Growing up with "A Garfield Christmas" being my favorite Christmas special each year I was surprised to find that "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" was much harder to come by (maybe partially because of the confusion of sometimes being called "Garfield in Disguise" which I only realized when I began writing this review). I finally found out why, it's really not very good.

Now, I've never been a Garfield fan in the same way that I've been Star Wars obsessed, but I was still quite fond of the fat orange cat and virtually anything that involved him (I still have the book versions of most of his TV specials). I'm also quite fond of the Halloween season, and yet the combination of these two loves produces quite possibly the worst of all the Garfield specials and the only one that I would describe as "boring."

Garfield learns from TV what Halloween is about: going out to have other people give you candy! Any holiday that involves eating is a good holiday for Garfield. He realizes that if he takes Odie there will be two full bags at the end so he goes to find costumes for them both. Garfield soon realizes there are many more houses on the other side of the river – more houses mean more candy! He and Odie, in their pirate guises, commandeer a rowboat but end up floating further downstream than they intended.

They seek shelter in an old house only to find out it has a ghostly secret. The night becomes a frightful flight that lands Garfield drowning in the river.

The pace of this story is far too slow with little in the way of any spooky goodness. Garfield and Odie interact with other characters, even Jon, minimally. I thought there would be more ghosts, goblins, and such. I also thought there should have been a mystery they solved (Scooby Doo Garfield-style, come on that would have been fun!) or someone they helped that left their mark on the haunted house. The focus, though, is on their relationship and ends with Garfield’s response to Odie having saved his life.

There are some good laughs throughout, but there isn’t a strong Halloween atmosphere. Perhaps part of the problem is that it feels so concerned with remaining tamely kid-accessible that it fails to be engaging to anyone else. I don't enjoy many of the Garfield specials as much as I did when I was young, but I still get a kick out of them. I continue to watch the Christmas special annually, but the Halloween show gets pushed to the bottom of the pile in favor of other favorites better suited for the season. That's my adult reaction, but even from a kid perspective I remember watching the Christmas episode (obviously), "9 Lives," and even "Garfield in the Rough" (which is another of my less favored of the specials); yet I have only the vaguest memories of the Halloween special and couldn't have even recounted the plot before getting my hands on the DVD.

I'm not a fan of musicals and would probably enjoy the Garfield specials more now if not for the singing although I am sometimes amused by the sillier songs. The songs in the Halloween special are forgetable.

The animation quality is not necessarily impressive compared to some more modern toons. These tend to look dated with simplistic backgrounds (although that largely mimics the cartoon strip) and uncomplicated animations. I would liken it more to classic Looney Tunes than most modern cartoons. Some may find a charm in the retro look while others may find it too plain and boring.