Garfield on the Town

Jon Arbuckle becomes concerned about Garfield and his behavior after he and Odie mess up his house during the special's opening credits. While Jon drives him to the veterinarian, Garfield accidentally falls out from Jon's car and later becomes lost in downtown. Garfield soon runs into a large gang of unfriendly alley cats known as the Claws. After Garfield antagonized the gang's leader, he flees into an abandoned Italian restaurant, where he is reunited with his estranged mother, Sonja. The building was actually Garfield's birthplace and where he became famous for his love for lasagna. Meanwhile, Jon calls Garfield's vet, Dr. Liz Wilson, to tell her about Garfield's disappearance, at which point, Liz suggests that Jon would want a tow truck. Jon later calls a local newspaper to run a Lost and Found ad to find Garfield, though he decides to cut his ad short as it would cost him too much money.

The next day, Garfield meets the rest of his extended family, including his sickly half-brother Raoul, his cousin Sly (who is the security guard on watch for the Claws), and his tough maternal grandfather. Garfield is appalled to learn that everyone in his entire family are mousers. Meanwhile, the Claws finally tracks Garfield down and surround the entire building and later demand that Garfield must come out. However, the family decides to fight the Claws instead of giving up Garfield to them. Garfield cowardly hides while his family fights the Claws and later defeats them. Although Garfield is triumphant, his grandfather tells him that he is supposed to live with Jon instead. Reassured by Sonja that they all envy his easy life at Jon's house, Garfield tearfully says goodbye to his entire family and leaves. Exhausted and hungry, Garfield walks along a deserted street and it soon starts to rain. A car drives by and Garfield realizes it is actually driven by Jon. Garfield pursues Jon's car until he accidentally collapses onto the sidewalk and passes out. When Odie finally spots Garfield unconscious, Jon pulls over to reunite with him. Afterwards, Jon drives Garfield home and later puts him into bed for the night.

Garfield wakes up at Jon's house the next day and later wonders if his entire experience was real or not. However, Garfield glimpses Sonja looking at him through the window. Sonja leaves Jon's house, while Garfield smiles and emotionally whispers to her: "Thanks Mom, for everything".

In 2014, Garfield creator Jim Davis identified Garfield on the Town as a personal favorite special.

Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, best known for the Peanuts specials, produced Garfield on the Town.[1] The special was directed by Phil Roman, who had previously directed Here Comes Garfield in 1982. It was the last Garfield special Roman directed before founding his own company called Film Roman to produce the specials himself, starting with Garfield in the Rough (1984).[2]

The character of Jon Arbuckle was voiced by Sandy Kenyon in Here Comes Garfield, but was recast with Thom Huge in Garfield on the Town.[3] Huge later voiced Jon in the remaining specials and in the Garfield and Friends TV series.

The special was originally aired on CBS on October 28, 1983,[3] and was viewed by 40 million people.[4] It has been re-broadcast in subsequent years.[5] Ballantine Books published a 64-page illustrated book adaptation in 1983.[6]

In July 2004,[7] Garfield on the Town was released on the DVD Garfield as Himself, along with Here Comes Garfield (1982) and Garfield Gets a Life (1991).[8] 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.[9]

At the 36th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1984, Garfield on the Town won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[10] Louisiana's The Town Talk's 1985 review called Garfield "outrageous" and said there was "popular demand" for the special.[4]

In 2004, DVD Talk critic Randy Miller judged the Garfield as Himself specials to be "quite enjoyable," highlighting "a long-lost family reunion."[8] In 2014, with the release of The Garfield Holiday Collection, Jim Davis identified Garfield on the Town as a personal favorite, explaining, "Garfield actually meets his mother on that. It was very special."[9]

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• Garfield on the Town at IMDb
• Garfield on the Town at The Big Cartoon DataBase