Garfield in Paradise

The 1986 special where Jon, Garfield and Odie find a 1950s-obsessed island village.

Garfield in Paradise is a 1986 animated television special directed by Phil Roman and based on the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis, with guest star Wolfman Jack.

Quick Facts

Creator

Jim Davis

Director

Phil Roman

Starring

Lorenzo Music
Thom Huge
Gregg Berger
Frank Nelson
Wolfman Jack
Hal Smith
Desirée Goyette
Julie Payne
Nino Tempo

Theme music

Ed Bogas and Desirée Goyette (music and lyrics); Desirée Goyette, Lou Rawls, Lorenzo Music and Thom Huge (vocals)

Country

United States

Language

English

Executive producers

Jay Poynor

Editor

Sam Horta
Mark R. Crookston
Timothy J. Borquez

Facts from the source article.

Background

It first aired on CBS on May 27, 1986, as the fifth of twelve Garfield specials made between 1982 and 1991, and it was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. Lorenzo Music voiced Garfield, Thom Huge voiced Jon Arbuckle and Gregg Berger voiced Odie.

Jon and Garfield fly third class to Paradise World, a cheapskate's version of Hawaii, and find a deserted motel with no beach in sight. Their cheap rental car, a classic Chevrolet Bel Air, then drives itself into the jungle and stops in a native village.

The villagers learned English from beach movies and live a 1950s lifestyle in honour of the Cruiser, a legend who in 1957 drove his car into a nearby volcano to stop it from erupting. They believe Jon's car is the Cruiser's. When the volcano rumbles again, Monkey and Odie drive the car into the crater, the volcano calms, and the two climb out unharmed.