Garfield's Thanksgiving
Encyclopedia
Garfield's Thanksgiving is a 1989 animated television special based on the Garfield
comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music
as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast November 22, 1989 on CBS
. It has been released on both VHS
and DVD
home video. On overseas DVD copies of Garfield's Holiday Celebrations
, this special is replaced with Garfield in the Rough
.
) wakes Jon early and demands to be fed. Jon (voiced by Thom Huge) tries to go back to sleep, but Garfield (with Odie's help) scares him out of bed with military music and speaking like a drill sergeant. Jon wonders if people with goldfish
have this problem. He feeds Garfied pancake
s and coffee
. Garfield decides to take a nap after breakfast but changes his mind to kick Odie (voiced by Gregg Berger
) off the table. Garfield suddenly notices he has to go to the vet. He shoves the date into Odie's mouth hoping to make Jon forget and then notices that tomorrow is Thanksgiving
. He reminds Jon who takes him shopping for the Thanksgiving food. On the way home Jon takes a wrong turn and reveals he remembered Garfield's appointment with the vet. While at the vet, Jon tries to ask Dr. Liz Wilson (voiced by Julie Payne
) out, but she turns him down. Jon decides to hold his breath while she details the diet that Garfield must go on. Both he and Garfield faint. Liz changes her mind about the date. Jon invites her for Thanksgiving Dinner.
At home, Jon feeds Garfield half a leaf of lettuce
for lunch. He has Odie use a whistle to hassle Garfield into his diet. Garfield weighs himself on the talking weight scale and destroys it for comparing him to Orson Welles
. He then tries to sneak food from the kitchen but Odie stops him and he figures the lack of food must be making him hallucinate. The next morning Garfield becomes a sourpuss. Jon begins prepraring the meal, but doesn't have a clue how, as he didn't thaw
the turkey
overnight, doesn't bother to make stuffing
, rubs butter
on his skin instead of the turkey's and roasts it at 500 degrees instead of 350. Garfield helps ruin the meal by putting garlic powder in the vegetables. Jon shaves and then picks a suit, but forgets to put on pants. Liz arrives and tells him he's not wearing pants by saying, "Nice polka dot boxer shorts." Jon finishes dressing and invites her in. Liz realizes the diet is too strict for Garfield, who kisses her for letting him off. Garfield goes into the kitchen and observes Jon, who finally realizes he doesn't know how to prepare a thanksgiving dinner and wonders what to do. Garfield brings him the phone and with clues, gets Jon to call Grandma. Grandma (voiced by Pat Carroll
) arrives seconds later and shoos Jon out of the kitchen and begins preparing the meal. She cuts the turkey
into slices with a chainsaw
, adds white sauce then batters and deep fries the slices into what she calls her famous turkey croquette
s. Jon distracts Liz by giving her a history lesson about Thanksgiving. Grandma prepares sweet potato
es by covering them with butter
, brown sugar
and marshmallow
s. She then prepares "one-second cranberry sauce
" and pumpkin pie
. After quickly setting the table Garfield makes his signature comment, "Nice touch". Before departing Grandma tells Garfield Liz couldn't have found a better man than Jon and that she'd better not blow it. She also tells Garfield to eat a piece of pie for her and leaves. Garfield salutes her and comments "They just don't make 'em like that anymore." Garfield tells Jon, who has put Liz to sleep, that everything is ready. After eating Liz declares that it was a wonderful meal and thanks Jon for inviting her. Jon invites her for next year and she accepts. She then kisses Jon on the cheek before she departs. Jon, Garfield and Odie declare it was a great day and they're thankful for Grandma. Garfield goes back to tormenting Odie after Jon decides to put Odie on a diet.
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music
Lorenzo Music
Lorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast November 22, 1989 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. It has been released on both VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
home video. On overseas DVD copies of Garfield's Holiday Celebrations
Garfield's Holiday Celebrations
Garfield's Holiday Celebrations is a DVD compilation of the 3 Garfield holiday specials, Garfield's Halloween Adventure, Garfield's Thanksgiving, and A Garfield Christmas. This DVD was released October 16, 2004.-Garfield's Halloween Adventure:...
, this special is replaced with Garfield in the Rough
Garfield in the Rough
Garfield in the Rough is a half-hour animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast October 26, 1984 on CBS...
.
Plot
Garfield (voiced by Lorenzo MusicLorenzo Music
Lorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
) wakes Jon early and demands to be fed. Jon (voiced by Thom Huge) tries to go back to sleep, but Garfield (with Odie's help) scares him out of bed with military music and speaking like a drill sergeant. Jon wonders if people with goldfish
Goldfish
The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
have this problem. He feeds Garfied pancake
Pancake
A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side...
s and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
. Garfield decides to take a nap after breakfast but changes his mind to kick Odie (voiced by Gregg Berger
Gregg Berger
Greggory "Gregg" Berger is an American voice actor, who is known for his longtime role as Odie the dog from the Garfield franchise...
) off the table. Garfield suddenly notices he has to go to the vet. He shoves the date into Odie's mouth hoping to make Jon forget and then notices that tomorrow is Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
. He reminds Jon who takes him shopping for the Thanksgiving food. On the way home Jon takes a wrong turn and reveals he remembered Garfield's appointment with the vet. While at the vet, Jon tries to ask Dr. Liz Wilson (voiced by Julie Payne
Julie Payne
Julie Payne may refer to:*Julie Payne , American actress whose career lasted from 1959 to 1967...
) out, but she turns him down. Jon decides to hold his breath while she details the diet that Garfield must go on. Both he and Garfield faint. Liz changes her mind about the date. Jon invites her for Thanksgiving Dinner.
At home, Jon feeds Garfield half a leaf of lettuce
Lettuce
Lettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. It is eaten either raw, notably in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes, or cooked, as in Chinese cuisine in which the stem becomes just as important...
for lunch. He has Odie use a whistle to hassle Garfield into his diet. Garfield weighs himself on the talking weight scale and destroys it for comparing him to Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. He then tries to sneak food from the kitchen but Odie stops him and he figures the lack of food must be making him hallucinate. The next morning Garfield becomes a sourpuss. Jon begins prepraring the meal, but doesn't have a clue how, as he didn't thaw
Thaw
-Events:* Thaw , the melting of snow and ice* Gomułka thaw, also called the "Polish October", a political change in Poland in 1956* Khrushchev Thaw, a period in the history of the Soviet Union-Organisations:...
the turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
overnight, doesn't bother to make stuffing
Stuffing
In cooking, stuffing or filling is an edible substance or mixture, often a starch, used to fill a cavity in another food item...
, rubs butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
on his skin instead of the turkey's and roasts it at 500 degrees instead of 350. Garfield helps ruin the meal by putting garlic powder in the vegetables. Jon shaves and then picks a suit, but forgets to put on pants. Liz arrives and tells him he's not wearing pants by saying, "Nice polka dot boxer shorts." Jon finishes dressing and invites her in. Liz realizes the diet is too strict for Garfield, who kisses her for letting him off. Garfield goes into the kitchen and observes Jon, who finally realizes he doesn't know how to prepare a thanksgiving dinner and wonders what to do. Garfield brings him the phone and with clues, gets Jon to call Grandma. Grandma (voiced by Pat Carroll
Pat Carroll (actress)
Patricia Ann “Pat” Carroll is an American actress. She performed in numerous stage productions, and portrayed the roles of "Bunny Halper" on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, Shirley Feeney's mother on ABC's Laverne and Shirley, and is the voice of the villainous Ursula in The Little Mermaid film...
) arrives seconds later and shoos Jon out of the kitchen and begins preparing the meal. She cuts the turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
into slices with a chainsaw
Chainsaw
A chainsaw is a portable mechanical saw, powered by electricity, compressed air, hydraulic power, or most commonly a two-stroke engine...
, adds white sauce then batters and deep fries the slices into what she calls her famous turkey croquette
Croquette
A croquette is a small fried food roll containing, usually as main ingredients, mashed potatoes, and/or ground meat , shellfish, fish, vegetables, and soaked white bread, egg, onion, spices and herbs, wine, milk, beer or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, often encased in...
s. Jon distracts Liz by giving her a history lesson about Thanksgiving. Grandma prepares sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
es by covering them with butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
, brown sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
and marshmallow
Marshmallow
The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...
s. She then prepares "one-second cranberry sauce
Cranberry sauce
Cranberry sauce or cranberry jelly is a sauce or relish made out of cranberries, commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner in North America and Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom...
" and pumpkin pie
Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin pie is a traditional sweet dessert, often eaten during the fall and early winter, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States and Canada. The pumpkin is a symbol of harvest time and featured also at Halloween....
. After quickly setting the table Garfield makes his signature comment, "Nice touch". Before departing Grandma tells Garfield Liz couldn't have found a better man than Jon and that she'd better not blow it. She also tells Garfield to eat a piece of pie for her and leaves. Garfield salutes her and comments "They just don't make 'em like that anymore." Garfield tells Jon, who has put Liz to sleep, that everything is ready. After eating Liz declares that it was a wonderful meal and thanks Jon for inviting her. Jon invites her for next year and she accepts. She then kisses Jon on the cheek before she departs. Jon, Garfield and Odie declare it was a great day and they're thankful for Grandma. Garfield goes back to tormenting Odie after Jon decides to put Odie on a diet.
Cast
- Lorenzo MusicLorenzo MusicLorenzo Music was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon cat Garfield, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS sitcom Rhoda...
- Garfield - Thom Huge - Jon Arbuckle
- Gregg BergerGregg BergerGreggory "Gregg" Berger is an American voice actor, who is known for his longtime role as Odie the dog from the Garfield franchise...
- Odie - Julie PayneJulie PayneJulie Payne may refer to:*Julie Payne , American actress whose career lasted from 1959 to 1967...
- Dr. Liz Wilson - Pat CarrollPat Carroll (actress)Patricia Ann “Pat” Carroll is an American actress. She performed in numerous stage productions, and portrayed the roles of "Bunny Halper" on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, Shirley Feeney's mother on ABC's Laverne and Shirley, and is the voice of the villainous Ursula in The Little Mermaid film...
- Grandma
Songs
- "Make Thanksgiving One Whole Meal" by Lou RawlsLou RawlsLouis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
- "It's a Quiet Celebration" by Desirée GoyetteDesirée GoyetteDesirée Goyette is a singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia Pig, Honey Bunny and numerous others for radio, television and toys...
Book adaptation
The book adaptation, which retains the original title "Garfield's Thanksgiving," deviates in the following ways:- When Odie and Garfield awaken Jon, they demand pancakes the size of China. Afterward, as he finishes his breakfast, Garfield quips that it needs less "pan" and more "cake".
- Only Jon causes a commotion in the room - holding his breath until Liz accepts his invitation for Thanksgiving dinner - while Garfield spends the whole session silently going from denial into shock from being sentenced to a diet before passing out at the same time as a suffocating Jon.
- Odie and the scale are not involved in Garfield's torment, and Jon - too deliriously happy about having Liz over for Thanksgiving dinner - is ignorant to the fact that Garfield is in misery. Instead, Garfield comes across a mirror on his way back from his first minuscule meal, and quips that he's lost something already - his sense of humor. He is also weak and suffers from insomnia.
- While Garfield is cranky from a sleepless night and a single lettuce leaf for breakfast, he cheers up quickly after deliberately sabotaging Jon's dinner (specifically the vegetables), and is even cooperative by helping him pick a suit for the dinner (despite not telling him he forgot his pants).
- When Liz comes and waits for Jon to serve dinner, she takes the moment to inspect Garfield. After Garfield pretends to be suffering from every single symptom Liz casually mentions, she relents, takes him off the diet, and only prescribes for him light exercises instead.
- Jon ruins his own dinner by not preparing any of it properly. In the end, the turkey he did not thaw or butter is in terrible state, the sabotaged vegetables are smoking, and the pie he made is burnt.
- Jon is the one to decide to call Grandma. While Grandma prepares dinner - and Garfield stays to watch - Jon stalls for time by telling Liz about Thanksgiving history, which works so well it bores her to sleep until Grandma is done.
- At the end, there is no mention of any latter diets, and while Odie and Garfield sit comfortably with their full bellies as Jon sees Liz out the door, the three agree unanimously that they have one person to thank: Grandma.
Production
- Created by Jim DavisJim Davis (cartoonist)James Robert Davis is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic strip Garfield, which he signs as Jim Davis. He has also worked on other strips: Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, U.S. Acres and a strip about Mr...
- Written by Jim DavisJim Davis (cartoonist)James Robert Davis is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic strip Garfield, which he signs as Jim Davis. He has also worked on other strips: Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, U.S. Acres and a strip about Mr...
and Kim CampbellKim CampbellAvril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993... - Original Music by Ed BogasEd BogasEd Bogas, born Edgar Noel Bogas, and sometimes credited as Edward Bogas, is an American rock musician and composer and whose work has been featured in films, animations, and video games.-Career:...
and Desirée GoyetteDesirée GoyetteDesirée Goyette is a singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia Pig, Honey Bunny and numerous others for radio, television and toys...