It's that time of year when I force mr_chelledun to watch one holiday movie after another for weeks on end.  We recently kicked off the 2009 season with A Garfield Christmas Special.  Released in 1987, this touching made-for-television classic never fails to get me in the holiday spirit. 

Plot Information
It's a good old fashioned Christmas down on the farm with Garfield and company.  Jon Arbuckle packs up Garfield and Odie to head to his family home for some gifts, music, and overeating.  Once there, Jon and his brother Doc Boy act like giant kids and force their parents to relive all childhood Christmas traditions.  In the meantime, Garfield forms a special relationship with grumpy, eccentric Grandma and ultimately manages to make her Christmas merry as well.  

While A Garfield Christmas Special (sometimes referred to as A Garfield Christmas) is shown on IMDB as an individually packaged VHS, I mostly see it now as one of three features (Halloween and Thanksgiving) on a DVD entitled Garfield Holiday Celebrations.  The other two specials are good too, but Christmas takes the cake in my book.
 
My Thoughts
This Christmas special is so stinking awesome.  In 2005 I ranked it as number three on my list of top ten animated Christmas films, and that may have been underrating it.  The concept of a visit home for the holidays is a great way to introduce interactions with Jon's various eccentric family members in the mix.  I love all the family members, from the grumpy Grandma to the man-childlike Doc Boy, who together provide the perfect balance of humor and sentiment.  Grandma's missing her long deceased husband is sad, Garfield's odes to gluttony are funny, and the now-grown Arbuckle boys reliving their favorite childhood traditions is touching.  There's an awful lot of character development crammed into this thirty-minute special!

A Garfield Christmas Special also distinguishes itself from the run-of-the mill holiday special with its exceptionally catchy soundtrack.  "Can't Wait ‘Til Christmas" perfectly captures the vibe of the film, with Jon expressing excitement about the holiday and Garfield responding in his typically cynical style.  "Christmas in Your Heart" is the sweet, soft tearjerker of the film.  I challenge anyone to get the closing some, "A Good-Old-Fashioned Christmas" out of their head in less than three days. 

As to technical merits, let's be honest.  This animated special is not going to win any awards for its animation quality.  However, given that the film is based on a comic book strip, the flat 2-D animation with simple colors seems to work just perfectly.  At least, it does through my nostalgia-colored glasses! 
 
Overall . . .
I think A Garfield Christmas Special resonates with me so strongly because I see bits of my own loving, crazy, funny family in it.  My husband still wakes me up in the middle of the night wanting to open presents, my sister and I still insist that my parents carry on our childhood traditions, and my slightly grumpy Grandma encourages us all in our holiday gluttony.  Jon Arbuckle's family home turns out to be a lot like my home, and odds are that at least some aspects of it will remind you of yours.

Want to get in the holiday spirit? Come join my "Get those Holiday Reviews Out Write-Off!

*Check out my Top Ten Favorite ANIMATED Christmas Movies!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD