Garfield on the Town (1983)

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

disgusting, overrated, pointless

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I had completely forgotten this TV special from my childhood until coming across it online. This one has Garfield stranded in the city, where he's accosted by a gang of tough street cats named The Claws. Running for his nine lives, Garfield is rescued by a female cat who turns out to be his mother. From there we get some touching moments, which the Garfield specials I've seen were always good at, and a life lesson or two. I especially like how one particular plot point doesn't go the way you might expect. It's a good cartoon with nice simplistic animation, fun songs (The Claws' theme is a classic), and a story with humor and heart. Definitely worth a look, even if you're not an avid Garfield fan.

When I was really little, I always thought that "Garfield on the Town" was really funny. As I aged, I thought less of it. Of course, I like the thought of someone's reconnection with his roots (such as Garfield's growing up in an Italian restaurant). What's really cool to me nowadays is knowing that Garfield's voice artist was Lorenzo Music, who was also the original voice artist of Peter Venkman (Bill Murray's character) on "The Real Ghostbusters"*. In all, Music was a sarcastic, lasagna-loving cat hunting evil spirits! Anyway, this movie isn't really anything special, unless you look at it from the perspective of retracing ones roots.*Incidentally, Bill Murray provided Garfield's voice in the 2004 movie.

Everybody's favourite overweight, lazy, cynical, lasagne-loving, Monday-loathing, orange-striped feline (one of many reasons why Garfield stands as such an unrivalled creation – have you ever seen such a unique combination of character traits?) received his second TV outing back in 1983 in this endearing tale of family unity and survival. Having been separated from his owner Jon Arbuckle and lost out on the streets of the city, where the local strays will defend their territory to the finish, Garfield has mixed experiences when he runs afoul with one particularly aggressive gang of moggies, only to be taken in and sheltered by another, much more lax group who, as it turns out, have a flesh-and-blood connection to him. But although his mother, who Garfield hasn't seen since his days as a kitten, is keen to welcome him, reservations soon arise as to whether or not our leading cat could ever fit in with the rest of his impoverished clan.Admittedly, I've never really found any instalment in Garfield's TV special canon to be quite as dazzling as his equivalent adventures in the series 'Garfield and Friends' – the stories there were a lot shorter, but usually managed to pack in a lot more wit, charm and imagination to boot (although 'Garfield goes Hollywood', which almost felt like it could have been an extended segment of 'GaF', came extremely close). That said, 'On the Town' is still a fun and timeless 30-minute delight, made memorable by its touching story, pleasant music, playful humour, and, most crucially of all, an utterly inspired back-alley showdown between Garfield and a taunting purple stray (which consists mostly of flailing about and sizing each other up back and forth – and Garfield's problems with his claws and his shadow come as brilliant touches). The animation too is as about as high in quality as you'd expect from a project of this nature – basic, but clean, rounded and very easy on the eye; an improvement on that used in his debut special 'Here Comes Garfield' (which still succeeded in terms of heart and story), and better even than a handful of his later adventures like 'In the Rough' and 'In Disguise'. There are some technical glitches which keep things from running completely smoothly, including a rather awkward moment where Garfield's grandfather is moving his head and finger like he should be saying something, but nothing at all comes out (I assume it arose from a slip-up in the editing department). Also, has anyone else noticed that when the purple cat sings, he sounds nothing like he does when he talks? Well, I guess it's the kind of minor detail which only someone as insecure and nit-picky as me would make that big a thing out of…after all, these Garfield specials never aimed to be anything more than an enjoyable, light-hearted exercise in charm and entertainment for all the family, and this one certainly gets that job done well enough, so why try to find a huge deal of fault with it? Besides, I really owe too much to Garfield for all the times he's made me smile throughout my lifetime – and 'On the Town' is no exception. It features Liz at her most devilishly catty. The flashback sequence is handled perfectly. And the last few moments are absolutely wonderful.Grade: A-

This is really a different Garfield animated film!It is quite emotional when the lasagna eating fat cat meets up with his mom!The short is very funny as is all Garfield cartoons.I really like the Garfield cartoons as they are some of My favorite animated cartoons!If you have a chance to see it don't pass it up because its very good!