Garfield's Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here, and it is time for another review on a special based on the holiday. Let’s take a look at the 1989 short, “Garfield’s Thanksgiving.” I remember watching the cartoon somewhat growing up, so I thought of checking it out in celebration of today.

Garfield is ready to celebrate Thanksgiving! A trip to the veterinarian has Liz putting Garfield on a diet and John getting a date for Thanksgiving. When John messes up the Thanksgiving dinner, will his grandmother be able to save him and will Garfield get to enjoy his Thanksgiving by eating whatever he wants?

Directed by Phil Roman, Gerard Baldwin, Bob Nesler, and John Sparey, “Garfield’s Thanksgiving” aired on November 22, 1989. It aired for a few years, but “A Garfield Christmas” and “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” aired more frequently. It has been put on with Garfield’s other two specials on one DVD. Jim Davis also did a Garfield storybook adaptation of this special. This also was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.

There aren’t many Thanksgiving specials or movies. With “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” “Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is one of the few cartoons (special or even movie) that is about the holiday, so if you want a Thanksgiving special to watch yearly, this is one of your choices. That’s not to say that it’s necessarily a bad thing.

“Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is a rather nice episode that feels a lot like the Garfield cartoon. The show starts out about Garfield’s diet on the holiday but quickly changes to Jon’s date with Liz. JPRoscoe said in his review, “The Jon/Liz relationship was always a theme in the old comic and the series, but it never made much sense because of shows like this which shows Liz and Jon having a great time together.”

JPRoscoe continued, “I like how the show forces the Thanksgiving issue by having Jon tell Liz about Thanksgiving to stall for the dinner.” It is funny because Thanksgiving is promoted as a reason to eat a lot in the special and then Jon uses Thanksgiving as an excuse to keep Liz busy so they can eat a lot. It is almost a little ironic.

“Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is a decent short for a holiday that doesn’t get much attention from Hollywood or TV. JPRoscoe ended his review by saying, “I wish there were more specials on Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday.  I wish that there were more options but Thanksgiving location between Halloween and Christmas hurts it…so enjoy Garfield’s Thanksgiving and have some turkey.”

I don’t know if I have ever said this in the past, but this is a holiday that just gets overlooked and no one seems to really give it as much attention as it deserves. This short really captures the essence of preparing for a dinner and making everything perfect. Find this online and watch it because it is really good. Especially if you’re a fan of Garfield.

Happy Thanksgiving. Make sure to enjoy the dinner tonight, but don’t overeat to a point where you get exhausted. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Lou Diamond Phillips Month.”