active from 1960 till his death in 1995. Famous for his gravelly voice, he credited it for his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes ...

. It originally aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on May 27, 1986. This was the fifth of twelve

Garfield television specials The Garfield television specials are a series of twelve half-hour long American animated television specials based on the ''Garfield'' comic strip of the same name created by Jim Davis. All twelve specials were directed by Phil Roman, written by ...

made between 1982 and 1991. The story concerns the characters visiting a tropical vacation destination. The special was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series. In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which ...

and has been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Plot

Jon Arbuckle Jonathan Q. Arbuckle is a fictional character from the ''Garfield'' comic strip by Jim Davis. He also appears in the animated television series ''Garfield and Friends'' and '' The Garfield Show'', two live-action/ CGI feature films, and three ...

and

take their third class airline trip to Paradise World, a cheapskate's version of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. When they arrive on the island, Jon and Garfield check in at a deserted motel and are soon disappointed to find out that there is no beach within sight, and only an empty swimming pool in the back instead. When Jon and Garfield enter their room, they find

Odie Odie is a fictional dog who appears in the comic strip ''Garfield'' by Jim Davis. He has also made appearances in the animated television series ''Garfield and Friends'' and '' The Garfield Show'', two live-action/ CGI feature films, and three ...

hiding in their luggage. None of the trio has any fun until Jon, Garfield, and Odie plan to rent a car and search for a beach around the island. For a cheap price, they get a really nice and classic

Chevrolet Bel Air The Chevrolet Bel Air is a full-size car produced by Chevrolet for the 1950–1975 model years. Initially, only the two-door hardtops in the Chevrolet model range were designated with the Bel Air name from 1950 to 1952. With the 1953 model year, ...

to hit the beach and later begin to choose where to go when their car mysteriously speeds into a jungle on its own, stopping in the middle of a native village. Jon, Garfield, and Odie presume that they are in trouble until the natives begin kowtowing to their car. They meet the tribal chief (The High Ramma-Lamma), who explains that the villagers (The Ding-Dongs) learned English "from watching a lot of beach movies". In 1957, the Cruiser, a James Dean/

Fonzie Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom '' Happy Days'' (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lea ...

-styled legend, drove his car into the village and introduced the people to the 1950s pop culture. The Cruiser eventually saved the village by sacrificing himself and driving his car into a nearby volcano to prevent it from erupting. The village is dedicated to a 1950s lifestyle and believes that Jon's rental car is actually the same one the Cruiser owned. In the village, Jon and Garfield find romance with the tribal princess, Owooda, and her cat, Mai-Tai. Meanwhile, the chief orders the village idiot, Monkey, to fix the car with Odie's assistance. Suddenly, the volcano begins to erupt and Owooda tells Jon that she and Mai-Tai must sacrifice themselves to save the village. However, the volcano rejects Owooda and Mai-Tai, and the village shaman, Pigeon, interprets that it wants the car instead and, if it does not have the car within thirty seconds, it will blow the island to pieces. Monkey and Odie make their last attempt to get the car fixed, which still does not work until Odie successfully taps the distributor cap with a hammer. The car finally starts and zooms through the village and up the volcano with Monkey driving and Odie hanging onto the hood. The car plummets into the crater, the volcano finally erupts, and the Cruiser's spirit and car's ghost drift out, speed off, and vanish into the night sky; the volcano is now at peace. Monkey and Odie are presumed dead until they climb out of the crater unharmed. Jon, Garfield, and the villagers finally carry Monkey and Odie back to the village in a hero's fashion.

Voice cast

* Lorenzo Music as Garfield * Thom Huge as Jon Arbuckle *

as Odie/Piegon *

as the Chief * Frank Nelson as Hotel Clerk/Salesman * Desirée Goyette as Owooda * Julie Payne as Mai-Tai/Stewardess *

Nino Tempo Nino Tempo (born Antonino LoTempio; January 6, 1935) is an American musician, singer, and actor. He was a duet partner with his older sister April Stevens as well as the frontman for a 1970s funk band, 5th Ave. Sax. Career Antonino LoTempio w ...

as Monkey * Carolyn Davis as Female Cat * Hal Smith as Off-screen voice

Songs

* "Inversion Layer Airlines Jingle" performed by Desirée Goyette * "Hello, Hawaii (Can I Come Over?)" performed by Lou Rawls and Desirée Goyette * "Beauty and the Beach" performed by Lou Rawls, Thom Huge, and Lorenzo Music * "When I Saw You" performed by Thom Huge and Desirée Goyette

Production

The special guest stars disc jockey

as the tribal chief. Creator Jim Davis was excited to work with Jack on the special, explaining, "It was just way fun. We did it for silliness." This was the final credit for Frank Nelson, who, once again, portrayed a variation on his recurring character from ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

''.

Broadcast and release

The special first aired on May 27, 1986, at prime time on

. It was aired again in subsequent years. An illustrated

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

adaptation was published by Ballantine Books in 1986. In February 2005, the special was included on the

'' Garfield Travel Adventures'' along with the specials '' Garfield in the Rough'' (1984) and '' Garfield Goes Hollywood'' (1987). It was released on another DVD compilation, ''The Garfield Holiday Collection'', on November 4, 2014, sold only by

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, and was also made available for digital download on November 11 that year.

Reception

The special was nominated for the

in 1986. The only other nominee was another ''Garfield'' special, '' Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', which won. In his 2005

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

review, Randy Miller III complimented the special on "memorable characters" specifically the James Dean doppelganger and Wolfman Jack's character, concluding, "Plus, Jon gets some action." In 2008, Dan Walsh, creator of the website '' Garfield Minus Garfield'' recalled watching the specials and claimed, "I can still do a perfect rendition of 'Hello Hawaii,' from ''Garfield in Paradise.''" In 2014, Jim Davis identified ''Garfield in Paradise'' as "absolutely one of my favorites. It’s bright, funny, here’srock n’ roll in it."

References

External links

* * {{Film Roman Garfield television specials 1980s American television specials 1980s animated television specials 1986 television specials 1986 in American television CBS television specials Television shows directed by Phil Roman Film Roman television specials Television shows written by Jim Davis (cartoonist)