The Mail Animal

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Mail Animal
Series = Garfield and Friends


Caption =
Season = 2
Episode = 115
Airdate = December 16, 1989 [ [http://www.povonline.com/Garf%20Episodes.htm Garfield & Friends - Episode Guide] ]
Production = G76 [ [http://garfield.com/about/catovision.html The Official Website of Garfield and Friends] ]
Writer = Mark Evanier
Director = John Walker (animator)
Steve Clark (animator)
John Sparey
Guests = Stan Freberg as post office chief
Episode list = List of Garfield and Friends episodes
Prev = Video Airlines
Next = Peanut-Brained Rooster

"The Mail Animal" is an episode of "Garfield and Friends" which originally aired in 1989.

Episode recap

Jon Arbuckle's mailman, Herman Post, delivers the mail and is once again defeated by Garfield. As he walks back to the mail truck, the post office chief scolds him for being afraid of a cat. He takes away Herman's cap, necktie and letter bag and fires him. When Jon finds out what happened to Herman, he locks Garfield out of the house. Garfield sees Herman weeping on the curb, talking about how he always wanted to be a mailman and how his dream has been ruined.

Suddenly, the episode "ends" and a "U.S. Acres" title card is shown with the episode name, Much Ado About Orson. Orson and Wade are seen walking when Garfield shows up and tells them to leave, because "his" cartoon is not over yet. He decides to help Herman get his job back. Garfield sneaks to the post office and hides behind some bags. The chief asks four eager employees to take over Herman's mail route, but as soon as he mentions "a cat named Garfield", they run away. The chief decides to deliver the mail himself, and Garfield overhears.

The next day, Garfield is up to his usual tricks. After several attempts of delivering the mail fail, the chief gives in to Garfield. Then he sees Herman walking down the street and begs him to take over his old route. Herman happily agrees.

The next morning, as Herman walks to Jon's front door, a spring in the sidewalk sends him flying into the air. He falls down the chimney into the fireplace and gives the mail to Garfield. As Garfield walks away, Herman concludes that it is nice to be back.

Notes

*This episode contains the original red, white and blue "U.S. Acres" logo seen during the 1988-1994 CBS broadcasts. Unlike the other "U.S. Acres" logos, this one was not changed to an "Orson's Farm" logo on the DVD sets. This was probably done to differentiate real title cards from false ones.
*"Much Ado About Orson" is one of the several "episodes within episodes" seen on "Garfield and Friends". Another notable example is "Looking For Lasagna", a cartoon seen in How to Be Funny!.
*"Much Ado About Orson" was mentioned in last week's episode Cock-a-Doodle Dandy.
*Together with Peanut-Brained Rooster and Mummy Dearest, this episode formed the last "Garfield and Friends" show to feature the theme song "Friends Are There".
*The mailman's first name, Herman, is revealed in this episode.
*Odie does not appear in this episode.

References