''Garfield's Thanksgiving'' is a 1989 American animated
television special
A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of e ...
based on the ''
Garfield'' comic strip. It once again featured
Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield.
The special was first broadcast November 22, 1989 on
CBS and was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program at the
42nd Primetime Emmy Awards. The events of the special take place during the
second season of ''
Garfield and Friends''. It has been released on both
VHS and
DVD home video. On overseas DVD copies of ''
Garfield's Holiday Celebrations'', this special is replaced with ''
Garfield in the Rough''.
This was the tenth of twelve
Garfield television specials made between 1982 and 1991.
Plot
Garfield checks the calendar date one morning and discovers that he has an appointment with the vet that day. When he removes the date hoping to make Jon forget, he notices that tomorrow is
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
and instantly demands Jon to buy the food for Thanksgiving dinner.
Jon Arbuckle agrees, but takes Garfield to the vet on the way home from the supermarket, making him panic.
While at the vet, Dr. Liz Wilson examines Garfield, while Jon tries to talk her into going out on a date with him. Liz reports Garfield is "healthy as a horse" but, out of concern for his weight, is putting the cat on a strict diet, to Garfield's dismay. Jon threatens to suffocate his way through the rest of the visit until Liz says she'll go out with him. When Garfield and Jon simultaneously faint, an exasperated Liz agrees to the date out of annoyance, and Jon invites her to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.
Back home, Jon is excited that Liz is coming over, but Garfield is absolutely miserable at being put on a diet. After eating half a leaf of
lettuce
Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of foo ...
for lunch, Garfield tries to raid the refrigerator but is prevented by Odie, whom Jon has assigned to make sure the cat himself doesn't try to cheat on his diet. Later, Garfield weighs himself on his talking weight scale and destroys it for comparing him to
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, and is repeatedly foiled by Odie when he tries to steal
cookies,
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many c ...
,
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...
and
sugar. Garfield then wonders if the lack of food is making him
hallucinate.
The next morning, Garfield is even grumpier than usual, but Jon pays him no mind as he begins preparing the
Thanksgiving meal. However, Jon doesn't have a clue on how to prepare such a dinner; he forgot to thaw the turkey or leave enough time to thoroughly cook it and thus tries to compensate by raising the oven's temperature from 325 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, ignores the
stuffing, when told to "rub skin with butter" rubs it on his own skin, and throws all the vegetables in a pile in water on the stove (to which Garfield attempts to sabotage the vegetables by adding
garlic powder). Jon shaves and picks a suit, just in time for Liz to arrive and notice he's not wearing pants. As Jon leaves to check on the meal, Liz spends some time with Garfield, casually listing some of the symptoms of excess dieting, some of which he experiences (like irritability and fatigue) and others he obviously fakes (such as dementia and twitches). She concludes that since Garfield is otherwise healthy, he instead may only need some light exercise, and Garfield
kisses
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
her in delight.
In the kitchen, Jon is faced with a still frozen turkey and admits defeat in his attempt to cook dinner. Garfield manages to convince Jon to call Grandma, who arrives seconds later and shoos Jon out of the kitchen. As Jon distracts Liz by giving her a history lesson about Thanksgiving (and Liz dozes off), Grandma proceeds to cook the meal: she cuts the still-frozen turkey into slices with a
chainsaw
A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, Log bucking, bucki ...
, adds
white sauce then batters and deep fries the slices into
croquettes, after which she prepares
sweet potatoes by covering them with
butter
Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food), spread, melted a ...
,
brown sugar and
marshmallows, finishing with "split-second
cranberry sauce" (from the can) and
pumpkin pie. Once everything is ready, Grandma tells Garfield that Liz couldn't have found a better man than Jon and that she'd better not blow it, then asks Garfield to eat a piece of pie for her as she leaves.
Garfield tells Jon and Liz that everything is ready, and they all proceed into the dining room to eat. Afterwards, Liz declares that it was a wonderful meal and agrees to come back next year, then thanks Jon for inviting her with a kiss on the cheek. Once Liz leaves, Jon, Garfield and Odie declare it was a great day and they're thankful for Grandma. They decide to head out for a walk to work off the meal, but Odie is too bloated from overeating to get off the couch. Jon immediately puts Odie on a diet, and Garfield gleefully torments Odie into doing push-ups as payback for yesterday.
Voice cast
*
Lorenzo Music as Garfield
* Thom Huge as Jon Arbuckle
*
Gregg Berger as Odie
*
Julie Payne as Dr. Liz Wilson
*
Pat Carroll as Grandma
Songs
* "Make Thanksgiving One Whole Meal" by
Lou Rawls
* "It's a Quiet Celebration" by
Desirée Goyette
Book adaptation
The book adaptation, which retains the original title "Garfield's Thanksgiving," deviates in the following ways:
* Odie and the scale are not involved in Garfield's torment, and Jon – too deliriously happy about having Liz over for Thanksgiving dinner – is ignorant to the fact that Garfield is in misery. Garfield is also weak and suffers from insomnia, resulting in a sleepless night.
* More of Jon's self-ruined Thanksgiving dinner is shown. In the end, the turkey he did not thaw or butter is in terrible state, the sabotaged vegetables are smoking, and the pie he made is burnt. Jon is the one to decide to call Grandma without needing Garfield to offer the idea.
* At the end, there is no mention of any new diets. Odie and Garfield simply sit comfortably with their full bellies as Jon sees Liz out the door, the three agree unanimously that they have Grandma to thank.
Production
* Created by
Jim Davis
* Written by
Jim Davis and Kim Campbell
* Original Music by
Ed Bogas and
Desirée Goyette
* Produced and directed by
Phil Roman
* Recording Engineer Gary Clayton
References
External links
*
*
* (official ''Garfield & Friends'' channel)
{{Film Roman
1980s American television specials
1980s animated television specials
1980s American animated films
1989 in American television
1989 television specials
Television shows directed by Phil Roman
CBS television specials
Garfield television specials
Thanksgiving television specials
Film Roman television specials
Television shows written by Jim Davis (cartoonist)