Garfield's Babes and Bullets
| Garfield's Babes and Bullets | |
|---|---|
 Garfield's Babes and Bullets title card | |
| Created by | Jim Davis |
| Written by | Jim Davis Ron Tuthill (original story) |
| Directed by | Phil Roman Co-directors Bob Nesler John Sparey |
| Starring | Lorenzo Music Thom Huge Gregg Berger Desirée Goyette Julie Payne Lindsay Workman Nino Tempo |
| Narrated by | Lorenzo Music |
| Theme music composer | Desirée Goyette and Ed Bogas (music and lyrics) Lou Rawls (vocals) |
| Country of origin |  USA |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Phil Roman |
| Producer | George Singer |
| Editors | Sam Horta (supervisor) Tim Borquez Mike Gollum Julie Gustafson Brian Mars |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production companies | Film Roman United Media Paws, Inc. |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | May 23, 1989 |
Garfield's Babes and Bullets is a half-hour animated television special based on a segment from the book Garfield: His 9 Lives. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast May 23, 1989 on CBS. It has been released on both VHS and DVD home video.
Storyline
On a sunny day, Garfield goes to a closet and opens it out of boredom, only to hear saxophone music burst out of it. He shuts it quickly, then opens it again; the music starts up again, and Garfield finds a trenchcoat and fedora. Garfield decides to go with it, admitting that it "might be fun".
He then enters a fantasy world in which he is Sam Spayed, a private investigator in a film noir atmosphere. Sam receives a visit from Tanya O'Tabby, a beautiful woman who hires Sam to investigate the death of her husband Professor O'Tabby. Sam initially suspects foul play, believing Tanya murdered the professor either for his money or because he was unfaithful (and insisting that both are the 'oldest shams in the book'), but O'Tabby appears to have simply fallen asleep at the wheel of his car and driven over a cliff. Tanya, however, believes it to be murder. Sam agrees to take the case.
Nothing suspicious comes to light when Sam visits the morgue, although he notes that O'Tabby's shirt, chest and stomach hairs have yellowish-brown stains on them and secretly pockets a mysterious, painted 'stone' that the coroner overlooked. After an encounter with a thug (who turns out to be Sam's landlord chasing up late rent), Sam goes to the university where O'Tabby worked and meets the late man's colleague/advisor Professor O'Felix. He tells Sam how O'Tabby was on his way to visit an elderly benefactress the night he died, but dismisses Sam's idea that the professor was having an affair. It is revealed that O'Tabby was a frequent coffee drinker.
Sam phones Tanya to tell her what he knows so far, only for his secretary Kitty (who he hired only yesterday) to spill coffee on him when he mentions talking to O'Felix about O'Tabby's "woman trouble". While cleaning himself up, Sam realises that the 'stone' is actually a piece of broken coffee mug and the stains on the late professor's clothing and body must have been coffee. Also, O'Felix mentioned earlier that a girl employed at the university to make coffee recently left and Kitty appears to know the O'Tabby's phone number without Tanya having ever mentioned it. Sam realises that Kitty and the professors' recent employee are one and the same.
Sam accuses Kitty of O'Tabby's murder (believing her motive was that she was in love with him and he did not love her), but a tearful Kitty insists that she didn't kill the professor, having simply left the university out of being unable to bear not having him. She also explains that she did more than make coffee for O'Tabby - his constant coffee drinking meant that he required heavy sleeping pills to fall asleep. Armed with this new information, Sam heads out to confront the suspect he now knows is guilty.
Sam finds Professor O'Felix in the university chapel, repenting his sins. O'Felix was jealous of his former student's success and murdered him by spiking his coffee with some sleeping pills, causing O'Tabby to fall asleep at the wheel and drive off the cliff to his death. Tanya visits Sam one last time, making it very clear that the romance he had hoped to have with her will never happen.
Kitty starts to seduce Sam, only for reality to intrude via Jon asking Garfield what he's doing in the closet. "Gettin' ready to roll the credits, pal." replies Garfield, and, back in the fantasy, he and Kitty kiss.
Cast
- Lorenzo Music - Garfield / Sam Spayed the detective
- Thom Huge - Jon Arbuckle, Landlord
- Gregg Berger - Odie, Burt Fleebish the coroner
- Desiree Goyette - Tanya
- Julie Payne - Kitty the secretary
- Nino Tempo - Lt. Washington the cop
- Lindsay Workman - O'Felix
- Lou Rawls - Singing voice
Songs
- "Babes and Bullets" Vocals by Lou Rawls