(no subject)

[senoritafish]

So last week, Angus and I stopped by Big Lots to pick up a couple of plastic bins. On the way out he caught sight of a bin full of $3 DVDs and I relented and allowed him to pick one out, pending parental approval. He picked out a one containing some Garfield cartoons; not the series, but three half-hour shows that I think must have been primetime specials. I rolled my eyes a bit but said he could have it.

Now, I used to like Garfield the strip, it was actually funny when it first started. I even bought the first book; Garfield was huge and fat and obnoxious, and Jon had an actual job as a cartoonist. It got dumb about the time Jon's roommate Lyman disappeared and Garfield started walking on his hind legs; everything became round and cute, even Garfield himself, who wasn't supposed to be. I stopped paying much attention to it decades ago, but a few months ago, Angus brought home the same book, given him to the school librarian because it was beginning to fall apart.

Anyway the kids love, love, love this thing. Avalon has watched it four times in the last couple of days. The one special "Garfield's Nine Lives" is interesting because it's a bunch of different shorts, some done with different animators and art styles. Two of them appear very Disnyesque; "Dianna's Piano" doesn't seem like it had anything to do with Garfield at all, being all pastels and colored pencils and a long-haired female white cat, the other "Lab Animal" looked a lot like Dragon's Lair, which, now that I think about it, came out about the same time this was originally aired (I didn't recognize any of the animators in the credits - but a lot of people are alumni of Disney). Another,"In the Garden" with a sing-song narrator describing Chloe and the orange kitten in an endless childhood fairyland, resembles someone's psychdelic LSD drug trip, complete with rainbow mushrooms, and disturbing floating balloon faces. Of course, that short happens to be Avalon's favorite one. One of the other specials, with Garfield playing a film noir detective (Sam "Spayed") had music vocals by Lou Rawls.*

Huh. Well, I guess it's bearable every once in a while.

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While searching for a video of the Garden bit (which I could NOT find), so I could show you just how weird it was, I found it was based on a book - which I vaguely remember but didn't read - but reviews said it was a series of stories (not comics) and more oriented for adults. Also that it (the show) was nominated for an Emmy, but was beat out by the Garfield detective special mentioned above. Must not have been a lot of choices that year.

Comments

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of that, but I agree that Garfield has lost it charm for me. But you never know what kids will like.

My daughter used to like the Berenstain Bears. The books, the cartoon (not the one that was on TV recently but an older one that was just awful.) I got so tired of those bears.

When she was older she got this fascination with The Munsters and used to watch DVDs of that. One day she told me Lily was related to Dracula which led to me writing a Hellsing crossover ficlet I should probably be ashamed of.

She also watched the movie "Meet Me In St. Louis" about twelve times.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

I remember loving The Berenstain Bears when I was a kid - I always wanted to live in their tree. I read a couple of them to mine when they were little but they didn't pursue them. And I am forever grateful they never got into Barney.

Heh - I love crossovers, especially the shameful ones. ;p Angus has been making many crossover comics lately.

My brother is a rabid Judy Garland fan; so yeah, "Meet Me in Saint Louis" saw a lot of play in our house, too.