History WesternAnimation / GarfieldSpecials

* ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies'' (May 18, 1990): Garfield has a variety of imagination sequences [[AffectionateParody Affectionately Parodying]] various films, including one that combines ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' with ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.

* ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies'' (May 18, 1990): Garfield has a variety of imagination sequences [[AffectionateParody Affectionately Parodying]] various films, including one that combines ''Film/Goldfinger'' with ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.

* ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies'' (May 18, 1990): Garfield has a imagination sequence [[AffectionateParody Affectionately Parodying]] ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.

* MacGuffin: The Banana of Bombay, the first one to ever be used for the “[[BananaSlip banana gag]],” is what Garfield and Fat Guy are both pursuing in the “Lance Sterling” fantasy, with Garfield wanting to [[ItBelongsInAMuseum return it to the museum that it was stolen from]], and Fat Guy {{Greed wanting to profit off of it}}.

* MacGuffin: The Banana of Bombay, the first one to ever be used for the “[[BananaSlip banana gag]],” is what Garfield and Fat Guy are both pursuing in the “Lance Sterling” fantasy, with Garfield wanting to [[ItBelongsInAMuseum return it to the museum that it was stolen from]], and Fat Guy [[Greed wanting to profit off of it]].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Nadia, while initially posing as a government agent sent to protect Lance Sterling/Garfield and Slobberjob/Odie from Fat Guy and Rameet, is really from a very poor country called ‘[[Ruritania Moldavia]],’ and seeks to steal The Banana of Bombay in order to promote tourism… by opening up a fruit stand.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Nadia, while initially posing as a government agent sent to protect Lance Sterling/Garfield and Slobberjob/Odie from Fat Guy and Rameet, is really from a very poor country called ‘Moldavia,’ and seeks to steal The Banana of Bombay in order to promote tourism… by opening up a fruit stand.]]

-->'''Lance Sterling/Garfield''': You low-born cur! How ''dare'' you seek to profit from the Banana of Bombay!\\

* {{Greed}}: Fat Guy’s motivation for acquiring The Banana of Bombay is that he believes that it “belongs to the world,” [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist by which he means]] he intends to [[AuctionOfEvil auction it off]] to the highest bidding country.

* StraightEdgeEvil: Parodied when the untrustworthy "Fat Guy" boasts that his “[[TheDragon associate]]”, “Rameet,” in addition to being trained in various martial arts ([[BreadEggsMilkSquick and apparently machete eating]]), doesn't smoke, drink, ''eat or sleep.'' Slobberjob/Odie, in response, has his skills prefaced with how he doesn't ''think.'' ("Most impressive.")

* Greed: Fat Guy’s motivation for acquiring The Banana of Bombay is that he believes that it “belongs to the world,” [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist by which he means]] he intends to [[AuctionOfEvil auction it off]] to the highest bidding country.

* ShoutOut: The sepcail references all sorts of things, such as ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'', ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', and even ''Film/{{Airplane}}''.
* StraightEdgeEvil: Parodied when the untrustworthy "Fat Guy" boasts that his "associate", in addition to being trained in various martial arts, doesn't smoke, drink, ''eat or sleep.'' Slobberjob/Odie, in response, has his skills prefaced with how he doesn't ''think.'' ("Most impressive.")

* OvenLogic: Jon turns up the oven to 500 degrees when the directions call for 325 degrees to cook the turkey faster. However, the turkey is [[EpicFail somehow still frozen solid after three hours]].

* OvenLogic: Shows up. Jon turns up the oven higher to cook the turkey faster, but ends up ruining it.

* PlaneAwfulFlight: The special opens with Jon, Garfield (and Odie stashed in a suitcase) taking a plane to a tropical island. It's not a pleasant flight, with everything from rude stewardesses (upon finding out Jon is flying third class: "your seat is in the rear with the rest of the slime!") to broken down seats, non-functioning safety belts, and turbulence that sends them bouncing into the ceiling. Garfield's thoughts on the matter:

* ''Here Comes Garfield''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast October 25, 1982[[/labelnote]]: After [[PilotEpisode a series of vignettes introducing our fat cool cat]], Odie is locked in a dog pound, and Garfield must save him.
* ''Garfield on the Town''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast October 28, 1983[[/labelnote]]: Garfield falls out of the car on a visit to the vet, and ends up being reunited with his mother. Won an Emmy in 1984.
* ''Garfield in the Rough''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast October 26, 1984[[/labelnote]]: Garfield, Jon and Odie go camping. Unfortunately, a killer panther is there... Won an Emmy in 1985.
* ''Garfield's [[HalloweenSpecial Halloween]] Adventure/Garfield in Disguise''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast October 30, 1985[[/labelnote]]: Garfield and Odie go trick-or-treating, and while doing so, wind up at a haunted house. Won an Emmy in 1986.
* ''Garfield in Paradise''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast May 27, 1986[[/labelnote]]: Garfield, Jon and Odie go on vacation in the cheapskate's version of Hawaii.
* ''Garfield Goes Hollywood''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast May 8, 1987[[/labelnote]]: Garfield, Jon and Odie attempt to win a talent show contest for people and their pets.
* ''A Garfield [[ChristmasSpecial Christmas]]''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast December 21, 1987[[/labelnote]]: Garfield and Odie go with Jon to spend Christmas on the farm where Jon's family lives.
* ''ComicBook/GarfieldHis9Lives''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast November 22, 1988[[/labelnote]]: An epic hour-long special where we see past and future reincarnations of Garfield (or Garfield's "Lives") . Based off a graphic novel. Has its own page.
* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldsBabesAndBullets''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast May 23, 1989[[/labelnote]]: A DeliberatelyMonochrome special that dramatically parodies FilmNoir. Based off one of the vignettes from ''His 9 Lives'' that didn't make it to the above special... and when it became by far the most popular vignette of the book version, the animation team decided to give it a dedicated special. Won an Emmy in 1989. Now has its own page.
* ''Garfield's Thanksgiving''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast November 22, 1989[[/labelnote]]: While Garfield is put on a diet much to his horror, Jon invites Liz over for Thanksgiving and attempts to cook the food. [[LethalChef It doesn't end well]].
* ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast May 18, 1990[[/labelnote]]: Garfield has a imagination sequence [[AffectionateParody Affectionately Parodying]] ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.
* ''Garfield Gets a Life''[[labelnote:*]]Broadcast May 8, 1991[[/labelnote]]: The final special -- Jon attempts to add some excitement into his life, and in the process, meets a woman who he really hits it off with, but this gets Garfield worried.

* ''Garfield as Himself''[[labelnote:*]]Collects ''Here Comes Garfield'', ''Garfield on the Town'' and ''Garfield Gets a Life''.[[/labelnote]]
* ''Garfield's Holiday Celebration''[[labelnote:*]]Collects ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', ''Garfield's Thanksgiving'' and ''A Garfield Christmas''. The book edition was originally released in 1997 as ''Garfield's Jolly Holiday 3-Pack''.[[/labelnote]]
* ''Garfield's Travel Adventures''[[labelnote:*]]Collects ''Garfield in the Rough'', ''Garfield in Paradise'' and ''Garfield Goes Hollywood''.[[/labelnote]]
* ''Garfield Fantasies''[[labelnote:*]]Collects ''Garfield's Babes and Bullets'', ''Garfield's Nine Lives'' and ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies''. Unlike the other collections, it was released on DVD only and did not have a companion book release.[[/labelnote]]

** Garfield is drawn in his early-80's style for both specials – he rarely walks upright and doesn't have big feet when he does. The production of ''Here Comes Garfield'' is actually the reason why Garfield's design would change in the comics and later specials -- Jim Davis wanted to open with Garfield dancing but the animators struggled because Garfield had been designed with small, cat-like feet. The next special, ''Garfield on the Town'', still used the four-footed art style but notably Garfield is able to stand on two humanoid feet now when necessary.

* AnimationBump: Garfield's dancing at the start of ''Here Comes Garfield'' is a notably more complex and smooth animation sequence than the rest of the special. A Behind the Scenes segment in 1982 promoting the show shows the amount of work put into the dancing sequence as the animators wanted Garfield to move more like a slow, fat person than a cat. This included filming Desirée Goyette and modeling the animation to match her choreography [[https://youtu.be/umhgO1O2Psc?t=220]].
* {{Bowdlerization}}: A strip of Garfield throttling Jon, like many others, was animated into a throwaway gag in ''Here Comes Garfield''. However, due to the request of Creator/{{CBS}}, the throttling was changed to Garfield grabbing Jon's cheeks and shaking them violently. Jon's line "I'm so happy to own a cat, I could just throw up", is also shortened to just "I'm so happy to own a cat".
* DogsLoveFireHydrants: When Garfield, Odie and the other dogs and cats flee the pound in ''Here Comes Garfield'', one of the dogs at one point stops to sniff a fire hydrant.

* PoundsAreAnimalPrisons: ''Here Comes Garfield'' has a depressing scene of Garfield and Odie trapped and alone in such a pound.
* ShoutOut: Several in ''Here Comes Garfield'':

* TakeMeToYourLeader: Parodied in ''Here Comes Garfield'', as Garfield plays with the food on the table:

* TitleDrop: In ''Here Comes Garfield'', Garfield does this when he decides to rescue Odie from the pound:
-->'''Garfield:''' Look out, pound, here comes Garfield!
* WidelySpacedJailBars: In ''Here Comes Garfield'', Garfield and Odie are [[PoundsAreAnimalPrisons taken to the pound]]. Odie is thrown into the back of an animal control truck where the bars are more than wide enough for him to slip through. Later, when Garfield and Odie are in the pound, all the cage bars are wide enough for even Garfield to walk out, but nobody seems to notice.

* BittersweetEnding: The end of ''Garfield On The Town''. Garfield finds his way back to Jon and Odie, but he's been more or less forbidden to ever come near his family, including his long-lost mother, again. [[HopeSpot Though it's implied that Garfield's mother is checking up on him to see how he's doing]].
* ButNowIMustGo: At the end of ''Garfield on the Town'', Garfield is ordered by his grandfather to leave and go back to his own home with Jon and Odie. Before he goes, Garfield's mother does conciliate him that his life with Jon is much easier and more comfortable than their lives in the abandoned Italian restaurant.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Garfield's grandfather bluntly telling him to go home in ''Garfield on the Town'' is undoubtedly harsh, but it's not hard to see where he's coming from. The family's restaurant took serious damage in a fight against the Claws to protect Garfield -- a fight Garfield didn't participate in. Besides, as Garfield's mother points out, he's just not cut out for their lifestyle and wouldn't enjoy it.
* LookBehindYou: In ''Garfield on the Town'', Garfield's brother Raoul distracts Ali Cat during a fight by saying "Ain't that Haley's Comet?"
* ParentsKnowTheirChildren: In ''Garfield on the Town'', Garfield's mother immediately recognizes him, whereas it takes him a few moments to realize who she is.
* PyrrhicVictory: In ''Garfield on the Town'', Garfield's family succeeds in driving away the Claws but at the cost of their home (an abandoned Italian restaurant) being vandalized and broken into and some of the family members having been injured in the battle. None of the cats but Garfield is happy with the results of the battle.

%%* ShoutOut: There was one in ''On the Town'' to ''Theatre/WestSideStory''.

* AdaptationExpansion: The comic adaptation of ''Garfield in The Rough'' adds a few extra scenes.

* CallBack: At one point in ''Garfield in The Rough'', Jon turns on the radio set, and after a WeInterruptThisProgram report about the panther, "So Long Old Friend" from ''Here Comes Garfield'' starts playing.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: ''Garfield in the Rough'' opens with one of these, saying it isn't necessary -- the color has just really gone out of Garfield's life.
* EscapedAnimalRampage: In ''Garfield in the Rough'', an escaped panther stalks the woods where Jon, Garfield and Odie are camping.
* IHaveAFamily: In ''Garfield in the Rough'', Garfield thinks he's being approached by a predator when he encounters Billy Rabbit and makes several pleas to not be eaten. One of his claims is lying about having a wife and nine kids.
* InstantSedation: Somewhat averted in ''Garfield In The Rough''; the park rangers are able to shoot the panther with a tranquilizer dart (just as it's about to pounce on Garfield), but while the sedative does its thing pretty quickly, there is a tense moment when the panther is still able to crawl towards Garfield and come close to clawing him.
* LetsGetDangerous: In ''Garfield in the Rough'', after most of an episode cowering in fear of the escaped panther, Garfield goes into near-PapaWolf mode to distract it when it menaces Jon and Odie.
* MonochromeToColor: ''Garfield in the Rough'' uses this in its intro, as the title character bemoans how boring life at home is (with a DoNotAdjustYourSet warning). It switches to color when Jon suggests that they go on vacation.

* ThisIsMyHuman: In ''Garfield in the Rough'', when a panther threatens Jon and Odie, Garfield goes ''on the attack'' and draws claws on it. While it doesn't do much, it gives time for the rangers to sedate the panther. Odie and Jon are grateful and GroupHug Garfield.
* YouWontLikeHowITaste: When he encounters Billy Rabbit in ''Garfield in the Rough'', Garfield assumes that he's run into a predator and pleads not to be eaten. One of the things Garfield claims to avoid being eaten is that he is high in cholesterol.

* AgonyOfTheFeet: Garfield's initial plan to get inside the OldDarkHouse in ''Halloween Adventure'' is for him to kick down the door and have Odie scout the place out. Garfield injures his foot doing this.
* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', after telling the story of the pirates and seeing that Garfield doesn't believe him, the old man tells him to "Believe it, my friends!", then adds that "The pirates had a ten-year-old cabin boy. ''I'' was that boy."
* AsideGlance: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield's IgnoredEpiphany prompts one from Odie.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: InUniverse in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure''. When Garfield says he hates Binky, Binky responds with a shocked expression.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield as a pirate threatens to kill Jon, but won't on account of him being the only one who changes his kitty litter.
* CaptainColorbeard: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield is dressed as "Orangebeard the pirate captain".
* DressedToPlunder: The Halloween Special has Garfield and Odie going out Trick-or-Treating dressed as pirates, Garfield [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal wearing a pirate hat and sporting a peg leg]], while Odie has a bandana, single earring, and striped shirt, and [[TheFool being who he is]], starts off with a peg on every leg. The ghostly pirates they run into later show more of the usual fashion sense, just more dead and decayed.
* EarlyBirdCameo: Binky the Clown makes his first on-screen appearance in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', before his physical debut in the strip (he was first mentioned in March 1985, a little over seven months before the special aired, but wasn't seen until September of '86) or ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends''.
* ExactWords: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', as the boat gets caught in the current, Garfield tells Odie to "put out the oars." Odie immediately throws the oars overboard.
* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield is showing Odie that the other trick-or-treaters are just kids by pulling a monster mask off one kid. But the next three turn out to be real monsters, with the third person Garfield unmasks (a long-nosed person with sharp teeth) revealing their mask is identical to their real face, and the fourth person, a BedsheetGhost, turns out to be an actual, invisible ghost underneath. Subverted with the second person unmasked -- it's a hairy monster, but they're also in a Bedsheet Ghost outfit.
* IWantMyMommy: Garfield shouts this in ''Garfield's Halloween Special'', when, after Odie puts out the oars in their rowboat [[LiteralMinded (as in, drops them off the boat and into the water)]], they start drifting downriver.

* IgnoredEpiphany: Flagrant in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'':

* LiteralMinded: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield orders Odie to "put out the oars". [[TheFool Odie]] ''throws the oars off the boat''.

* MarketBasedTitle: The Halloween special isn't sure what to call itself, even in the USA. The cartoon debuted as ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', but the novelization was called ''Garfield In Disguise'', suggesting that that was the original title. Depending on the re-release, one or the other (or ''both'') will change. Some prints of the book note on the first page that the title was altered.
* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: Garfield tries to do this in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', but finds [[OnlyOneName it doesn't work very well]]:

* OhCrapSmile: Garfield and Odie each give one after the latter blows their cover with a SneezeOfDoom in ''Halloween Adventure''.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventures'', if the old man was telling the truth about being there when the pirates hid their treasure, he'd be 110 years old.
* ScareChord: Two happen in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'' when the old man first appears and the pirate ghosts burst through a cabinet after Garfield and Odie.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Garfield and Odie both scream in a ''very'' high pitch in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'' during the song "Scaredy Cat", whenever they come across trick-or-treaters who [[TheReveal are not what they appear to be]]. This also doubles as HypocriticalHumor, because just before making the discovery, Garfield continuously sings that he may be a lot of things, "but the one thing I'm not is a scaredy cat." They do it again in the haunted house when, after warming themselves by the fire, they look behind themselves, see the old man and realize they aren't alone.
* ShoutOut: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', while digging around in a chest for costume supplies, Garfield finds [[Music/PuffTheMagicDragon balls of string and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.]]
* SkewedPriorities: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield is more concerned that he lost his candy and it's past his bedtime than that pirate ghosts are coming to get them. (He also laments losing the boat, but that was a valid worry giving that it was their only mean of escape.)
* SneezeOfDoom: Odie does this in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'' while he and Garfield are hiding in a cabinet from some pirate ghosts. The sneeze is not only ''loud'' enough to attract the ghosts' attention, but it's powerful enough to blow the cabinet doors right open. With sheepish grins, Garfield and Odie close the doors again, and Garfield says, "[[TemptingFate Maybe they didn't see us...]]" Cue the ScareChord as the pirate ghosts come through the cabinet!
* TalkLikeAPirate: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield gladly indulges in this as Captain Orangebeard. Even first mate, Odie the Stupid, tries the growling version ("R-arr!").
* WaxingLyrical: In ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', as Garfield rummages through a chest to find costume pieces, among the things he tosses out are [[Music/PuffTheMagicDragon "strings, sealing wax and other funny stuff."]]
* YourTelevisionHatesYou: At the end of ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield is too wired to sleep and opts to watch TV. He sees the old man from the island hosting an all-night pirate movie festival. Turning off the TV, Garfield suddenly decides he's very tired and turns in.

* AdaptationExpansion: The comic adaptation of ''Garfield in Paradise'' adds a couple of extra scenes, including the High Rama Lama calling "Wanda" to bring food to everyone during his first talk with Jon, and a scene where Pigeon calls that the waves are really good, leading to the High Rama Lama calling for a beach party, including hollering for "Wanda" to bring food again and scolding Monkey and Odie when they try to join in on the surfing instead of working on the car.
* AppeaseTheVolcanoGod: The volcano in ''Garfield in Paradise''. However, it rejects the usual virgin sacrifice common to this trope when it throws Princess Owooda when she attempts a HeroicSacrifice. What the volcano really wants is a vintage [=1950s=] car that contains the spirit of the Cruiser, who appeased it the first time.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: In the climax of ''Garfield in Paradise'', [[spoiler: the ghost of the Cruiser and his car emerge from the volcano and drive into the sky towards Heaven]].
* TheBlindLeadingTheBlind: In ''Garfield in Paradise'', Monkey, the dumbest of the Ding-Dongs, and Odie fix up Jon's rental car.
* CallBack: A trumpet version of the song "So Long Old Friend" from ''Here Comes Garfield'' plays in ''Garfield in Paradise'' after Odie's DisneyDeath, causing Garfield [[WaxingLyrical to start saying the lyrics]].
* CargoCult: In ''Garfield in Paradise'' they come across a native tribe that worships a '57 Chevy and its driver, "The Cruiser", who drove into a nearby volcano as a sacrifice. When they learned English, it was from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_party_film beach movies]].
* CasualDangerDialog: In ''Garfield in Paradise'', when the volcano begins erupting, Garfield looks and the camera and smiles while saying "Nice touch."
* ChekhovsVolcano: The volcano in ''Garfield in Paradise'', which rumbles menacingly during the group's drive and then threatens to erupt in the climax.

* EmptySwimmingPoolDive: Occurs in ''Garfield in Paradise'', albeit unintentionally -- Jon's laying on the diving board over the empty pool, and said board breaks underneath him.
* HeroicSacrifice: In ''Garfield in Paradise'', Owooda attempts this, but the volcano won't let her, sending her tumbling back down the mountain. [[spoiler:Monkey and Odie appear to pull one when they drive the car over the volcano's edge to appease it, but they manage to climb out.]]
* HumanSacrifice: In ''Garfield in Paradise'', the island princess (and her cat) are sent to jump into an erupting volcano. Her rather cynical father comments that it doesn't so much [[AppeaseTheVolcanoGod appease the spirit of the volcano]] as it "plugs up the hole." Turns out the volcano is more interested in the convertible Jon rented.
* MundaneSolution: Brought up in ''Garfield in Paradise'' after Odie and Monkey's ([[DisneyDeath seeming]]) HeroicSacrifice:

* NotThisOneThatOne: Inverted in ''Garfield in Paradise''. Stranded in a tribal village, the chief calls for his daughter and her cat to meet his guests [Jon and Garfield]. The first girl and cat they see are rather homely, but then the real daughter and cat emerge, both of them significantly more attractive.
* PaperThinDisguise: In ''Garfield in Paradise'', to get around the airline rule against pets in seats, Jon makes Garfield wear clothes but otherwise look like himself.
* PlaneAwfulFlight: ''Garfield in Paradise'' opens with Jon, Garfield (and Odie stashed in a suitcase) taking a plane to a tropical island. It's not a pleasant flight, with everything from rude stewardesses (upon finding out Jon is flying third class: "your seat is in the rear with the rest of the slime!") to broken down seats, non functioning safety belts, and turbulence that sends them bouncing into the ceiling. Garfield's thoughts on the matter:

** Frank Nelson spoofing his ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram'' persona in ''In Paradise''.
** Referring to the room that Jon and company have rented, the cheapest, most run-down flea-trap room in the entire hotel as the ... wait for it... "Jack Benny suite."

* StupidSacrifice: At the climax of ''Garfield in Paradise'', [[spoiler:Odie and Monkey have apparently driven the car to their death in the heart of a raging volcano. The High Rama Lama points out they could have simply stopped the car, gotten out, and pushed the car in]]. Subverted on two counts: [[spoiler:first, Odie and Monkey actually survive, having apparently bailed out of the car shortly after it started to fall in, second, Monkey mentions "we gotta work on those brakes", suggesting that they had ''tried'' to stop the car but ''couldn't''.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: ''Garfield In Paradise'' has Princess Owooda resembling Liz and her cat resembling Arlene.
* YouLookFamiliar: In-universe: in ''Garfield in Paradise'', when Jon and his pets go to rent a car, the car dealer, who looks like Frank Nelson, looks ''a lot'' like the motel manager, also looking a lot like Nelson, prompting Jon to say this very phrase to him.

* AdaptationDyeJob: In the comic adaptation of ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'', the Lemon Sisters (a set of singing chickens in the "Pet Search" national finals) have bright yellow feathers, fitting their name. In the cartoon, they have white feathers instead.
* AdaptedOut: The comic adaptation of ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'' leaves out a sequence with another contestant at the "Pet Search" national finals, "Miles the Jazz Canary". He places fourth, while the Lemon Sisters are fifth (in the comic, they place fourth and no fifth-place contestant is named).
* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: In ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'', at the "Pet Search" talent show, there is an old woman who is trying to make her pet bird, which is most likely dead, perform tricks to the audience. After realizing what's going on, the old woman asks this question.
* ShoutOut: In ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'', Garfield has a dream sequence in which he imagines himself in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Royal Wedding'', and ''Film/SinginInTheRain''.
* TheShowGoesHollywood: ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'', naturally.
* VocalDissonance: Being voiced by Thom Huge, Jon has a surprisingly good singing voice. It makes his supposed dorkiness particularly during his Wizard of Love act in ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'' hard to believe even with the ridiculous Elvis clothes. Then again, his tepid reception was likely because the contest was for his pets (Jon tells his pets that they were great, to which Garfield retorts that Jon was awful), and he does manage to woo over [[GirlOfTheWeek women]] in the specials.
* WentToTheGreatXInTheSky: In ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'', after breaking Jon's guitar, Garfield says it "went to the big tuning fork in the sky".
* YourMom: ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'' begins with Garfield trying to tell jokes while standing on a fence. After getting hit in the face with a pie, he yells "Your mothers wear army boots".

* DreadfulMusician: Doc's attempt at playing "Oh Christmas Tree" on the piano in ''A Garfield Christmas''. The rest of the family visibly cringes, and Grandma knocks him out of the way to spare them after less than a minute.
* DreamIntro: ''A Garfield Christmas'' starts with Garfield waking up on Christmas morning to Jon in an elf costume, leading him to the tree with a trail of lasagnas, and presenting him with a gift-giving machine that can read his mind and generate whatever he's thinking of, followed by the opening credits. After that, Garfield wakes up for real and finds Jon telling him it's the day ''before'' Christmas and they're going to the family farm for the holiday.
* IfIDoNotReturn: In ''A Garfield Christmas'', when Garfield's taking the star to the top of the tree, he tells Jon "If I'm not back in an hour, send a banana cream pie after me."
* NotSoAboveItAll: In ''A Garfield Christmas'', Garfield spends most of "Can't Wait Till Christmas" grousing and snarking, but he eventually gets caught up in the song and sincerely joins in. Upon realizing this, though, he resumes looking sour.
* OverlyNarrowSuperlative: This from ''A Garfield Christmas'':
-->'''Jon:''' Doc Boy! My favorite brother.\\
'''Doc:''' Don't call me Doc Boy. You've probably forgotten I'm your ''only'' brother.\\

* ParentalBonus: In ''A Garfield Christmas'', there's a scene near the end where Garfield presents Jon's Grandma with a bundle of letters written by her (now deceased) husband when they were courting. Grandma reads the first letter aloud:
-->'''Grandma''': "My darling, if the sea were of ink and the sky of parchment, I could not begin to write my love for you." (laughs softly) "When next we meet-" (pauses, reading silently) Oh... (puts a hand over her mouth, chuckling) Oh, ''my''.
-->'''Jon's Mom''': Well, what does he say, Grandma?
-->'''Grandma''': (quickly folds up letter, crossing her arms) It is inappropriate for a lady to talk about her romances, my dear.

* ScareChord: One occurs in ''A Garfield Christmas'' when Garfield realizes just how high up he is on top of a Christmas tree.
* WhyAreWeWhispering: Garfield does this in ''A Garfield Christmas'', a monologue variation. "...Why can't they come here where my nice warm bed is? And why... am I whispering?"

* BreathHoldingBrat: In ''Garfield's Thanksgiving'', Jon holds his breath until Liz says she'll go out with him. She eventually agrees after Jon faints from holding his breath in.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In the Thanksgiving special, Jon while prepping a Thanksgiving turkey reads the instruction "Rub skin with butter" as applying butter to his own skin rather than the turkey's.
* LiteralMinded: In ''Garfield's Thanksgiving'', the turkey recipe says "Rub skin with butter". Jon then says "I don't know what good that will do, but okay," and rubs ''his own skin'' with it.
* OvenLogic: Shows up in the Thanksgiving special. Jon turns up the oven higher to cook the turkey faster, but ends up ruining it.
* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: In ''Garfield's Thanksgiving'', Garfield's talking scale mockingly mistakes him for Orson Welles, and claims to have seen ''Film/CitizenKane'' eight times.
* SequentialSymptomSyndrome: {{Invoked}} by Garfield in ''Garfield's Thanksgiving'', when he fakes the symptoms of vitamin deficiency as Liz lists them off to get her to take him off his diet.
* ShoutOut: The ''Film/CitizenKane'' reference in ''Garfield's Thanksgiving'', where the talking scale utters "Rosebud..." as it dies.
* YouAreFat: In the Thanksgiving special, RX-2, the talking bathroom scale from the comics strips, makes its animated debut. When Garfield asks the scale what his name is, the scale annoyingly "mistakes" Garfield for Creator/OrsonWelles, and claims to be a huge fan and [[SawStarWars27Times has seen]] ''Film/CitizenKane'' [[SawStarWars27Times numerous times]]. This is definitely a crack at Welles' weight. When Garfield has had enough of the scale, he destroys it, and the scale just says, "Rose... bud..."

* MrImagination: ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies'' focuses on Garfield's Walter Mitty-esque flights of fancy.
* RaidersOfTheLostParody: ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies'' had a scene almost exactly like the famous tile puzzle scene from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.
* ShoutOut: ''Feline Fantasies'' references all sorts of things, such as ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'', ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' , and even ''Film/{{Airplane}}''.
* StraightEdgeEvil: Parodied in ''Garfield's Feline Fantasies'' when the untrustworthy "Fat Guy" boasts that his "associate", in addition to being trained in various martial arts, doesn't smoke, drink, ''eat or sleep.'' Slobberjob/Odie, in response, has his skills prefaced with how he doesn't ''think.'' ("Most impressive.")

* CanadaEh: According to Lorenzo, the teacher in ''Garfield Gets a Life'', speaking Canadian is easy: You talk like you normally would, but sometimes, you add an "Eh?".
* BittersweetEnding: ''Garfield Gets a Life'' ends with Jon forced to break up with Mona because she's allergic to cats, but the two agree to stay friends and Garfield is pleased that Jon still sticks by him.

* EndearinglyDorky: Is actually a plot point for Jon in ''Garfield Gets a Life''. His failures with women in the first half is due to him trying ''waaaay'' too hard to impress them. He's actually quite endearing when he is simply honest and open, which lands him a relationship (albeit a short-lived one) with Mona.
* NightmareSequence: ''Garfield Gets a Life'' features Garfield having a nightmare that spurs him to try and break up Jon and Mona -- as he pictures what life would be like if Jon and Mona got married and had kids, he also pictures their infant son pursuing Garfield with a nasty look on his face before finally catching and biting his tail.

* ShoutOut: The ShowWithinAShow Garfield watches in ''Gets A Life'' features a Mountie that looks and sounds almost exactly like WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight.

* DigitalDestruction: The 9 Story DVD releases all suffer from severe deinterlacing artifacts that make the video jittery and pixellated. They are also strangely re-edited to put the opening credits ''before'' the scenes that lead into them and covering the edits with awkward fades to black, making mush of the opening scenes.

* DigitalDestruction: The 9 Story DVD releases all suffer from severe deinterlacing artifacts that make the video jittery and horribly pixellated. They are also strangely re-edited to put ColdOpens ''after'' the opening credits and covering the cuts with awkward fades to black, making mush of the opening scenes.

* {{Bowdlerization}}: A strip of Garfield throttling Jon, like many others, was animated into a throwaway gag in ''Here Comes Garfield''. However, due to the request of Creator/{{CBS}}, the throttling was changed to Garfield grabbing Jon's cheeks and shaking them violently.

* FauxAffablyEvil: [[PunnyName Ali Cat]] from ''Garfield on the Town'' can present himself as civil and reasonable when he wants to, but it's clearly just him trying to get what he wants the easy way. When he's refused, he's quick to turn violent.
* GoldTooth: Ali Cat, the leader of the Claws in ''Garfield on the Town'', has a gold tooth.

* VillainSong: In ''Garfield on the Town'', the Claws sing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CysKMVHGTU a song]] when they approach the abandoned Italian restaurant Garfield's family lives in while trying to find Garfield with the intent of harming him.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: In the Thanksgiving special, Jon while prepping a Thanksgiving turkey reads the instruction "Rub skin with butter" as applying butter to his own skin rather than the turkey itself.

* AnimatedAdaptation: Apart from these being based off the strip itself, many of the specials featured gags and lines adapted from original Garfield comic strips. ''His 9 Lives'' is an adaptation of (some of) the original graphic novel, and ''Babes & Bullets'' is an adaptation of the originally-prose story from ''His 9 Lives''

-->Aw Monkey, what did you have to go and do that for? [[BoringButPractical You could have just shoved the car in]].

* StupidSacrifice: At the climax of ''Garfield in Paradise'', [[spoiler:Odie and Monkey have apparently driven the car to their death in the heart of a raging volcano. The Grand Rama Lama points out they could have simply stopped the car, gotten out, and pushed the car in]]. Subverted on two counts: [[spoiler:first, Odie and Monkey actually survive, having apparently bailed out of the car shortly after it started to fall in, second, Monkey mentions "we gotta work on those brakes", suggesting that they had ''tried'' to stop the car but ''couldn't''.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: ''In Paradise'' has Princess Owooda resembling Liz and her cat resembling Arlene.