Garfield in Paradise

Plot

Jon and Garfield take their third class airline trip to Paradise World, a cheapskate's version of Hawaii. Jon and Garfield check in at a poorly rated motel and are soon disappointed to find out that there is no beach within sight of the motel, and only 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 Jon, Garfield, and Odie decide to rent a car and go searching for a beach. For a cheap price, they get a really nice and classic Chevrolet Bel Air to hit the beach and later 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 presume 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 owned by the Cruiser, a James Dean/Fonzie-styled legend who drove his car into the 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 a nearby 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 was originally owned by the Cruiser.

In the village, Jon and Garfield find romance with the tribal princess, Owooda, and her cat, Mai-Tai. Meanwhile, the chief asks the village idiot, Monkey, 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 save the village. However, the volcano rejects Owooda and Mai-Tai, and the village shaman, Pigeon, interprets that it wants the car instead, and if it does not have the car within thirty seconds, it will 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 to the volcano with Monkey driving and Odie hanging on the engine hood. The car falls into the crater 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 volcanic crater. In the end, Jon, Garfield, and the villagers carry Monkey and Odie back to the village in a hero's fashion.

Songs

Production

The special guest stars disc jockey Wolfman Jack as the tribal chief. Creator Jim Davis was excited to work with Jack on the special, explaining, "It was just way fun. We did it for silliness."

Broadcast and release

The special first aired on May 27, 1986, at prime time on CBS. It was aired again in subsequent years. An illustrated children's book adaptation was published by Ballantine Books in 1986.

In February 2005, the special was included on the DVD Garfield Travel Adventures along with the specials Garfield in the Rough (1984) and Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987). It was released on another DVD compilation, The Garfield Holiday Collection, on November 4, 2014, sold only by Walmart, and was also made available for digital download on November 11 that year.

Reception

The special was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1986. The only other nominee was another Garfield special, Garfield's Halloween Adventure, which won.

In his 2005 DVD Talk review, Randy Miller III complimented the special on "memorable characters" specifically the James Dean doppelganger and Wolfman Jack's character, concluding, "Plus, Jon gets some action." In 2008, Dan Walsh, creator of the website Garfield Minus Garfield recalled watching the specials and claimed, "I can still do a perfect rendition of 'Hello Hawaii,' from Garfield in Paradise." In 2014, Jim Davis identified Garfield in Paradise as "absolutely one of my favorites. It’s bright, funny, [there’s] rock n’ roll in it."