Sterling Holloway also did a screen test to perform the voice of Garfield but Lorenzo Music won the audition.
Numerous lines from this TV special are actual jokes from Garfield books published before it aired.
Besides her contribution to the music, Desirée Goyette also served as the performance model for Garfield's dance during the title song.
While this is the first Garfield television special, Garfield had actually first appeared in The Fantastic Funnies (1980) two years prior to this special which was a documentary special about famous comic strip characters. It included Garfield and Jon in a short scene making his first animated debut.