This sometimes very funny and sometimes highly emotional anthology follows Garfield's nine lives throughout history, from his first life as a prehistoric cat-Neanderthal to his ninth life as an astronaut in a jam.
This sometimes funny and sometimes emotional animated retelling of the book of the same name follows the nine lives that Garfield the cat had lived throughout history, often as himself but sometimes as a completely different looking cat. The live action introductory segment "In the Beginning" follows two angels who wonder why God gave nine lives to cats of all creatures. "Cave Cat" follows Garfield as a prehistoric cat-Neanderthal, as well as the evolutionary path that led to him. In "King Cat", Garfield is the sacred pet cat of the Egyptian pharaoh. When Garfield learns in shock that if the pharaoh dies, his cats get buried with him, he tries everything he can to prevent his master's assassination. "In the Garden" follows Garfield as a cute innocent kitten who lives playing with his young mistress in her uncle's beautiful garden all day long. However, her uncle warns them never to open a mysterious chest that lies in the garden. In "Court Musician", a king demands that Handel, a local composer, writes a wonderful concerto for him. Since the king might punish him if he doesn't end up liking the piece, Handel sends his pet cat and apprentice Garfield to play it for the king. "Stunt Cat" follows Garfield as a professional stunt-cat, who doubles for famous Krazy Kat. However, one of the stunts doesn't go as planned. In "Diana's Piano", Garfield is a beautiful female cat called Diana, who enjoys resting on top of a piano while her talented young mistress Sara practices. The two make a life-long bond through music. The next segment, "Lab Animal", is the most serious and darkest segment as it follows Garfield as one of the frightened lab animals, who are about to become test subjects. Subject 19-GB, as he's called in the lab, tries to make a daring desperate escape from the facility. The next story "Garfield" focuses on his current life with Jon and Odie and shows how they all met. The final story "Space Cat" is set in the future and follows Garfield and Odie as two astronaut animals, who try to find a way to fight back and save themselves when a mad commander called Mendelson and his IHGWF (Incredibly Huge Galactic War Fleet) threaten to blow up their shuttle. After having spent all of his nine lives, Garfield, in the epilogue, finally meets God - with surprising results.
This is an episodic film, including a prologue and 9 theme-named episodes. It follows Garfield through 9 different lives and different historical era.
The prologue is called "In the Beginning". A humanoid God has decided to create cat, and uses several assistants in the design process. He decides that cats will have 9 lives, despite the assistants' protests.
Life 1 is called "Cave Cat", set 10 million years ago. Garfield is the first cat, a saber-toothed cat who crawled out of the sea. Garfield soon meets the first female cat, lusts after it, and chases after it. Garfield is then captured and domesticated by a caveman. Garfield adapts to life as a pet and as a mouse hunter. His owner and another caveman eventually runs away from "Big Bob", a giant dog. An angry Garfield attempts to intimidate the much-larger dog, but the dim-witted dog (resembling Odie) thinks it has found a playmate to play catch. The dog throws an entire tree on Garfield, who is killed by the impact. This life ends.
Life 2 is called "King Cat". It is set in 2000 BC, in Ancient Egypt. The cat goddess Bastet is high-ranking in the Egyptian pantheon, and cats are considered sacred animals. Garfield is the pampered pet of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (reigned 1386-1349 BC), and is served by a group of slave dogs. His chief slave resembles Odie. Garfield enjoys tormenting and whipping the slaves who are building the Egyptian pyramids. A frustrated slave informs Garfield that if the Pharaoh dies, Garfield will be entombed with him.
Garfield knows that the Pharaoh's evil brother Black Bart is scheming to assassinate the Pharaoh. Out of self-preservation, Garfield foils a number of assassination attempt. However, Garfield erroneously feels that Black Bart's new invention, dynamite, is harmless. He unwittingly helps Bart kill Amenhotep in an explosion. At Amenhotep's funeral, Garfield is buried alive with his dead master, Odie the slave rescues Garfield. Following a time skip, Odie becomes the pet dog of Pharaoh Black Bart. Garfield has been demoted to Odie's slave.
Life 3 is called "In The Garden". Garfield is the pet kitten of a girl named Chloe, and lives with her in a surreal and apparently magical garden. The garden is the creation of Chloe's Uncle Todd, a fun-loving man known for his creativity. Todd eventually leaves the garden to become a circus clown, and entrusts the garden to his niece.
Chloe and her cat continue living in the garden, but are tormented by their curiosity. The only rule in the garden is to never open a mysterious box that Uncle Todd left behind. One day, Chloe and her cat decide to closely examine the box. They decide to never open, and then return to their carefree life.
Life 4 is called "Court Musician". Garfield lives in the court of George I of Great Britain (1660-1727, reigned 1714-1727) as the pet cat to court musician George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). Handel is working on a fugue for the king's royal party, when the court jester informs him that the king actually wants a concerto instead.The jester intimidates Handel by convincing him that he will be executed if he displeases the king.
Handel starts working on the concerto, but knows that he does not have enough time to finish it. He asks his pet cat to contribute in the creation process. At the dinner party, Handel's share of the concerto receives an indifferent audience reaction, while the jester keeps threatening Handel. But Garfield's share of the concerto is an innovative jazz number. George I loves the concerto, and Handel's life is spared. Garfield decides against ever writing music again, as it was too much work for him.
Life 5 is called "Stunt Cat", and is the shortest of Garfield's lives. Garfield works as a stunt double in silent film adaptations of the comic strip "Krazy Kat" (1913-1944) by George Herriman (1880-1944). He has to replace the star Krazy Kat in dangerous situations. One of the stunts goes wrong, and Garfield gets killed.
Life 6 is called "Diana's Piano". Garfield is reborn as a white, female kitten. She is given as a birthday present to 8-year-old girl, the redhead Sara. She names the kitten Diana, after the Roman goddess of the hunt. Sara starts piano lessons on her birthday, and Diana starts accompanying her whenever she plays.
Sara devotes much of her young life to the piano, with her music dedicated to Diana. When Sara leaves home for college, she sadly leaves Diana behind. When Sara graduates, she reclaims Diana. When Sara marries her boyfriend, her parents give her the piano as a wedding gift. Sara continues her music efforts even after having her first child, and Diana still loves the music.
One night, Sara delivers a final music performance for the 14-year-old Diana. The elderly cat dies that night, while still sitting on her favorite piano. Sara continues life as a pianist. Many years later, an aged Sara narrates Diana's story to her new pet cat, named Patches.
Life 7 is called "Lab Animal". Garfield is "19-GB", a tormented laboratory animal, held in a secret government facility. He is scheduled for dissection, when he makes an escape attempt. He climbs on a departing military helicopter and then makes his way to a forest area.
The escaped Garfield tries to survive attacks from wild dogs, and efforts by the military to recapture it. The experiments done on him eventually cause him to shape-shift. Under a dog-life form, Garfield infiltrates a group of army dogs which were trying to locate him. His only difference from the other dogs are his glowing eyes.
Life 8 is called "Garfield", and depicts Garfield's current life. Garfield is born on June 19, 1978, within an Italian restaurant. Minutes after his birth, he causes unrest in the kitchen and eats much of the food. The angry owner drops Garfield at a pet shop. He meets cats seeking owners for years, including an elderly cat who has been waiting 17 years for an owner. A desperate Garfield persuades a prospective pet owner, Jon Arbuckle, to adopt him.
Several years later, Joj introduces Garfield to his new playmate: Odie the dog. Garfield hates the dog. One day, Odie rescues Garfield from an oncoming vehicle. Garfield promises to remember this day. Many years later, an elderly Garfield entertains his grandchildren with a false story of having saved Odie's life. Odie is angry with him.
Life 9 is called "Space Cat" , and set in the distant future. Garfield is in outer space, in an experiment on how a cat is facing its last life. He is lost, the equipment of his spaceship is malfunctioning, and he is surrounded by the space-fleet of a hostile force.
Garfield uses a cloning machine to create an army of Odie clones to use against the enemy. The counterattack attempt fails and both Garfield and Odie are killed. They next encounter God in person. He seems convinced that they are both cats, and grants them 9 more lives. As they depart the afterlife, the humanoid God is revealed to have cat-like eyes. He deliberately favored Garfield. The film ends.
