Review of Here Comes Garfield (1982) by Ben L — 15 Jun 2012

It was natural that, as the popularity of the Garfield comic strip grew, people were going to want to see it adapted into a cartoon. This was the first foray Jim Davis took onto the small screen. Keeping it simple they adapted a number of existing comic strips and just translated them straight to moving pictures. They offer some good laughs for folks who already like Garfield's humor, but nothing groundbreaking. However, to keep the viewers' interest they added in a story arc about Odie getting taken to the pound. It adds some endearing moments and will certainly make kids smile by the end.

However the truly remarkable thing about this cartoon is the music. A number of beautiful musical numbers are added which are performed by the legendary Lou Rawls and Desiree Goyette. They add so much to the tone of this cartoon that it would almost be hollow without them. In fact I still remember owning an album of the songs from this short little cartoon, because the music was that high-quality I wanted to listen to them again and again. Sure, Here Comes Garfield is never going to be some noteworthy cartoon that everyone must see. However it has enough quality content that I would highly recommend it for kids (and the parents might just get a kick out of it as well.).