A Garfield Christmas Special is a 1987 American animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip, created by Jim Davis. It is directed by Phil Roman and stars Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield the house cat, as well as Thom Huge, Gregg Berger, Julie Payne, Pat Harrington Jr., David L. Landerand Pat Carroll. The special is about Garfield spending Christmas with the Arbuckle family on their farm, and discovering the true meaning of Christmas.
In 1991, this special is edited for later showings. For instance, the scene where Grandma is talking to Garfield about her late husband differs the art style from the current version, although the audio remains the same. This excludes the fireside photo of the husband sequence during the short's first airing. The original 1987 version features some slightly extended scenes that were removed in 1991 to make room for the "O Christmas Tree" addition. These scenes include: An extended sequence of Jon, Odie, and Garfield leaving their home for the farm (showing the car start, pull out of the driveway, and travel down a street before leaving the city limits). Grandma feeds Garfield and Odie potatoes from the table before feeding them meat. Dad's reaction to Grandma's comment about eating for two is shorter. The music and sequence of the family going to bed for the night is slightly longer, showing the lights in the house going off. The musical intro to "You Can Never Find an Elf When You Need One" is longer.
Until 2017, the original version of the special was considered lost as the home video releases prior only have the 1991 altered version.