Early in the morning, Garfield, who apparently fell asleep while watching TV, is awakened out of a deep sleep by the loud and irritating Binky the Clown when the current station decides to start off the day with his show. Initially aggravated at this, Garfield soon becomes thrilled when he learns that it's Halloween, due to the prospect of going trick-or-treating and getting a lot of candy. To ensure that he gets as much as he can, he tricks Odie into going with him, saying that Halloween is when dogs help cats get candy and that, as a reward, he'll receive one piece of it for his very own. After goading Odie into coming with him, they go to the attic to find some costumes and ultimately decide on dressing up as pirates. Jon gives them a couple of sacks for the candy and sends them off, telling them not to stay out too late. Despite running into some apparently real ghosts and monsters while trick-or-treating, Garfield and Odie manage to rack up a lot of candy but Garfield, still not satisfied, decides to use a rowboat to cross a river in order to reach more houses on the other side. However, when they shove off, Odie misunderstands a command from Garfield and throws the oars into the water, sending them drifting down the current. As annoyed as Garfield may be at not being able to head home and enjoy his candy, this proves to be nothing compared to what's in store for him and Odie when they run aground on a little isle that's adorned by a creepy-looking, old mansion.
Deciding to investigate the house upon seeing a light on inside it, Garfield and Odie initially think the place is deserted but, when they go to warm themselves by the lit fireplace, they encounter a very creepy old man who tells them of the legend of pirates who buried their treasure there and vowed to return within a hundred years to reclaim their prize, specifically on Halloween night at the stroke of midnight. When that happens, and the old man takes their rowboat, leaving them stranded, Garfield (who's initially more concerned about losing his candy) and Odie get the crap scared out of them by the ghostly pirates who do appear and are forced to swim for it. It's only when they're in the water that Garfield remembers that he can't swim but, fortunately for him, Odie saves his life by pulling him to shore. Despite his mocking and tricking him, Garfield is sincerely grateful, telling Odie, "I owe you one, old buddy," and when they find the rowboat and the candy, he does the right thing and lets Odie have all of the candy in his sack, just as it should be. Initially, Garfield says he's too wired to sleep and decides to watch some TV... but, when the old man appears on the tube, hosting a pirate movie marathon, Garfield immediately clicks it off and goes to bed, with his beloved teddy bear, Pooky.
Odie (voiced by Gregg Berger) is his usual dim-witted, gullible self in this special, spending his first couple of scenes wearing a jack-o-lantern that Jon accidentally dropped on his and not caring a bit. When Garfield comes to him and tells him what Halloween is "all about," he initially looks skeptical at the prospect of having to help Garfield get candy but, when he's promised a whole piece of his very own as a reward, Odie leaps at the chance to help him; as well as just because he genuinely likes Garfield. After the two of them decide to dress up as pirates (Odie initially making all four of his legs pegs), they head out. Odie winds up being scared of the various costumes all the trick-or-treaters are wearing but relaxes when Garfield shows him that they're just kids... that is, until several of them turn out to be real monsters and ghosts. Regardless, the two of them make quite a haul of candy (when Garfield protests about that first woman giving them only one piece each, Odie seems just as annoyed by it) and when Garfield plots to cross the river to get more candy from the houses on the other side, Odie goes along with him, despite seeming unsure of his obsession with getting as much candy as he can. Their taking the rowboat that they find in order to do so is where they get into trouble, as Garfield, seeing that they're caught in the river's current, tells Odie to "take out the oars," which Odie thinks means throw the oars into the water! But, when they're stuck in the boat as it heads downstream, Odie looks just as content as always, just happily panting away, until he spots the isle up ahead and brings it to Garfield's attention. Of course, they end up wishing they hadn't landed there, when they come across the creepy old house and the equally creepy old man who lives there, who tells them that the spirits of long dead pirates are going to appear come midnight. With that, the two of them get spooked and try to escape, but the man takes the boat, leaving them stranded. The clock strikes midnight and the two of them desperately try to stop it, only for it to initially seem like a crackpot story the old man made up. Of course, when the pirate ghosts do show up, Garfield and Odie get the crap scared out of them and are forced to swim for it, with Odie saving Garfield when he almost drowns upon remembering too late that he can't swim. As a reward, Odie gets his rightful half of the candy when they get back home, happily licking Garfield and walking off with his bag.
Jon (voiced by Thom Huge) initially ends up with the same jack-o-lantern on his head when Garfield scares him when he's carving one. Initially admonishing him for that, Garfield then makes a silly face that makes him laugh and asks, "Why can't I stay angry with you, Garfield?", to which Garfield answers, "'Cause I'm a cat." Explaining what he was doing before removing it from his head, and inadvertently dropping it on Odie's, Jon watches Garfield eat some pumpkin seeds, which he thinks is lasagna, and when he asks him, "Since when did you like pumpkin innards?", Garfield promptly spits them out and says, "Since never!" He then offers Garfield some breakfast and is surprised when he turns it down, as he's saving room for all that candy... but, of course, Garfield comes back and takes one bit of food after another before deciding the heck with it and taking the whole tray. When you next see Jon, he's eating some lasagna, which Garfield, now in his pirate costume, promptly takes. Seeing the costumes both he and Odie are wearing, Jon tells them they look ridiculous, to which Garfield says, "Arr, I've killed men fer sayin' less than that, but I'll letcha live, seein' as how yer the only man who'll change me kitty litter." Seeing that they're planning to go trick-or-treating, Jon gives them a couple of sacks and sends them off, telling them not to be out too late, which is the last time you see him. (In both of his scenes, he's behind that same counter.) Wonder what he had to see when they got home past midnight? Thom Huge also voices Binky, the obnoxious TV clown whom Garfield absolutely despises. The special begins with Binky's show coming on, with the clown yelling his trademark, "Heeeeeey, kids!", which startles Garfield awake, and he then tells the kids to do jumping jacks with him. Garfield is so out of it that he actually does it for a bit before he comes to his senses and he's further irritated when Binky tells the kids that they're going to grow up to be worthless if they don't exercise with him. Trying to find the remote, Garfield has to endure more of Binky calling the kids losers and telling them they have to be in shape because, tonight, they can get candy. Garfield clicks him off right after that, but when it registers that he mentioned candy, he frantically switches channel, trying to get him back, and when he does, Binky tells him that it's Halloween, much to Garfield's joy.
The first half or so of the special feels like typical Garfield in terms of tone, art-style, and humor, as well as how, even though Garfield and Odie come across some "trick-or-treaters" who appear to be more than just kids in costumes, is not spooky or creepy in the least... and then, we get to the section on the isle, where they meet this seriously freaky-looking old man (voiced by C. Lindsay Workman). I can remember being a bit taken aback by him when I first saw this as a kid and, looking at him now, not only is he surprisingly creepy but he feels like no other character who's ever appeared in anything Garfield-related. He's not drawn in the same style as any of the other characters, for one, instead having a much more realistic touch to his anatomy; the animation on him seems different from all the others, for another; and he's ugly as all get out, with long, bony fingers, warts on his face, little, beady, sinister-looking eyes, a huge nose, big ears, and crooked teeth, many of which have fallen out (there's also a moment where drool gathers on the left side of his mouth as he talks, which is an added bit of, "ugh,"). He also has this really deep, booming voice, which suits him well when he tells Garfield and Odie the story about the pirates, and when he's talking to them, every shot of him has him looking directly at the camera, as if he's talking to you. He's possibly of supernatural origin as much as the ghosts are, as he claims to have been the pirates' ten-year old cabin boy and yet, he says they buried the treasure a hundred years before. Of course, if he's a ghost or zombie or whatever, then he shouldn't need to steal Garfield and Odie's rowboat, as he does after telling them the story, or be afraid of the pirate ghosts, for that matter, but regardless, let's not forget how he suddenly appears on the television when Garfield turns it on at the very end. Yeah, there's something about him that just isn't natural, and, most of all, he feels more akin to something you'd see in an episode of Tales from the Cryptkeeper or, at the very least, the Ghostbusters cartoon, rather than Garfield. Not that that's a bad thing, though, as it does make this stand out among Garfield's other cartoons.
Speaking of style, I've always found Jim Davis' way of drawing to be very charming in how simple it is, both in how he tends to give the characters these big heads with really large eyes, as well as how the environments don't have a lot of detail to them but instead just have the bare essentials. In fact, for me, Garfield is akin to the Peanuts in how, when you watch these cartoons, it feels like you're watching the comic strips in motion. The animation is fairly simplistic but gets the job done, the interiors of the houses have long hallways that go on and on much longer than they really should (I like the feel of the attic, which comes off as lengthy and more cluttered than it possibly could be), there are a number of spots where it almost feels like the character is standing in a colored void (case in point, when Jon is standing behind the counter, which is the only thing that has any kind of texture and even, it has so little detail), and the backgrounds and environments often have a wavy, watercolor and paintbrush feel to them. It's just an appealing style, in my opinion, but just because it's simplistic doesn't mean that the special doesn't have any memorable visuals, particularly when Garfield and Odie go out trick-or-treating. I like the look of the wide-angles of the town when it's full of costumed kids and I think the scenes that take place on the river shore and the isle have a nice look to them, with dark colors all-around and a dark-colored sky permeating the background. I especially like the shot when, after they've recovered their candy, Garfield and Odie head home, walking over a hill with a full moon up in the sky (which kind of looks like it's smiling, if you ask me, though I could be seeing things). And let's not forget how great the art-style becomes on the isle, with the classic look to the creepy old mansion, both inside and out, the uses of shadows and lightning effects in some parts.
This latter part of the special is where it does kind of shifts, both tonally and artistically, becoming a tad bit darker and spookier than you'd expect for something Garfield-related. Like I said in the introduction, it's not so drastic a switch that it's jarring, but it is noticeable, in how you think you're going to see Garfield and Odie getting spooked by cartoony ghosts in this old house and then, they meet the old man. After unintentionally scaring them, he tells them that this could possibly be the worst night of their lives and then, relates the story of how, one hundred years ago, a band of pirates held up in the house, on the run from the government and forced to hide the treasure they'd looted by burying it under the house. Before escaping, they made a blood pact, vowing to return in a hundred years from Halloween night, at the stroke of midnight, even if it meant they had to come back from the dead. You get a montage of still images showing the major events of the tale, including the contract they signed, with a red X in the center of it (if it weren't for the fact that he says they signed the contract in blood, you wouldn't think anything about the color of it, but, because he does...). When Garfield glances at the clock and sees that it's 11:55, he asks if he really believes that and the old man cuts him off, emphatically telling him to believe, which is when he adds that he was the pirates' cabin boy and that he never took the treasure, because they would have found him afterward. Telling Garfield and Odie that the pirates' ghosts know that they're on the isle, Garfield decides it's time to leave, only to look away and then see that the man is gone and discover that he's taken their rowboat. Stranded, with no way to escape, Garfield and Odie try to stop the clock when it strikes midnight but they're unable to stop the ghosts from coming. A glowing, otherworldly ship emerges from the fog surrounding the isle and the ghosts emerge from the water. (Ghostly pirates and creepy fog? Where have I seen this before?)
Seeing this, Garfield and Odie panic and hide in a cupboard, the next few seconds being fairly creepy, as a light shines in through the slightly ajar door, you see beams of light coming through the house's windows as the ghosts approach and then, they come whirling in, go beneath the floorboards, and rip the treasure chest out. The actual designs of the ghosts are nothing that special, as they're just skeletons in pirate garb, but what makes them actually kind of eerie is how they're portrayed as these glowing, ethereal specters, with their animation having a wispy, otherworldly to it, as well as how they're completely silent. They make no sound whatsoever, not even the typical moans and groans, and when they're floating towards the house and when they're inside, often the only sound is the music, which includes when Garfield and Odie seemingly yell at the sight of them. Odie ends up giving him and Garfield away when he sneezes, blowing open the cupboard doors and prompting the ghosts to turn around and see them. Sheepishly, they close the doors and hope that the ghosts didn't see them, but, of course, no such luck, as one of them comes through the door at them and they rush past him and out of the house. The ghosts chase them onto the dock, Odie nearly falling into the water when one of the boards breaks underneath him, and, with nowhere else to go, they decide to swim for it. It's only when they jump into the water that Garfield remembers that, being a cat, he can't swim, and promptly sinks, with nothing but his pirate hat being left on the surface. Grabbing it, Odie desperately searches for him and, seeing him grab the tip of a tree branch on shore, only for it to break and cause him to sink, he dives down to grab him. He manages to pull Garfield to the surface and haul him to shore, where the two lay, exhausted but grateful to be alive, especially Garfield. Walking back home, Garfield laments that this was the worst night of his life, saying, "I've had nightmares that looked like birthday parties, compared to tonight." But, he peps up when he finds the rowboat with their sacks of candy in it and walk home with their own booty.
There are four songs and musical numbers in this special but what's odd is that, while they're all sung from Garfield's point-of-view, two of them are sung by Lou Rawls rather than Lorenzo Music. I don't understand why they made that decision, as Music was perfectly capable of singing as Garfield, and often did, both here and in many other cartoons. I've since learned that Rawls sang songs for all of these specials (save for Garfield's Feline Fantasies), including the openings, but still, I think in this case, they should've made an exception and had Music sing this one. In any case, the first song, which is performed by Rawls, is This is the Night, where Garfield, upon learning that it's Halloween, sings about how it's the night he was made for and that he's going to go trick-or-treating. He also dances around while singing, at one point during the credits using a lamp-stand as a fake microphone (his lips actually move while he's singing there), and as he heads back to his little bed, he sings about how it would be nice if you could trick-or-treat every night. The second song, What Should I Be?, which is sung by Music, occurs when Garfield and Odie find a trunk full of clothes to use as costumes up in the attic and start going through them. He sings as he through various costume options, first hitting on either being a kind or a slave, or perhaps a vampire, showing up with a cape and sharp teeth, before spinning around and actually becoming a bat, save for his head. He then ducks down and pops back up as a black cat, which he says he could achieve by wearing black pajamas, the camera stiltedly zooming in on his right eye, before he goes back to the pile of clothes from the trunk. He comes back out wearing a space helmet, with clown makeup and a red nose on his face, a clown suit on his torso, big shoes on his feet, and holding a cane with a sack tied to the end of it like a hobo. After that, he goes into the pile again and comes back out, wearing a weird alien mask, along with a top hat, a nice suit, and a walking cane, describing it as, "An alien creature going out on the town." The song then ends with him again asking, "What should I be?", doing a little jig before getting back to looking for a costume.
The last two songs come immediately after each other. Yo, Ho, Ho, Ho, which is also sung by Music, is a short little pirate-style tune, with Garfield singing lyrics like, "Sixty men, all lost at sea, all of them drunk, except for me," and is very, very close to becoming a clone of A Pirate's Life for Me. It's reprised over the ending credits but, really, you could remove it from the special. And finally, there's Scaredy Cat, performed by Rawls, where Garfield, trying to convince Odie that there's nothing to be scared of while they're out trick-or-treating, insists that he's not afraid of anything. The number accompanying the song involves Garfield listing off all of his faults, as he and Odie head down the sidewalk, and when they come across a "trick-or-treater," he sings, "But the one thing I'm not is a scaredy cat," before looking under their costume. This, however, proves to be a mistake, as they come across a ghost figure with long, hairy, monstrous legs under the sheet, a hooded ghoul whose ugly face is actually a copy of his real, equally ugly, face, and another ghost that apparently is an actual ghost, as there proves to be nothing under the sheet at all. Each time they see this, Garfield and Odie let out frightened yells and run around the supernatural beings in a panic before screeching away, as a chorus of women (the same ones who backed up Rawls in This is the Night) sing, "The one thing he's not is a scaredy cat. The two figures under the sheets just look confused at this, while the ghoul actually grabs at them as they run away.
Another thing all of these different Garfield cartoons have in addition to their art and animation styles is the music, which was composed by Ed Bogas and Desiree Goyette, who worked on the first special and did the music for many of them, including this one (as well as Garfield & Friends). Like Vince Guaraldi with the Peanuts, they pretty much created Garfield's signature musical sound, and while it's kind of hard to touch on its style, as it's so simple, you know it when you hear it and it fits with Garfield really well. They use instrumental versions of a couple of the songs in the score and I really like how fairly spooky the music gets during the latter half, especially when the ghosts show up. They manage to accentuate the ghosts' ethereal, otherworldly nature with the music and when Garfield and Odie are being chased, it feels like they're in real danger because of the music is a bit intense.
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