7.1 /10 3 Votes
5.2/10 TV | 5.1/10 IMDb Genre ComedyAdventure First episode date 2 November 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Developed by Philippe VidalRobert ReaSteve Balissat Directed by Philippe VidalMark Evanier (Voice) Voices of Frank WelkerGregg BergerWally WingertJason MarsdenAudrey WasilewskiJulie Payne Composer(s) Laurent BertaudJean-Christophe Prudhomme Cast Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Garfield Show is a French-American CGI animated television series. Based on the American comic strip, Garfield, the series is executive produced by Garfield creator, Jim Davis, and co-written and voice directed by Mark Evanier, who also wrote most of the episodes for the Garfield and Friends series. Returning from Garfield and Friends are the voice actors Julie Payne (Liz) and Gregg Berger (Odie). Frank Welker replaces Lorenzo Music (due to his death in 2001) as the voice of Garfield, and Wally Wingert replaces Thom Huge (due to his retirement that same year) as the voice of Jon Arbuckle. Also returning is David Lander, reprising his role as Doc Boy from the earlier Garfield prime-time special A Garfield Christmas Special (1987). The show is produced by Dargaud Media and Paws Inc. The show is directed by Philippe Vidal and the music is composed by Laurent Bertaud and Jean-Christophe Prudhomme.
Contents
- Plot
- Development
- Main characters
- Recurring characters
- French voices
- English voices
- Video game
- Broadcast
- Reception
- References
The show is currently on hiatus.
Plot
"Everyone's favorite fat cat Garfield returns to television in this new CG animated cartoon. To celebrate his 30th anniversary, every one of your favorite characters return too. Jon, Odie, Arlene, Nermal, and more return in the new series as well."
The show features very loose continuity and is set in a different universe to the previous Garfield cartoon: Garfield and Friends however the show sometimes makes references to the previous one. Unlike the previous cartoon, Liz is now considered a main character and has official relationship with Jon to reflect their current status in the comic strip. The Garfield Show also reestablishes Arlene as Garfield's potential love interest, as in the comic strip, replacing Penelope from the previous cartoon; despite being touted as a main character, her actual role in the series is relatively minor.
The Garfield Show also features many new characters that are part of the regular cast such as Vito: an Italian chef whose cooking Garfield enjoys and Squeak: Garfield's mouse friend that lives in Jon's house (replacing Floyd from the previous show). Unlike Garfield and Friends the U.S. Acres segments and characters are omitted.
Development
The Garfield Show is a CGI series that started development in 2007 to coincide with the strip's 30th anniversary the following year premiering in France the following year.
Following the previous animated series of Garfield that debuted in 1988, many of the crew members would return to work on The Garfield Show.
Lorenzo Music was replaced by Frank Welker in this series due to Music's death in 2001 while Wally Wingert replaced Thom Huge as Jon and Jason Marsden replaced Desirée Goyette as Nermal.
Main characters
Recurring characters
French voices
English voices
Video game
A party video game titled The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna, was released in July 2010 for the Wii. It includes over 12 minigames and supports the Wii Balance Board and Wii Motion Plus. The game was critically panned for its short length, lack of interactivity and monotonous gameplay.
Broadcast
The series premiered in France on France 3 on December 22, 2008.
English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on May 5, 2009.
English-Language episodes started airing on Boomerang Africa on November 7, 2009.
It premiered on YTV in Canada on September 13, 2009. In early 2012, the series has been removed when YTV revamped their schedule.
It premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2009. As of May 30, 2014, the series has been removed when Cartoon Network revamped their schedule. Boomerang started airing the series on February 4, 2013, with the fourth season premiering on October 6, 2015. In 2015, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which aired on Boomerang on October 24, 2016. As of December 30, 2016, the show has been removed on Boomerang's schedule.
Reception
Despite receiving more episodes than usual for an animated series, The Garfield Show has received mixed reviews. Common Sense Media gave the show 3 stars out of 5, saying "Infamous cat's antics are fun, if not exactly message laden."
Kevin Carr of 7M pictures gave the show 2 stars out of 5 stating that the animation felt unpolished compared to the direct-to-video movies and that the show was full of "throwaway stories" because it "aims for a more kid-friendly presentation of the fat feline." He concluded his review stating he preferred "old-school cell animation as the week-to-week series CGI looks too much like cheap video game emulations, but I’m not the target market of these things".
Justin Felix of DVD talk gave the show 2.5 out of 5 stating that "The Garfield Show isn't some great work of art, but it efficiently delivers cartoon animal fun that little kids would probably enjoy. The animation is a tad rudimentary and clunky at times, but it's good enough to pass muster for cartoon fare of this type."
Mike Gencarelli of Media Mikes gave the show 3.5 out of 5 stating "it doesn’t compare to the classic Jim Davis cartoon but it is all we have right now."
The series has a 3.8 score on Metacritic touting unfavorable reviews.