Garfield in Paradise
Garfield in Paradise is a half-hour animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield (save for the singing voice of "Garfield Ho" provided by Lou Rawls). Wolfman Jack guest starred as the voice of the tribal chief and Frank Nelson guest starred as the voice of the motel manager and rental car agent. The special was first broadcast May 27, 1986 on CBS. It has been released on both VHS and DVD home video.
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[edit] Plot
Jon and Garfield took their third class airline trip to "Paradise World", a cheapskate's version of Hawaii. They checked in at a poorly-rated motel and are disappointed to find out that there is no beach within the sight of the motel. Its only redeeming value is an empty pool in the back. When Jon and Garfield enter their room, they find Odie hiding in their luggage. None of the trio have any fun until they decide to rent a car and go searching for a beach. For a cheap price, Jon, Garfield, and Odie get a really nice 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and hit the beach and decide where to go when their car mysteriously swerves into a jungle on its own, stopping in the middle of a native village. Jon, Garfield, and Odie presumed that they are in trouble until the natives begin to bow down to their car. They meet the tribal chief who explains that the villagers learned English "from watching a lot of beach movies", and that the car was originally belong to The Cruiser, a James Dean/Fonzie-styled legend who drove his car into the native village in 1957 and introduced the people to the 1950s pop culture. The Cruiser eventually saved the village by sacrificing himself and driving his car into the volcano to prevent it from erupting. The village is now devoted to a 1950s lifestyle and believes that Jon's rental car is the same one that originally belonged to The Cruiser.
In the village, Jon and Garfield find romance with the tribal princess Owooda and cat Mai-Tai. Meanwhile, the village idiot Monkey, who is a mechanic, is asked by the chief to fix the car and Odie helps him. Suddenly, the volcano begins to erupt and Owooda tells Jon that she and Mai-Tai must sacrifice themselves to the volcano to save the village. However, the volcano rejects Owooda and Mai-Tai, and the village sachem Pigeon interprets that the volcano wants the car, and if it does not have it within thirty seconds, it will still blow the island into pieces. Monkey and Odie make their one last attempt to get the car fixed, which still does not work until Odie simply taps the engine with a hammer. The car finally starts and zooms through the village and up the volcano with Monkey driving and Odie hanging on the engine hood. The car eventually falls into the volcano and the spirit of The Cruiser in the car's ghost flies out and drives off into the night sky; the volcano is now at peace. Monkey and Odie are presumed dead until they climb out of the volcano crater. In the end, Jon, Garfield, and the villagers carries Monkey and Odie back to the village in a hero's fashion.
[edit] Cast
- Lorenzo Music - Garfield
- Thom Huge - Jon Arbuckle
- Gregg Berger - Odie / Pigeon / Cat Announcer
- Wolfman Jack - Chief
- Desiree Goyette - Owooda
- Frank Nelson - Hotel Clerk / Salesman
- Julie Payne - Mai-Tai / Stewardess
- Hal Smith - Off-Camera Voice
- Nino Tempo - Monkey
[edit] Songs
- "Inversion Layer Airlines Jingle" performed by Desirée Goyette
- "Hello, Hawaii (Can I Come Over?)" performed by Lou Rawls and Desirée Goyette
- "Beauty and the Beach" performed by Lou Rawls, Thom Huge, and Lorenzo Music
- "When I Saw You" performed by Thom Huge and Desirée Goyette
[edit] Trivia
- When the Cruiser's spirit waves to the village then he drives off into the sky, the tires leave behind flames, quite similar to those shown in Back to the Future which debuted one year before this show.
- In the book Garfield at 25: In Dogs Years I'd Be Dead, Jim Davis says this is his favorite Garfield TV special.
- This is the last recorded time Frank Nelson used his "Y-e-e-e-s?" catchphrase.[citation needed]
