Garfield specials first came to life in 1982 and were based on the famous Jim Davis cartoon strip, which featured the orange, fat cat named Garfield, his yellow, hyperactive dog friend Odie, and their cartoonist bachelor master, Jon Arbuckle. The specials eventually led to the creation of the very popular CBS Saturday morning cartoon series that ran from 1988 to 1994. Previously, I had thought – and reported – that there were 11 animated specials that aired sporadically in prime time from 1982 to 1991, but actually, there were twelve: 11 30-minute specials, and the hour-long Garfield: His 9 Lives. Three volumes of specials (containing three each) have already been released: Garfield As Himself, Garfield Holiday Celebrations and Garfield In The Rough; this fourth installment, Garfield Fantasies, brings us last three specials that have yet to see the light of DVD. Here is a brief description of the specials that are included on this disc:

• Garfield encounters crime, passion and suspense as he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery in Garfield’s Babes and Bullets. In a parody of film noir mysteries, Garfield is bored and finds a trench coat and hat in a closet and his imagination runs wild. He becomes Sam Spayed, a private eye who doesn't have much besides a new secretary who can make a good cup of coffee. Tanya O'Tabby’s husband has been murdered, and Sam is hired to solve the murder of the 23-year-old college professor. This special originally aired on May 23, 1989, and won the ‘88-‘89 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (Prime Time). Runtime is 24 minutes.
• Garfield's Feline Fantasies first aired sometime in 1990 (I couldn’t find an exact date) and runs about 23 minutes. The special kicks off with Garfield's dream that he's a submarine commander in combat, and continues with reveries about a Wild West showdown and airborne heroics. But those are minimal in comparison with the cat’s most elaborate fantasy that melds a spoof of "The Maltese Falcon" with an adventure worthy of "Indiana Jones." In this daydream, Garfield imagines that he's Lance Sterling, a droll soldier of fortune, accompanied by his faithful associate Slobber Job (a.k.a. Odie), on an important and dangerous mission: recover the stolen Banana of Bombay, the source of the old banana peel sight gag and therefore "the symbol of humor to free nations all around the world."
• Finally, in the longest of the specials, the 48-minute Garfield: His 9 Lives is comprised of nine different stories, one for each of Garfield's lives. The surly feline plays a myriad of roles, from the prehistoric Cave Cat to the futuristic Space Cat, including: the revered King Cat of ancient Egypt; an orange kitten in a fairyland garden; the pet cat of court musician George Frederick Handel; a "stunt cat" in the 1920s movie business; a music-loving cat and pet of a young girl who grows up into a beautiful young woman; a laboratory animal trying to escape certain death; and of course, Garfield himself, a pasta-loving youngster in an Italian restaurant, that becomes the lazy housepet of one John Arbuckle. This special debuted on November 22, 1988 and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (Prime Time) in the same batch as Garfield’s Babes and Bullets; obviously the latter won the award.

All three specials are presented in their original TV full-screen (1.33:1) format. They contain English stereo and Spanish mono sound tracks, as well as subtitles in both languages. Total running time is about 100 minutes (the box says 120, but they don’t count time missing with commercials cut). Not much restoration is involved here, but as with the rest of the released specials, just the fact they are on DVD is good enough for me.

As I said, there are no bonus features on Garfield Fantasies. The only extra bit other than the specials themselves is a less-than-a-minute Strawberry Shortcake DVD/Home Video trailer. Once again, I would have liked to see something added to this final DVD release, but after the previous hat trick of no extras, I wasn’t holding my breath.

Final Thoughts: Garfield Fantasies is the fourth and final DVD collection of wonderful late-80s/early-90s Garfield specials to be released on DVD – the collection is now complete. As before, no extras are included on this release, so it comes down to a personal decision on whether or not the average $10 price tag is worth it for you. If you have the other three discs, as do I, there is no reason why this last batch doesn’t deserve a spot right next to them. I for one am ecstatic to now have the full set of these forgotten cartoons on DVD, and would encourage anyone to throw down the cash for any or all of these collections, especially if you have kids.

DVD Cartoon Collection Score: B+
DVD Special Features Score: F
DVD Overall Score: B