"Garfield in the Rough" is an American 24-minute cartoon from 1984, a special year indeed, and that means that this Emmy-winning film will have its 35th anniversary already next year. The heart and soul is once again Lorenzo Music with his incomparable voice acting and I truly think nobody could have done it better. I liked almost everything about this one: Jon's enthusiasm, but cluelessness, Garfield's grumpiness that finally turns into ambition, Odie's rare, but memorable presence, the rabbit and beaver characters with the priceless face expressions, the music and the general idea and plot. The only thing I maybe wasn't too big on was the actual wild cat showing up at the very end, so the film finishes weaker than it is for the most part and as most people tend to remember endings fairly well, this is maybe the reason why it is not the most-known of these many Garfield cartoons. Or among the most known you could say too. The funny comment by Garfield at the very end could not make up for that either. Still it is definitely good enough quality-wise to see it and in my opinion these Garfield cartoons are the very best in terms of cartoons after the Golden Age of Animation. How can you not like this cat? Impossible. I should put a . and turn this into a rhetorical question. Huge fan here, also of the books and there's no way I'm gonna give this one a negative recommendation. But I guess I don't have to give a recommendation at all as you probably have seen other Garfield cartoons before considering seeing this one, so you should be in a good position yourself to decide whether you wanna give it a go. I think you should and nice to see the Emmys giving it some well-deserved recognition. Despite the somewhat dramatic ending, it's all about the comedy and I think it's also a good watch for younger audiences. This is the stuff your kids should see when growing up. And this is also the stuff you should see when being grown-up. Why are you still here reading my review. Watch it now!

Even after 18 years, "Garfield in the Rough" holds up very well. One of the reasons is a strong script by Jim Davis, Garfield's original creator. He deftly weaves humor and tension.Excellent voices help this production, too. Garfield, everyone's favorite overweight house cat, is voiced as always by the late, very talented Lorenzo Music. Thom Huge does the voice of his owner, Jon Arbuckle, a role he performed in every Garfield special (sadly, to date he has not found any success elsewhere). Gregg Berger, voice acting veteran, plays both the brainless but loyal dog Odie, and the first Ranger. The other Ranger is played by George Wendt, better known to millions as Norm on "Cheers." Woodland creatures Dicky Beaver and Billy Rabbit are played by highly respected actors Hal Smith and Orson Bean, respectively. And several girl cats, existing only in Garfield's fantasies, are played by Desirée Goyette.Goyette, along with Music, and no less a figure than Lou Rawls himself sing several lovely songs in the show (and of course, Huge sings a couple as well). The music does a good job of setting the mood. Special notice must go to a song which is briefly heard on the radio, after the news report about the deadly panther. Not only is it an excellent joke (it's described as "Fun Music" but sounds like the most depressing song in the world), but the brief seconds we hear of it, combined with the report, do an excellent job of turning the frivolous atmosphere into one of foreboding.The animation is perhaps the one area where it could have used some work. Occasionally it gets a bit rough, and not very detailed. But most of the time it was great.Oddly enough, the rough look was the only possible look that would have worked for the show-stealer: the panther. If it was *more* detailed, it wouldn't have been as scary. And let me tell you, to children, that panther is terrifying. Even adults get chills down their spines from that beast. Garfield's attack on it is almost certainly the most selfless thing he's ever done.All in all, "Garfield in the Rough" is a very good animation special that anyone can view over and over again.

Did Desiree Goyette sing the songs for all the Garfield episodes? I'm just curious. I remember the voice for the shows, but haven't found any credits for the singing. I did notice, however, that on this site she is credited as a composer as well as an actress.

I liked this tv show because I like Garfield. Garfield's my favorite cartoon character.