Growing up, I looked forward to the Garfield comic strip featured in the Sunday paper funnies each weekend. Garfield, a large orange tabby cat with an attitude problem and a massive appetite, bore a striking resemblance to my own beloved pet at the time, and the interactions between him, his hapless owner Jon, and the adorably stupid dog Odie were greatly entertaining. They lived relatively mundane lives, but creator Jim Davis inserted a healthy dose of absurdity and humor into even those everyday situations. However, I have had very little interest in the live-action adaptations of the cartoon, with Garfield voiced by Bill Murray; as much as I love both Murray and Garfield, something about those movies just seems indefinably wrong. However, I was eager to give the animated versions of these characters a shot in a nostalgic attempt to relive that part of my childhood.
Growing up, I looked forward to the Garfield comic strip featured in the Sunday paper funnies each weekend. Garfield, a large orange tabby cat with an attitude problem and a massive appetite, bore a striking resemblance to my own beloved pet at the time, and the interactions between him, his hapless owner Jon, and the adorably stupid dog Odie were greatly entertaining. They lived relatively mundane lives, but creator Jim Davis inserted a healthy dose of absurdity and humor into even those everyday situations. However, I have had very little interest in the live-action adaptations of the cartoon, with Garfield voiced by Bill Murray; as much as I love both Murray and Garfield, something about those movies just seems indefinably wrong. However, I was eager to give the animated versions of these characters a shot in a nostalgic attempt to relive that part of my childhood.
The Garfield Show: Private-Eye Ventures is the third installment in a DVD series, following previous volumes Odie Oh! and All You Need is Love & Pasta (an amazing title no matter what the content of the DVD may be). Private-Eye Ventures collects six twelve-minute episodes chronicling Garfield’s various misadventures. Storylines featuring lasagna-shaped aliens, body switching, wannabe secret agent cats, and even cat-gods in space are much more bizarre and fantastical than the content of the original comics, but I’m sure the madcap insanity has a lot more appeal for today’s kids than Garfield simply eating a lasagna that is not meant for him (even though that was enough to get a laugh out of me back in the day).
The result isn’t awful; in fact, it’s perfectly adequate in every way. It’s just forgettable. The stories, albeit very short, can barely hold one’s attention span. I do imagine the humor will get a few chuckles out of the young children the series is targeting. I found myself managing appreciative grins at many points, though there were no laugh-out-loud moments for me—not even my personal favorite bit, Garfield bemoaning his brief inability to eat lasagna after nearly devouring the talking, sentient pasta-beings featured in the first episode, “Pasta Wars.” Yet I think that even young kids who are entertained by Private-Eye Ventures would get bored with it relatively quickly, and would forget their favorite jokes by the time the credits roll. Even if they enjoy watching it, I don’t think it would make a lasting impression on them. It’s just not quite up to par.
Visually, the CGI animation bears more of a resemblance to video games than anything on television. I was strongly reminded of The Sims due to the awkward zooms, jerky movements, bright colors, and silly music. Yet The Sims is meant to be played and actively engaged with, not passive watched as a DVD is; the visuals of the game are not the most important factor in its success. However, the main purpose of a television episode is “to be watched” and not much more than that. As a result, I expect even the cheaply and quickly animated variety to have more appealing visuals if I am meant to keep my eyes on the screen without getting distracted. The five micro-shorts included as special features did not contain dialogue, only random sound effects, which added to the strange feeling of watching The Sims: Garfield Edition. The scripts and voice acting were clunky, though earnest and eager to please. As I said, I don’t want to be too harsh, as it did make me smile on several occasions, but I was hoping for something more. I feel slightly let down by Private-Eye Ventures, but I would recommend it as a quicky method of child control for baby-sitters in crisis. However, once the 72 minutes is up (and possibly before that), you’re on your own, because I don’t think a second viewing will be in order.
DVD Bonus Features
Five shorts, and when I say short, I mean short: not much longer than a minute apiece. They’re titled “Smash,” “Trigger Problem,” “Revenge Smash,” “Fake Out,” and “Dance Partners” (by far the most entertaining of the bunch). Each is long enough to contain about one good visual gag each since there is no dialogue involved, and they’re a fitting supplement to the longer episodes.
"The Garfield Show: Private Eye-Ventures" is on sale April 12, 2011 and is not rated. Animation, Television. Directed by Philippe Vidal. Written by Mark Evanier, Julien Magnat. Starring Frank Welker, Gregg Berger, Wally Wingert.
