The Fantastic Funnies is a one-hour special on comic strips produced by Bill Meléndez and Lee Mendelson. It first aired on May 15, 1980 on CBS.
The special features live action segments- with Loni Anderson hosting as well as Charles Schulz (Peanuts), Dik Browne (Hägar the Horrible), Hank Ketcham (Dennis the Menace), Johnny Hart (B.C.), and other comic strip creators interviewed- and animated sequences- showcasing comic strips, among them Peanuts, Hägar the Horrible, B.C., Broom Hilda, and Doonesbury.
Loni Anderson introduces Garfield as a "newcomer", having made its national debut only two years prior, and this special marking the character's first depiction in animated form. The strip is represented with a brief animated scene in the special. The segment includes adaptations of comic strips from (in order of appearance) June 21, 1978, July 2, 1979, August 2, 1978, July 21, 1978, and May 12, 1979.
Characters[]
Major characters[]
- Garfield (voiced by Scott Beach)
- Jon Arbuckle (voiced by Thom Huge)
Minor characters[]
- Mouse
Trivia[]
- The Garfield segment in this special is the earliest official animated feature of Garfield.
- The first three strips featured in the segment would later appear in Happy Birthday, Garfield!.
- The special is the first time Thom Huge voices Jon, and the only time Scott Beach voices Garfield.
- This is the first time that "Show me a good mouser, and I'll show you a cat with bad breath" is quoted.
- The Fantastic Funnies was preceded by a similar special titled The Fabulous Funnies, which originally aired in 1968.
- This would be the only animated crossover between Garfield and Snoopy. In their respective comic strips, there were occasions where they referenced each other.