* CastTheRunnerUp: [[https://www.newsfromme.com/2022/04/06/ask-me-garfield-voice-casting/ According to]] Creator/MarkEvanier, Gregg Berger auditioned for Garfield originally. After Creator/JimDavis noticed he was good at doing dog noises, he cast him as Odie.
* ChannelHop: A production company example regarding the specials. The first two were produced by Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez Productions, who also did the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' specials, while the rest were done at Creator/FilmRoman. [[https://youtu.be/soSfeEZK5Ns?t=334 In an interview]] with Creator/BillMelendez, he stated that he had to drop the ''Garfield'' specials because ''Peanuts'' creator Charles M. Schulz didn't want his team to adapt both strips concurrently.
* CrossdressingVoices: In the Greek dub of ''A Garfield Christmas'', Garfield was voiced by Creator/ChrisoulaPapadopoulou (who also had roles in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'').
* TheDanza: In ''Garfield Goes Hollywood'', Desirée Goyette voices Desirée the Classical Cat.
* DeletedScenes: The {{Comic Book Adaptation}}s notably contained several scenes that are not shown in the actual specials.
** For example, in the adaptation of ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure'', Garfield snatches a ring from the pirate ghosts' treasure chest. When he and Odie return home with their candy, they find the pirate ghosts waiting for them. After the ghosts chase them up a tree, Garfield figures out they want the ring back, so he gives it back to them and they disappear.
** Garfield makes only one "Whoever invented X should be drug out into the street and shot" joke in the Christmas special, but the comic book version adds a second one.
* EditedForSyndication: The leaving town sequence from "A Garfield Christmas" was cut short by a second or two, removing a segment where they back out of the driveway. Also, the brief shot of Garfield and Odie under the table before Grandma feeds them is often cut. The reverse happened for the scene where Doc Boy and Grandma play piano, which was not originally in the special, but added in subsequent airings. Also, the scene where Grandma talks to Garfield about Grandpa was reanimated to include a shot where Grandma looks at a picture of her and Grandpa. Also, a few seconds of "You Can Never Find an Elf When You Need One".
* ExecutiveMeddling: A strip replicated in ''Here Comes Garfield'' had to be changed because CBS wouldn't allow Garfield to put his hands on Jon's neck. Instead, Garfield grabbed and shook Jon's cheeks.
* MissingEpisode: ''Garfield's Judgment Day'' was a movie, then a special, that Jim Davis was forced to abandon due to being unable to find an animation studio willing to animate the film (possibly due to it being darker than the usual specials; the plot involved a tornado destroying much of the town). The story was released as a (currently out-of-print) story book.
** As for ones that actually were made, ''Happy Birthday, Garfield'', an hour-long documentary made for the tenth anniversary (which notably contained the only existing piece of footage for ''Literature/GarfieldsJudgementDay'' and the very first Garfield animation from 1980, which adapted three very early strips and has the voice of Scott Beach), and ''WesternAnimation/CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue'', which was always intended for limited viewing and hasn't really had any reason to be re-aired aside from {{irony}} value.
* NonSingingVoice: Unlike ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Garfield's singing voice was typically provided in the specials by Lou Rawls, though Lorenzo Music still sings some of the songs as Garfield.
* TheOtherDarrin: Sandy Kenyon voiced Jon in ''Here Comes Garfield''. Thom Huge took over for the other specials (plus the [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends TV series]]). May count as an inversion as Huge had previously voiced Jon in the Garfield segment of ''The Fantastic Funnies''.
* TheOtherMarty: However, it may be obvious that Huge voiced Jon on ''Here Comes Garfield'' as a placeholder before Kenyon redubbed his lines.
* PlayingAgainstType: In many of the specials and ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends,'' Julie Payne usually voiced the more mature or snarkier women characters [[note]] i.e. Liz & Lanolin [[/note]] and Desiree Goyette the younger, more childlike ones [[note]] i.e. Nermal and Chloe [[/note]]. In ''Babes and Bullets'' it's switched, with Desiree voicing the seductive Tanya, and Julie voicing the younger and more innocent Kitty.
* RecycledScript:
** The December 1984 comic strip arc of Garfield re-meeting his family was recycled from the 1983 special ''Garfield on the Town''.
** Many one-off jokes were directly recycled from the comics, most prominently in ''Here Comes Garfield'' and the Christmas special. For example, the Christmas special took a punch line from a 1982 strip ("Why, just look at me. I talk to cats!").
* StarMakingRole: Prior to this, Creator/LorenzoMusic was better known as a writer and only occasionally as an actor (his most recognizable role prior was Carlton, the never-seen doorman on ''Series/{{Rhoda}}'', a series he created). Becoming the regular voice of Garfield gave him a reasonably steady career as a voice actor from the 80s onward until his death in 2001.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: ''Here Comes Garfield'''s third act relies on the idea that the City Pound will put down animals whose owners can't be identified or located. Back when the special was made, the only real way to have any sort of information about you on your pet was via collar tags, which many pets disliked wearing. In the 21st century, it's been common practice to have subdermal chips implanted in your pets for ease of identification, so the whole incident wouldn't have been able to happen.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Prior to Lorenzo Music being selected, Creator/SterlingHolloway auditioned for Garfield in ''Here Comes Garfield''. Imagine Garfield with the soft spoken voice of Winnie the Pooh.
* WrittenByCastMember: Creator/LorenzoMusic co-wrote ''Garfield on the Town.''
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