There has been no shortage of cartoon cats in the last 100 years. Whether in comic strips or animated form, cartoon cats have been a traditional part of our culture for decades. It started with Felix the Cat in 1919. Felix became the first cartoon character to cross over into the mainstream and grew to be a pop culture phenomenon. Many cats have made their mark in cartoons since Felix. Sylvester, Tom, Mr. Jinx, Top Cat, Heathcliff and a host of other cartoon felines have made us laugh over the years. In 1978, we were introduced to another cat who would go on to become one of the most popular ever; created by Jim Davis, Garfield appeared in his first comic strip in June of that year and he's been going strong ever since.
In 2007, the Garfield strip won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most widely syndicated comic strip on Earth, with 263 million readers. It's spawned several primetime animated specials and two animated television series; Garfield and Friends, which ran from 1988-94 and the CGI series The Garfield Show, which began in 2008. It's from this series that this DVD collection comes. The strip also led to two live-action films, with Bill Murray supplying the voice for the eponymous cat.
Like most cartoon cats, Garfield is not lovable. In fact, he's more unlikeable than most. He's lazy, cynical and sarcastic. He's a glutton and he hates any physical activity except eating. He's drawn as a flabby orange cat with huge eyes. Garfield, we're told, was born in an Italian restaurant and would devour all the pasta in sight. This obsession with pasta didn't sit well with the owners and is also the cause of Garfield's obesity. Garfield can't be bothered to chase mice. He wants his food (preferably pasta) cooked and placed at the table.
Garfield's new owner is clumsy nerd Jon Q. Arbuckle of Indiana. Jon is a good-hearted guy (he'd have to be to put up with the selfish and gluttonous Garfield) but he has no luck with women, something Garfield takes endless delight in pointing out to him. He does finally manage to get a girlfriend when he begins dating Garfield's veterinarian Liz, who he'd long had a crush on.
The third member of the cast is Odie, a long-eared beagle (Sorry, Snoopy) with a long, wet and over-affectionate tongue. Odie is simple but happy, generally blissfully unaware of the fact that he has been insulted by Garfield. Odie is the straight-man for Garfield and the butt of many of Garfield's barbs. Although he is usually written as being rather dim-witted, he occasionally shows a rare hint of wisdom, such as when he tries to reconcile Garfield and Jon after a fight.
The Garfield Show: All You Need is Love (And Pasta) contains six short, animated episodes from the 2008 series, which are done in CGI. The first is "Mother Garfield", which sees the normally selfish feline finding himself the adopted mother for a trio of baby birds. The second is "Desperately Seeking Pooky", when Garfield loses his favorite toy. "Meet the Parents" has Jon meeting Liz's parents for the first time and having the meeting sabotaged due to a feud between Garfield and the canary that Liz's parent bring with them. The fourth and cleverest of the shorts is "Pet Matchers", a riff on reality shows, where Odie tries to teach Garfield and Jon to appreciate each other by putting them on a TV show called "Pet Matchers" which finds perfect pets for people and vice versa. However, the show ends up separating the two, giving them more appropriate companions. "Family Pictures" is a one-joke short which shows how much trouble Jon has setting up a family portrait. The sixth and final short is "Iceman", which has Garfield making life difficult for a lonely ice cream delivery lady until she finds happiness with a frozen cave man.
These aren't brilliant cartoons but they're sure to entertain the small fry and maybe some older viewers if they are die-hard Garfield fans.
DVD Bonus Features
The set includes seven 30-second mini-shorts, featuring Garfield and his friends.
"The Garfield Show: All You Need is Love (and Pasta)" is on sale January 18, 2011 and is not rated. Animation, Children & Family. Written by Jim Davis and Mark Evanier. Starring Frank Welker, Wally Wingert, Gregg Berger.
