Garfield's Thanksgiving

"Garfield's Thanksgiving" is the least-known holiday special of Garfield history. It aired on Wednesday, November 22, 1989.

Plot

After Garfield and Odie torment Jon for not waking up early enough to serve them pancakes the size of Australia for breakfast, he finally does (Funny Line: "I wonder if people with goldfish have this problem?). Garfield eats his breakfast and then attempting to take an early mid morning nap, decides to kick Odie off the table ("Kids don't try this at home"), and notices that it is the day to go to the vet. Garfield decides to rip out the Wednesday (which was the date) page and stuff it inside Odie's mouth. Then, he reads that the next day is Thanksgiving. He then tries to trick Jon into thinking it is Thanksgiving, so they go to the grocery store. Garfield is happy, but notices that Jon is going the wrong way home. Jon states he is going to the vet, and Garfield screams, causing Jon to be a driving oaf. After they arrive, Jon tries to get Liz to come over for Thanksgiving, but she says no, and that Garfield will have to go on a diet. Jon holds his breath while Liz unaware of this tells Jon what Garfields diet will consist of and Garfield goes into a panic, finally screaming and passing out while Jon simaltaneously passes out from holding his breath until he turned red, blue and then dead white, and Liz finally has to admit that she'll go to Jon's Thanksgiving dinner. Jon appoints odie as Garfield's official diet monitor blowing his whistle whenever Garfield tries going for food, Garfield does not soon forget this. RX-2 the strip's talking scale is also taunting Garfield, treating him like Orson Welles, Garfield finally destroys RX2 by stomping it until it's destroyed, like in the comics. The scale's last words are "Rosebuuuudd...". Garfield becomes a sourpuss and gets his revenge on Jon by ruining the turkey, plasumably betting that Liz will get mad at Jon. When she comes, she realizes that the diet is too strict on Garfield (by him imitating the symptoms that people get when they are on a diet for too long like an uncontrollable twitch, irritablity, dimensia, and difficulty in breathing). Garfield checks up on Jon and a Turkey thats hard as a rock, with the rest of the meal ruined. Garfield gives Jon clues (grandma's favorite record, crocheted pillow and the sweater Grandma made him last Christmas) to call Grandma (which Jon being the idiot that he his doesn't see it until he sees her photo. In seconds, Grandma via heavy metal guitar solo and Motorcycle comes and fixes up dinner. Booting Jon out of the Kitchen as she bonds with Garfield and works her magic, Jon stalls Liz with a very boring lecture about the real meaning of thanksgiving and how its celebrated in other countries. The dinner proves to be very delicious, and Liz leaves, saying she'll be back next year before the meal, but after the history lesson (then giving him a peck on the cheek. but Garfield, Odie, and Jon are now even more overweight. Garfield and Odie are sitting on the couch with full stomachs. Odie is too heavy to have the energy to get off of the couch. Garfield finally gets revenge on Odie by taking the whistle and forcing odie to do strenuous exercise as payback for earlier.

Book adaptation

The book adaptation, which retains the original title "Garfield's Thanksgiving," deviates in the following ways:

* When Odie and Garfield awaken Jon, they demand pancakes the size of China. Afterward, as he finishes his breakfast, Garfield quips that it needs less "pan" and more "cake".

* Only Jon causes a commotion in the room - holding his breath until Liz accepts his invitation for Thanksgiving dinner - while Garfield spends the whole session silently going from denial into shock from being sentenced to a diet before passing out at the same time as a suffocating Jon.

* Odie and the scale are not involved in Garfield's torment, and Jon - too deliriously happy about having Liz over for Thanksgiving dinner - is ignorant to the fact that Garfield is in misery. Instead, Garfield comes across a mirror on his way back from his first minuscule meal, and quips that he's lost something already - his sense of humor. He is also weak and suffers from insomnia.

* While Garfield is cranky from a sleepless night and a single lettuce leaf for breakfast, he cheers up quickly after deliberately sabotaging Jon's dinner (specifically the vegetables), and is even cooperative by helping him pick a suit for the dinner (despite not telling him he forgot his pants).

* When Liz comes and waits for Jon to serve dinner, she takes the moment to inspect Garfield. After Garfield pretends to be suffering from every single symptom Liz casually mentions, she relents, takes him off the diet, and only prescribes for him light exercises instead.

* Jon ruins his own dinner by not preparing any of it properly. In the end, the turkey he did not thaw or butter is in terrible state, the sabotaged vegetables are smoking, and the pie he made is burnt.

* Jon is the one to decide to call Grandma. While Grandma prepares dinner - and Garfield stays to watch - Jon stalls for time by telling Liz about Thanksgiving history, which works so well it bores her to sleep until Grandma is done.

* At the end, there is no mention of any latter diets, and while Odie and Garfield sit comfortably with their full bellies as Jon sees Liz out the door, the three agree unanimously that they have one person to thank: Grandma.

Trivia

*This special is available on DVD "Garfield's Holiday Celebrations" and in a separate book.
*Grandma's second appearance.
*Garfield's Thanksgiving has a cameo of Orson Pig from U.S. Acres in the waiting room at the vet.
*RX2 is a parody of the fictional machine Super X 2 from Godzilla vs. Biollante.

Goofs

*When baking the turkey, Jon doesn't follow the directions of turning the oven on to 300 degrees instead turning it on to over500 degrees. Then, when Liz says that something smells, the turkey comes out of the oven raw instead of burnt.
*When Garfield eats breakfast, the dinner table is correctly in the dining room with a yellow painted wall and the calendar. However, when Jon eats dinner at the dinner table, it is facing the glass doors of the backyard and has blue painted walls.

ongs in Garfield's Thanksgiving

*"Make Thanksgiving One Whole Meal" by Lou Rawls
*"It's a Quiet Celebration" by Desirée Goyette