Garfield's Halloween Adventure
I loved to watch the Garfield animated specials because they were always well animated and written as well. As a director and now founder of his own studio, animator Phil Roman took a page from his prior employment with the Peanuts specials in successively adapting the Garfield comic strip to the TV. Creator Jim Davis was actively involved in the creative process just as Charles Schultz was with his work. And casting makes perfect because Lorenzo Music IS Garfield. It’s just nice to hear his sarcastic inner thoughts on life again. And I never get tired of Garfield’s dry interactions with owner Jim as they are always funny to me…especially when it comes to food. The CBS special “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” (1985) reminded me that I have a thing against clowns like Binky because they always seem to be creepy and evil in spite of their supposedly cheery outside appearance. Binky actually in hindsight feels like an evil version of Krusty the Clown…and this was before “The Simpsons” even arrived on “The Tracy Ullman Show”. I also noticed in the middle of the cartoon a little tribute Phil Roman paid to the Peanuts gang. As Garfield and Oldie are trick or treating they come by to a house to receive one piece of candy. If you really pay attention to the scene the candy moves just like how the rock would move in the iconic Peanuts Halloween special when Charlie Brown gets a rock. Some other things that came to my head were the illustrated watercolor backgrounds. They particularly looked good, especially the paintings with the river banks involved. The animation of the ghosts was also nice too as it reflected that aforementioned approach. I’m not going to lie, but the old man who lived on the island is freakin scary. That first shot of him seating by the fireplace makes you jump for a second because he is so different from the rest of the characters. He is grotesquely detailed in his facials and more fluid by his gestures which grab out attention. I forgot how the film takes a dark turn with the ghost story the old man tells. At first I thought he was going to trap the duo in the house. Then I speculated he was a ghost trying to teach them a lesson. So it made me smile that the senile man stole their boats for whatever apparent reason he had. So I guess we will never know whether he was actually a ghost or just an old senile man with whiskers. Lastly I liked how the special emphasized the “special” relationship between Garfield and Oldie. My favorite parts were when Garfield was manipulating Oldie, how they were caught by the ghosts after Oldie sneezed, and Garfield thanking Oldie for saving him from death. A big payoff in the end is when Garfield decides to give him the other half of the candy they collected that night. To Oldie this is a reward but for us watching it we know that Garfield is playing with his tiny brain again. Garfield…always selfish and smart to the end.
