| Garfield in Paradise | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Created by | Jim Davis |
| Written by | Jim Davis |
| Directed by | Phil Roman |
| Starring | Lorenzo Music Thom Huge Gregg Berger Frank Nelson Wolfman Jack Hal Smith Desirée Goyette Julie Payne Nino Tempo |
| Theme music composer | Ed Bogas andDesirée Goyette (music and lyrics) Desirée Goyette,Lou Rawls,Lorenzo Music and Thom Huge (vocals) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Jay Poynor |
| Producer | Phil Roman |
| Editors | Sam Horta Mark R. Crookston Timothy J. Borquez |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production companies | Film Roman United Media Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | May 27, 1986 (1986-05-27) |
| Related | |
Garfield in Paradise is a 1986 American animated television special directed byPhil Roman, based on theGarfield comic strip byJim Davis. It featuresLorenzo Music as the voice ofGarfield the house cat, other regulars Thom Huge andGregg Berger, and guest starWolfman Jack. It originally aired onCBS on May 27, 1986.
This was the fifth of twelveGarfield television specials made between 1982 and 1991. The story concerns the characters visiting a tropical vacation destination. The special was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program and has been released onDVD.
Jon Arbuckle andGarfield take their third class airline trip to Paradise World, a cheapskate's version ofHawaii. When they arrive on the island, Jon and Garfield check in at a deserted motel and are soon disappointed to find out that there is no beach within sight, and only an empty swimming pool in the back instead. When Jon and Garfield enter their room, they findOdie hiding in their luggage. None of the trio has any fun until Jon, Garfield, and Odie plan to rent a car and search for a beach around the island. For a cheap price, they get a really nice and classicChevrolet Bel Air to hit the beach and later begin to choose where to go when their car mysteriously speeds into a jungle on its own, stopping in the middle of a native village. Jon, Garfield, and Odie presume that they are in trouble until the natives begin kowtowing to their car. They meet the tribal chief (The High Ramma-Lamma), who explains that the villagers (The Ding-Dongs) learned English "from watching a lot ofbeach movies". In 1957, the Cruiser, aJames Dean/Fonzie-styled legend, drove his car into the village and introduced the people to the 1950s pop culture. The Cruiser eventually saved the village by sacrificing himself and driving his car into a nearby volcano to prevent it from erupting. The village is dedicated to a 1950s lifestyle and believes that Jon's rental car is actually the same one the Cruiser owned.
In the village, Jon and Garfield find romance with the tribal princess, Owooda, and her cat, Mai-Tai. Meanwhile, the chief orders the village idiot, Monkey, to fix the car with Odie's assistance. Suddenly, the volcano begins to erupt and Owooda tells Jon that she and Mai-Tai must sacrifice themselves to save the village. However, the volcano rejects Owooda and Mai-Tai, and the village shaman, Pigeon, interprets that it wants the car instead and, if it does not have the car within thirty seconds, it will blow the island to pieces. Monkey and Odie make their last attempt to get the car fixed, which still does not work until Odie successfully taps the distributor cap with a hammer. The car finally starts and zooms through the village and up the volcano with Monkey driving and Odie hanging onto the hood. The car plummets into the crater, the volcano finally erupts, and the Cruiser's spirit and car's ghost drift out, speed off, and vanish into the night sky; the volcano is now at peace. Monkey and Odie are presumed dead until they climb out of the crater unharmed. Jon, Garfield, and the villagers finally carry Monkey and Odie back to the village in a hero's fashion.
The special guest stars disc jockeyWolfman Jack as the tribal chief.[1] CreatorJim Davis was excited to work with Jack on the special, explaining, "It was just way fun. We did it for silliness."[2] This was the final credit forFrank Nelson, who, once again, portrayed a variation on his recurring character fromThe Jack Benny Program.
The special first aired on May 27, 1986,[3] at prime time onCBS.[4] It was aired again in subsequent years.[5][6] An illustratedchildren's book adaptation was published byBallantine Books in 1986.[7]
In February 2005, the special was included on theDVDGarfield Travel Adventures along with the specialsGarfield in the Rough (1984) andGarfield Goes Hollywood (1987).[8] It was released on another DVD compilation,The Garfield Holiday Collection, on November 4, 2014, sold only byWalmart, and was also made available for digital download on November 11 that year.[2]
The special was nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1986.[9] The only other nominee was anotherGarfield special,Garfield's Halloween Adventure, which won.[10]
In his 2005DVD Talk review, Randy Miller III complimented the special on "memorable characters" specifically theJames Dean doppelganger and Wolfman Jack's character, concluding, "Plus, Jon gets some action."[8] In 2008, Dan Walsh, creator of the websiteGarfield Minus Garfield recalled watching the specials and claimed, "I can still do a perfect rendition of 'Hello Hawaii,' fromGarfield in Paradise."[11] In 2014, Jim Davis identifiedGarfield in Paradise as "absolutely one of my favorites. It's bright, funny, [there's] rock n' roll in it."[2]