I grew up reading Garfield comics and watching the Garfield and Friends television show, so I’ve always had a soft spot for the fat feline. I also had a fun time seeing The Garfield Movie earlier this year, so it was exciting to revisit the animated film with the release of The Garfield Movie Blu-ray. While Chris Pratt is no Lorenzo Music, he wisely doesn’t try to imitate the beloved voice actor and instead offers a surprisingly heartfelt performance that I really enjoy.
“Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt), the world-famous, Monday-hating, lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father – scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) – Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered life into joining Vic in a hilarious, high-stakes heist,” says the official description.
After a very cute opening featuring an adorable baby Garfield and a down-on-his-luck Jon Arbuckle (wonderfully voiced by Nicholas Hoult), the film essentially becomes a buddy comedy starring Pratt’s Garfield and his absentee father, Samuel L. Jackson’s Vic. They have good chemistry, the script delivers pretty regular laughs and some fun animation (some of the scenes with Hannah Waddingham’s villainous Jinx are especially stylish). It’s not overly ambitious, but it adheres to a winning formula, which is why it cleared over $250 million at the box office.
Watching it again, I was really impressed by the voice-acting performances. For example, Hoult’s Jon sounds very different than his normal speaking voice and he does a great job of making him likable. Meanwhile, I was shocked to learn that Harvey Guillén voices Odie and is making all the yips and barking noises. All the smaller parts are well cast (although Snoop Dogg voicing a cat?!) and Ving Rhames is great as always as the bull that gets Garfield and Vic to see things straight. It all combines to make a nice father-son story that can hit surprisingly hard for how goofy most of the movie can be.
The Garfield Movie Blu-ray doesn’t have a ton of bonus features that go in-depth on the film, although I’m not sure the film really needed to be dissected, but it does have a nice array of surface-level ones. There’s a four-minute video introducing the cast and their choices for the voices, a three-minute featurette going over the film’s themes, a two-minute gag reel (Samuel L. Jackson is very funny), and a three-minute Easter egg video going over some cute hidden references.
Other bonus features include an animation progression reel that shows how much work goes into getting a scene from concept to finished product. There’s also an animatic for a deleted scene that would’ve animated Waddingham’s “I’m Back” song that plays during the credits. Finally, there are two how-to-draw videos that focus on the trio of Garfield, Odie, and Jon, and then new characters for the movie (Vic, Otto, Jinx, Roland, and Nolan). These are hosted by character designer Taylor Krahenbuhl, who goes into great detail and you can follow along yourself. There are some good tips here, and it is definitely the highlight of the special features.
The Garfield Movie Blu-ray Review: Final Verdict
While it’s not going to be considered an animated classic, The Garfield Movie Blu-ray is a welcome addition to any Garfield fan or parent’s collection. It’s a fun movie with jokes that land for both kids and adults, with some great voicework by a talented cast (especially Samuel L. Jackson and Hannah Waddingham). There are also some nice bonuses, as the how-to-draw videos can easily lead to a fun activity night paired with the film.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received product from the distributor for our The Garfield Movie Blu-ray review.
