Here’s a challenge: watch a 3D CGI rendered cartoon that has either weekly or daily episodes and try to determine whether it’s the writing or the animation that holds the show back from proceeding at the same pace and quality as other 2D cartoons. For an example, compare the current 3D CGI version of The Garfield Show against the 90s 2D version or, for that matter, any current cartoon being rendered in 2D. In most cases, and especially the case of this 3D The Garfield Show, it seems like the cadence of dialogue slows down because the cost of rendering enough frames to make the dialogue go quickly is too high. Of course, it could be just the opposite problem: the writers are lousy at their job and don’t write enough content per episode to fill enough time and consequently the CGI animation slows itself down to keep pace. Whatever the case, the five episodes of The Garfield Show feel like far too few laughs for standard-length cartoons, but even so, there’s a glimmer of quality here that’s reminiscent of the 90s series.
For all intents and purposes, The Garfield Show features the aspects of the orange feline that fans have come to love: a lasagna fetish, a hatred for Nermal, a John Arbuckle resigned to owning a lazy yet mischievous cat, and more. However, there is one noticeable change, and for Jim Davis purists it’s arguably an important one: Garfield no longer seems to outwardly despise Odie. There used to be a seething resentment emanating from Garfield towards Odie, but the new series sees the cat and his dog counterpart as reluctant friends more than anything else. Garfield may take advantage of Odie, but there’s a sweetness there that wasn’t before.
The six-episode sampler disc sees Garfield evangelizing the joys of television to farm animals (with a somewhat troubling message about effort), rigging a beauty contest for his and Odie’s benefit, trying to profit from a dinosaur skeleton, living and causing trouble amongst the underwater world, swiftly following up that trouble with seasoning of vengeance, and then recapping how Odie (and other dogs) have been forced into his life by recounting their history (filled with errors) of domestication.
DVD Bonus Features
A bunch of highly repetitive shorts see Garfield reacting to the presence of a spider and then dispatching it in comical ways. It’s nice to see these animated, as they’ve been a staple of the comic strip forever, but these also represent the most recognizable sign of the animator’s laziness, with the first 80% of each being the exact same, from the spider’s appearances to the cat’s initial reactions. It’s disappointing.
"The Garfield Show: Dinosaurs & Other Animal Adventures" is on sale January 10, 2012 and is not rated. Animation, Children & Family, Comedy. Written by Julien Magnat. Starring Jason Marsden, Laura Summer.
