Tis the season everybody. We’re in day 2 of Chanukah and Christmas is around the corner. How do I know? Well Fox News is at the battlegrounds of the “war on Christmas” and my local Barnes and Noble has turned into an all out hell.
So many people…so many of them!
From Halloween to Christmas I am filled to the brim with nostalgia. So I figured I’d take a look at two Garfield holiday specials. A Garfield Halloween and A Garfield Christmas.
The Garfield Christmas is a Christmas staple at my house. It originally aired in 1987 and in 1993 my mom was able to catch it on probably the most popular Christmas tape in our house. It was watched every year by the family until we got a DVD player.
The Halloween one on the other hand I didn’t see until just this year. And I only watched it cause Josh Hadley found a way to mention it every Halloween on almost all his podcasts.
That and Halloween Tree
So I thought I’d compare the two, since Garfield was one of the staples of my childhood.
Yes…my childhood was awesome!
Plots
Halloween
In the Halloween special Garfield wants to celebrate Halloween and ropes Odie into helping him gather candy. Along the way they get stranded on an island with an old guy who tells a horror story. He leaves Garfield and Odie to be chased by ghosts back to Muncie.
Yes everyone! Garfield takes place in Muncie Indiana. And that’s your random fact for the day!
Christmas
Jon drags Garfield and Odie to his old house to see his parents and grandma on Christmas.
Woo
What’s great about these specials is the fact that they are simple ideas, yet what they do with the ideas is what makes them special. In the Halloween one we get ghost stories and pirates while the Christmas one goes through every possible thing a family has to do for Christmas; dinner, traditions, memories, and grandma on the piano.
But I’m giving the edge to the Christmas one, if anything because of the fact that the things that the Arbunckle family does for the holiday follows what my family does to a T.
I wished my dad read Binky to me.
The Halloween one has a good plot too but then again how many of you can say you hopped a boat to get more candy?
But this part was awesome.
Music
Garfield is voiced by Lorenzo Music, so of course so he are gonna be present in these specials.
But to compare the two almost seems unfair. The songs on the Halloween special almost feel like they’re there to fill the time. Yes they’re catchy and well sung. But they’re just there.
I’ve always loved the “Can’t Wait Till Christmas” song in the Christmas version. Not only does Jon have some good pipes but Garfield’s reaction to everything is almost verbatim to how I feel around the holidays. I love the holidays yes, but some of the nuances of it are just so annoying.
Impact.
The Halloween special is damn funny. I love the beginning “Candy candy candy” bit with him. And duping Odie is always fun.
And the Christmas one has some great laughs, but this special has some heart to it, especially with Grandma talking about her late husband. Grandma is the best human character in this thing. She’s funny and touching.
I should also note that this was the first time I saw my mom cry at a cartoon.
Something only a Nicholas Sparks can do.
So while both these specials are great and fun and showcase part of the golden age of Garfield, the edge goes to The Christmas Special. So much nostalgia is attached to this for me. Hell as a kid I would endlessly rewind the tape just for this one part.
Both of these can be found on DVD.
RT Gomer Productions 