While alot of people know that the Peanuts characters have alot of specials very few people if any know that Garfield has a ton of TV specials as well. With the Garfield specials not really bein all that well remembered outside of a few people who grew up with them with the special that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today actually being the last one every produced and so then join me as I review the special that is more focused on Jon then it is on Garfield with the special in question brin called simply just "Garfield Gets A Life" enjoy.
The plot of this special is one day when he and Jon are bored Garfield decides to help Jon get a life with the dup doin whatever it takes to make sure that Jon gets a life. Now then then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot thats actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad but at the same time it's also not all that good either as it is a really weak plot for a special and instead feels more at home as plot for an episode of the Garfield & Friends TV show as those are only made up of small segments which is the perfect place to put a plot like this one where as here because of the fact that the specials plot whilst it can be good in places just isn't strong enough to support an entire twenty two minuet special as the special itself barely focuses on the plot with it feeling more like a series of very loosely connected scenes and while that might very well be the case for alot of the Garfield specials that doesn't always mean that it works as it's just something that doesn't work for this special and it is something that should have been fixed if the makers of this special knew that it was goin to be the last one but on the other hand this kind of storytelling could also be seen as being true to the spirit of the Garfield & Friends TV show as well with the plot of this special not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this special is Lorenzo Music as Garfield , Thom Huge as Jon Arbuckle and A Ranger and Gregg Berger as Odie , Stinky , An Announcer and Man 2. Also starring in this special is Julie Payne as Library Girl and A Receptionist , Frank Welker as Lorenzo , Gunner and The Station Announcer , June Foray as Mona and The Librarian , Kim Campbell as Woman At Laundromat and Kevin Campbell as Man 1.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. As alot of this special actors are a bunch of really good actors in there own with several of them even reprising their roles from the show and other Garfield specials as well and a result of that is the fact that they really would know how best to perform there character and what kind of performance would fit there respective character in any given situation and while it doesn't need saying but the best actor in this special is quite easily Lorenzo Music as Garfield as the man just has that dry and deadpan delivery that just fits the character and matches the characters own sense of humor so well that it really is hard to picture anyone else no matter how well know that they are to play this character as he just played him so well that it was like that the character was written with him in mind and while the rest of this special characters are also perfectly well cast as well known of them match up to Lorenzo Music with the actin that's in this special not really bein helped by the fact that this specials script is just so bad as it gives none of this specials actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there respective characters are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special.
Doing the animation for this special is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Wang Film Productions Company and Cuckoo's Nest Studios. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad and was more then reaching the standards set by the show but that's also the problem and while it is understandable as to why this special looked like the show as that was still a very popular show at the time for a special you expect the animation to look better not movie quality good just something that would set it apart from an episode of the show where as here since it does look like an episode of then there was no need to make this special it's own thing as you very easily could have had air as an episode of the show and no one would be able to tell the difference and while that's not always a bad thing as in this case it does also fit the plot as the plot also feels like it would be more at home in the show it's animation isn't as could as it could have been but to be fair tho the characters do have some really nice fluid movements to them and the fact that it looks like a water color painting does somehow make it feel more timeless then what it really had right to be with the special animation really coming alive when there telling a joke with the animation even helping to make the joke even more funnier as well.
Oddly enough while the special is named after Garfield it's Jon that gets all of the focus which is something that makes no sense. As you don't go to watch a Garfield special for Jon you go to watch Garfield and there for having him be the focus of the special would have made alot more sense and it could even be argued that Garfield plays no major part in the special outside of him going with Jon to all of these events and makes jokes about him but that's really it and that's not enough to justify him being in the title of the special and while it would have been hard to do the plot of this special with Garfield as the main focus it wouldn't have been impossible as you could have had Jon not only get his life but that become so caught up in it that forgets all about Garfield and Odie not to the point where there in danger but to the point where us the audience start to notice it a bit more and you could even have Garfield remind Jon of him and Odie thus giving Garfield something to do in the special and since Jon only stops seeing this girl that he just met because of the fact that she's allergic to cats it would make perfect sense that Garfield would also be the one to remind Jon that he already has love in his life just not in the way that he would have thought off and heck you could even have a joke at the end of the special where the very next day both Garfield and Jon are bored again with the special as it is not really working because of the act that Jon is meant to have no personality and therefor isn't meant to be that interesting of a character which is fine for the comic strips as he's not the main character of those strips but here because he is now meant to be the main character it still doesn't work because of his lack of character something that shouldn't be changed as Garfield should always be the main character of any Garfield piece of media.
Unlike the Peanuts special which are meant to be cute and heartwarming specials that touch upon things that we do in every day life. The Garfield specials and indeed this one is meant to be absurd and crazy and to that degree that is where this special shine brightest as alot of the situations that both Jon and Garfield get into could be seen as being wacky , crazy and absurd which is something that's perfect for these characters as these characters are meant to be the kind of character that people young and old can not only relate to but also find some form of enjoyment in as well and while seeing Jon try and fail to get a life can lead to some funny situations it doesn't do enough to justify him being the main character of the special as Jon doesn't go through any character growth it's Garfield that does that with Jon just essentially being the audience type of character who is just along for the ride and that's a great role for his character to play as he's the hapless loser he's the guy that you want to see try and fail to get the girl because you know that deep down he will learn something special because of it whilst still being his crazy self and while the Peanuts gang can get away with having more heartwarming stories as they are meant to be in a heightened version of our world Garfield however doesn't have and never should have the luxury as the Garfield characters should always be telling these more wacky and out there stories that whilst they won't teach you any valuable life lessons but what they will do is put on a smile on your face and that's great as that's all they really need to do and that's something that this special oddly enough doesn't do as it tries to be like Peanuts special when it should have been more focused on being a Garfield special.
To be fair to this special Mona does seem like she's a really cool idea for a character as she's literally just the female version of Jon. Which does make her seem like the type of girl that he would fall for with them both complimenting each others personalities perfectly and even the fact that they met in a class for people who have no personality is a good way for those characters to meet up it's just a shame that the character really hasn't appeared in any other animated Garfield media since the release of this special and heck she even could have been used in the two live action Garfield movies or the most recent The Garfield Movie as then the makers of those films could take the opportunity to add to her character and even have her finally meet up with Jon again something which they do promise to do at the end of this special and while is like Jon personality which is already a pretty fun idea but what would have made her an even more fun character was if she had her own versions of Garfield and Odie just to hit home that she really is exactly like Jon or better yet have her be the exact opposite of Jon as the special was quite clearly hinting at the two of them being an item it would have done wonders for her personality as then we'd get to see what her likes and dislikes are and what are hobbies where as here since she's meant to be exactly like Jon in pretty much everyway possible it does mean that if you think of the lamest thing possible then chances are she'll like it but what doesn't add up is if she does have cat allergies then why does she allow Garfield to snuggle up to her and why does she stroke Garfield at all when all that would is just aggravate her allergies.
Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty two minuets and twenty nine seconds. Which is pretty much the bogstandard running time for an episode of the show and this special really doesn't have alot of plot there cover that amount of running as it best this special has just enough plot to cover about five maybe ten minuets at maximum which would be fine if this was an episode of Garfield & Friends as you have the U.S. Acres half of that show to cover whatever running time you have left to fill but for a solo twenty two minuet special there really should have been some effort on the behave of the makers of this special to fully flesh out this specials plot as this special doesn't even use it's running time all that wisely with none of the new characters that meet in this special apart from Mona aren't all that well fleshed out and it could even be argued that Mona herself isn't that well fleshed out either and while the special really didn't have to flesh out either Garfield or Jn as we have the countless other special and episodes of Garfield & Friends for that there still should have been some effort into fleshing out the new characters to the point where we want to see more of them in either future episodes of specials and while alot of this specials characters are just one scene characters where they appear in just the one scene for a joke and that's it there still are characters like Mona who despite only being introduced in the specials third act was meant to have seen Jon the previous day at the beach and yet there's not that much character development for her either but I really will admit that this special really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. As alot of what Garfield says when he's mocking Jon in his attempts to get girls and to get a life in this special are really funny with as was previous mentioned in this review the special animation really coming alive and making this specials jokes even more funnier then what they really had any right to be as that's when we get alot of really zany movements which would seem to be out of place in any ither special barring those done by Garfield with perhaps the best joke in the whole entire special being when Garfield is actively trying to stop Jon and Mona from falling in love as he had a nightmare about what there potential kid would do to him only for him to start liking Mona the second that she starts to stroke him behind his ears which is a really funny joke even if it does make you wonder why she's doing it if she got cat allergies with another good joke coming when Garfield sees that Jon has fully organized his sock draw with both him and Jon admitting that on needs a life which is a really funny joke and something that Garfield himself would say as it really is a good example of the kind of humor that Garfield does and it's something that really does work not only for both of the characters but also for the special as a whole as well in my freaking opinions anyways /at least.
Overall while this special won't ever top any of the Charlie Brown Peanuts specials that's OK as the Garfield specials , shows and movies have always been more joke focused and in this case while the story and characters really isn't all that strong in the first place it's jokes are the best aspect of the special itself and while the special isn't all that good it is still a fairly enjoyable special in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are n this very special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then interms of where personally of all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Garfield fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.
