YMMV / Garfield: His 9 Lives

• Accidental Innuendo: A blatantly obvious one: BIG BOB CUM!
• Adaptation Displacement: The Animated Adaptation is still in print and sold on the official Garfield website. The Boom comic is even available on digital marketplaces. The original book, on the other hand, barely gets so much as a mention, meaning some people may only be able to experience the adaptation.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • It is entirely possible in "Primal Self" that "Tigger" was infected with rabies and driven mad.
  • Did "God" really buy Garfield's bluff about his lives, or did he just let him go back out of pity? Did he also believe Odie was a cat, or did he reward Garfield for sticking up for him?
• Award Snub: Despite being the most creative of all Garfield specials, it lost the Emmy to Babes And Bullets (which ironically was based on a segment of the book).
• Awesome Music:
  • As always, Lou Rawls' opening song for the special, this one done in a definite blues style.
  • The music that plays during the escape sequence in "Lab Animal" sounds like something out of an action thriller from the 80's.
  • The song that was composed in "Court Musician" has a jazz vibe to it, and even plays during the ending credits.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Live A Live later used this concept to more complex levels. What really sells it is that each boss is a variant on "Odio," which is "hatred" in Spanish/Portuguese/Italian. Considering what happens in that game, Garfield is going to have to watch his back, especially when he's nearby his favorite punching bag mutt.
  • "Primal Self" has Tigger being possessed by malevolent, feline-like eldritch monstrosities. Quite prophetic of all those memes where Garfield is either Zalgofied or is an outright Eldritch Abomination of his own.
  • The book has many parallels to the web series Lasagna Cat. Different segments with varying styles and genres? Check. Treating Jim Davis as a godlike figure? Check. Having darker and more surreal elements than the comic strip? Check.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • "Lab Animal", particularly in the animated special, where it's filled with tense music and atmosphere (the Painful Transformation sequence wherein the cat transforms into a dog is also rendered in more detail, albeit the final moments are in shadow). Then there's the end with the mutated dog staring with cat's eyes, which in the book has an unnerving◊ Uncanny Valley effect. Frazier Irving's variant cover for the comic book adaptation◊ is very unsettling, being a detailed rendering of a semi-realistic Garfield smiling and staring right at the reader with sinister intent. In just one image, it becomes very clear why cats not having recognizably human facial expressions is for the better. (the comic's actual art is no less frightening◊)
  • In "Primal Self" in the book, "Tigger" is corrupted by savage feline monstrosities that are shown to tempt him into touching paws with them. The story ends with the implication that "Tigger" is going to violently murder his elderly owner, the last shot showing "Tigger" leaping at her from behind. And what is worse is that the story begins with a visual of Garfield being visibly frightened by this life, having clearly been traumatized from his actions back then and cowering under the blanket while chillingly noting that there are elements of being a cat that are not to be toyed with!
  • The book as a whole feels like some strange parody of Garfield rather than something from the actual series. Even the sections of the book that aren't intended to be scary, such as "In The Beginning" and "Babes and Bullets", give off a surreal and uneasy vibe that adds to the books odd nature. The book is also very similar in both style and tone to the infamous Lasagna Cat.
  • The fact that Garfield actually gets killed in his 9th life in the animated special^note It's just a VR coin-op arcade game in the graphic novel. Again played for comedy, but completely jarring considering Garfield's efforts to prevent his execution by the enemy fleet. Even his dying words assume Plot Armor will save him... and then his ship is utterly vaporized.
• She Really Can Act: Desirée Goyette gives a heart-wrenching performance in "Diana's Piano", especially during Sara's final performance and Diana's death afterwards.
• Signature Scene: The "Primal Self" segment is definitely the most well known and infamous part of the book, enough so for it to be referenced in an episode of Family Guy.
• Spiritual Successor: To The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat. Which is definitely not for kids.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Garfield's realistic designs in "Lab Animal", "Primal Self" and (to a lesser extent) "Babes and Bullets" look very unsettling when seen along side the other six, more cartoonish, designs on the cover (go to the main page to see). Most likely deliberate due to the dark tone of those stories.

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