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Garfield TV Specials #5
Garfield in Paradise
Garfield dreams of a luxury vacation in Hawaii, but Jon is cutting corners (did someone say tight wad?) so it's off to paradise instead -- ticky tacky Paradise World, that is. The pool is empty and there's only one car at the rent-a-car counter (what a specimen!), but it's an adventure Garfield, Jon, Odie -- and you -- will never forget!
64 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1986
About the author
Jim Davis
2,383 books646 followersJames Robert "Jim" Davis is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield. Other comics that he has worked on are Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, Slapstick, and a strip about Mr. Potato Head.
Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.
Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.
Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.
Jim Davis was born in Fairmount, Indiana, near Marion, where he grew up on a small farm with his father James William Davis, mother Anna Catherine (Carter) Davis, brother Dave, and 25 cats. Davis' childhood on a farm parallels the life of his cartoon character Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle, who was also raised on a farm with his parents and a brother, Doc Boy. Jon, too, is a cartoonist, and also celebrates his birthday on July 28. Davis attended Ball State University. While attending Ball State, he became a member of the Theta Xi fraternity. He earned the dubious honor of earning one of the lowest cumulative grade point averages in the history of the university, an honor incidentally shared with Late Show host David Letterman.
Davis as of 2007 resides in Muncie, Indiana, where he and his staff produce Garfield under his company, Paws, Inc., begun in 1981. He was married to Carolyn, a singer and elementary teacher whom he met while both were attending college, and has a son named James with her. However, the couple divorced, and Davis since 2000 has been married to Jill, Paws' senior vice president of licensing, who has worked there approximately 25 years.
Ironically, Davis did not own cats when he started Garfield because of Carolyn's allergies, but they owned a Labrador retriever named Molly. With Jill, the family has expanded to include children Ashley and Chris; three grandchildren, Chloe, Carly and Cody; cats, Spunky and Nermal; and a dog, Pooky.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 9, 2025
oh garf, I forgot you're from the 70s* and are therefore going to be racist and sexist 😔😔
*edit: I said 50s by accident, when actually old garf debuted in the 70s.
*edit: I said 50s by accident, when actually old garf debuted in the 70s.
April 27, 2025
I first thought, neat, a whole comic storyline for Garfield, and one that got made into a movie! (or... "TV Special," I suppose)
Then I saw the barely legible caption on the cover about "his fifth TV spectacular!" and realised it was probably done the other way around, vs. the special being made based on this.
I mean, it could have been...? The animators might have used it as a storyboard? I don't really feel like fact-checking that. It IS racist (or whitewashed), though, since the "Hawai'ians" are painfully white in appearance and only use one actual Hawai'ian word in the whole book. (Okay, *arguably* two, but context suggests it's not, or not used respectfully.) One character even "talks" in questionable "language" that I honestly wonder how it passed the censors:
On the whole, I have mixed feelings about Garfield, since I did used to love the series as a younger reader, but as an older reader, I see things like this and am more than a little disappointed, especially with the sacrificial virgin thrown into an active volcano trope that got debunked in other stories (lava is too dense to be thrown into like water; such a sacrifice would just get burned up on its surface).
The volcano has good taste, anyway.
Also, I used to try to at least respect that, hey, if Jim Davis is STILL drawing the comic by himself after all these years, mad props! Then I found out he has a team, which... is less impressive—especially given how unfunny Garfield normally is, such that removing Garfield from Garfield makes it significantly funnier.
Actually, typing all this out makes me want to deduct another star. There, done.
An improvement over the main comic series, which is stale almost by design, but still manages to be awful.
Then I saw the barely legible caption on the cover about "his fifth TV spectacular!" and realised it was probably done the other way around, vs. the special being made based on this.
I mean, it could have been...? The animators might have used it as a storyboard? I don't really feel like fact-checking that. It IS racist (or whitewashed), though, since the "Hawai'ians" are painfully white in appearance and only use one actual Hawai'ian word in the whole book. (Okay, *arguably* two, but context suggests it's not, or not used respectfully.) One character even "talks" in questionable "language" that I honestly wonder how it passed the censors:
On the whole, I have mixed feelings about Garfield, since I did used to love the series as a younger reader, but as an older reader, I see things like this and am more than a little disappointed, especially with the sacrificial virgin thrown into an active volcano trope that got debunked in other stories (lava is too dense to be thrown into like water; such a sacrifice would just get burned up on its surface).
The volcano has good taste, anyway.
Also, I used to try to at least respect that, hey, if Jim Davis is STILL drawing the comic by himself after all these years, mad props! Then I found out he has a team, which... is less impressive—especially given how unfunny Garfield normally is, such that removing Garfield from Garfield makes it significantly funnier.
Actually, typing all this out makes me want to deduct another star. There, done.
An improvement over the main comic series, which is stale almost by design, but still manages to be awful.
July 31, 2020
Found this along with a lot of other Garfield books for $2 while thrifting. I encountered a bunch of plot holes while reading this but hey, it's Garfield. A 5/10 overall from me.
The story follows John, Garfield, and Odie (Who sneaks along in the luggage), on their vacation. We see everything from the flight there, to buying a hotel room, to renting a car. That was interesting but then we find the gang broken down in a village that worships their car. Hint hint, there's also a live volcano if you can guess what happens from there.
As I said before, it's okay. Not the worst, but I wouldn't pick it up unless you collect them or find it at a discount.
The story follows John, Garfield, and Odie (Who sneaks along in the luggage), on their vacation. We see everything from the flight there, to buying a hotel room, to renting a car. That was interesting but then we find the gang broken down in a village that worships their car. Hint hint, there's also a live volcano if you can guess what happens from there.
As I said before, it's okay. Not the worst, but I wouldn't pick it up unless you collect them or find it at a discount.
December 20, 2023
When I was a kid I would watch this t.v special religiously so when I found this book I had to get it. I love it just as much! Was defiantly a fun read and I loved getting all that old nostalgia from it.
May 30, 2019
An interesting adventure!
June 10, 2021
I loved these as a kid so I’m reading them for nostalgia.
November 10, 2025
Garfield is always fun, but never hilarious. Reading him this way, as a whole story instead of independent strips, was even better than usual so I quite enjoyed this little book.
May 25, 2026
Garfield in paradise - Jim Davis
Garfield is dreaming of a luxury vacation in Hawaii, but Jon is cutting corners and it’s an adventure Garfield, Jon and Odie will never forget!
Garfield is dreaming of a luxury vacation in Hawaii, but Jon is cutting corners and it’s an adventure Garfield, Jon and Odie will never forget!
March 12, 2017
A book from my childhood that I owned.
November 6, 2011
Classic Garfield. My favorite. Definitely a good read. =)
September 22, 2015
Garfield was always my favourite growing up, so perhaps I'm biased. but I loved these books and still read them now and again for a laugh.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews