Garfield (character)

Fictional comic strip cat

This article is about the cartoon character. For the comic strip, see Garfield. For the 2004 film, see Garfield: The Movie. For other uses, see Garfield (disambiguation).

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Comics character

Garfield

Publication information
Publisher| Paws, Inc.
(Paramount Global)
First appearance| January 8, 1976 in Jon
Created by| Jim Davis
Voiced by| Scott Beach (1980)
Lorenzo Music (1982–2001)
Tom Smothers (1991)
Bill Murray (2004–2006)
Jeff Bergman (2004)
Jon Barnard (2004–2016, 2021)
Frank Welker (2007–present)
Chris Pratt (2024)
In-story information
Species| Cat
Partnerships| Arlene (girlfriend)
Supporting character of| Jon Arbuckle (owner)
Sonja (mother)
Vic (father)
Raoul (half-brother)
Odie (family pet dog)

Garfield is an American fictional cat and the protagonist of the comic strip of the same name, created by Jim Davis. Garfield is portrayed as a lazy, fat, cynical and self-absorbed orange tabby Persian cat. He is noted for his love of lasagna and pizza, coffee, and sleeping, and his hatred of Mondays, Nermal, the vet, and exercise.

## Character

[edit]

### Fictional biography

[edit]

Garfield in his first appearance in 1976, on the strip Jon Garfield in 1980, as portrayed on the back cover of Garfield at Large

Garfield is an orange cat belonging to Jon Arbuckle.[1] He was born on (1978-06-19)June 19, 1978 (the day the first Garfield strip was published), in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni's Italian Restaurant.[2][3][4] Jim Davis named Garfield after his grandfather, James Garfield Davis.[5] As a kitten, he develops a taste for lasagna, which would become his favorite food.[6] Because of his large appetite, the owner of Mamma Leoni's has to choose between giving away Garfield or closing down his restaurant; so Garfield is sold to a pet shop. Garfield is adopted from the store by Jon Arbuckle on August 19, 1978.

Garfield frequently gets into many adventures, such as getting stuck in roll-up shades, sparring with mice, and getting locked up in animal shelters.

It is also given that Garfield uses the "sandbox" on occasion, such as in one 1978 strip; he says he hates commercials because they are "too long to sit through and too short for a trip to the sandbox".[7] It was revealed on October 27, 1979, that he does not like raisins.[8]

On Garfield's 25th anniversary in 2003, several strips were featured in which he interacted with his 1978 version. In 2005, Garfield and Jon appeared in several comic strips of Blondie in honor of their 75th anniversary.[9] There was an earlier Blondie crossover on the Garfield strip published April 1, 1997, and vice versa, as part of the comic strip switcheroo.[10]

### Character traits

[edit]

Among Garfield's character traits are laziness, cynicism, and sarcasm. He hates Mondays, the cat Nermal, and he loves lasagna.[1] He also has a tendency to be annoyed by Jon's dog Odie.[11]

Garfield's physical appearance has evolved over time. Originally, Garfield had an obese physique with small facial features that required him to stand on all four legs, which caused difficulties when the character was adapted to television and made it more difficult to animate Garfield dancing; Davis credited Charles M. Schulz with redesigning Garfield so that he could stand on his hind legs.[12] Further transformations came in response to shrinkage on newspaper comics pages, as Davis increased the size of Garfield's features (especially his eyes) so that the strip could be printed at smaller sizes without gags becoming too small to see.[12]

### Gender

[edit]

In February 2017, a dispute arose on the talk page of the character's Wikipedia page as to the character's gender. Although other characters have persistently referred to Garfield with male pronouns, owing to comments that the character's creator, Jim Davis, made in 2014 to Mental Floss, in which he said, "Garfield is very universal. By virtue of being a cat, really, he's not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old. It gives me a lot more latitude for the humor for the situations." Davis explained that although Garfield is neither male nor female, he does use male pronouns.[11] However, Davis later clarified that Garfield is, in fact, male.[13]

## Voice-over timeline

[edit]

* Scott Beach (1980; segment on The Fantastic Funnies)
* Lorenzo Music (1982–2001; TV specials, Garfield and Friends, Garfield’s Mad About Cats)[14]
* Lou Rawls (1982–1991, occasional singing voice, TV specials)
* Tom Smothers (1991; Alpo commercials)[15][16]
* Bill Murray (2004–2006; Garfield: The Movie, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties)[14]
* Jeff Bergman (2004; Boomerang UK bumper)[17]
* Jon Barnard (2004–2016; Garfield's Nightmare,[18] Garfield,[19] Garfield: Saving Arlene,[20] Garfield: Lasagna Tour,[21] The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna,[22] Garfield Cat Litter commercial,[23][24] Garfield Pinball)[14]
* Frank Welker (2007–present; Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest, Garfield's Pet Force, The Garfield Show, Mad,[25] Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl,[26] Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway,[14] Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2[14])
* Chris Pratt (2024; The Garfield Movie)[27]

Voiced by in unofficial material:

* Fred Tatasciore (2006; Robot Chicken)[28]
* Seth Green (2011–2012; Robot Chicken)[28]
* Kevin Shinick (2011–2012; Mad)[25]
* Dan Castellaneta (2017; The Simpsons)[29]
* Dan Milano (2020; Robot Chicken)[30]

## Other media

[edit]

Garfield's computer animated design from the two live-action films, as seen in Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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* Garfield was licensed to the Dakin Company for the creation of plush toys c. 1988.
* Garfield has been a mascot of Kennywood, a traditional amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh since the 1990s. A ride at Kennywood, "Garfield's Nightmare", was created with the exclusive input of Garfield creator, Jim Davis.[31]
* In the first two Garfield films, Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, Garfield was created using computer animation, though the movies were otherwise primarily live-action. In these films, Garfield's design has been altered to more closely resemble a real cat in both looks and motion, though his facial features remain exaggerated and expressive, bearing a slight resemblance to his voice actor Bill Murray. The fully animated films Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest and Garfield's Pet Force also depict Garfield with computer animation, however the design used in them is much closer to his original comic strip design than in the first two films.
* Garfield was one of numerous cartoon characters featured in the 1990 animated special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Oguri, Austin (August 11, 2022). "The Simplistic Charm of Garfield: An In-Depth Analysis of this Cool Cat's Success Story". Hollywood Insider. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
2. ^ Davis, Jim (19 June 2006). "Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 2006". GoComics. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
3. ^ Davis, Jim (19 June 2005). "Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 2005". GoComics. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
4. ^ Davis, Jim (19 June 1978). "Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 1978". GoComics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
5. ^ "Jim Davis: The Man Behind the Cat". garfield.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
6. ^ Davis, Jim (1984). Garfield: His 9 Lives. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345320612.
7. ^ Davis, Jim (4 August 1987). "Garfield by Jim Davis for August 04, 1978". GoComics. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
8. ^ Davis, Jim (27 October 1979). "Garfield by Jim Davis for October 27, 1979". GoComics. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
9. ^ "Blondie". Newsfromme.com. 2005-08-21. Archived from the original on 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
10. ^ Davis, Jim (1 April 1997). "Garfield by Jim Davis for April 01, 1997". GoComics. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
11. ^ a b Feldman, Brian (March 1, 2017). "Congress Has Entered the War Over Garfield's Gender". New York. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
12. ^ a b Wood, Robert (2024-12-17). "Peanuts' Charles Schulz Redesigned Garfield For a Touching Reason". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
13. ^ "Garfield's a boy … right? How a cartoon cat's gender identity launched a Wikipedia war". The Washington Post. 1 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017. "'Garfield is male,' Davis told The Washington Post on Tuesday. 'He has a girlfriend, Arlene.'"
14. ^ a b c d e "Voice(s) of Garfield". Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
15. ^ "Today's Video Link". News From ME. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
16. ^ "Voice(s) of Garfield in Alpo". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
17. ^ "Brief Boomerang UK Continuity and Adverts (September 2004)". YouTube. 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
18. ^ "Garfield's Nightmare". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
19. ^ "Garfield". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2020-12-05. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
20. ^ "Garfield: Saving Arlene". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
21. ^ "Garfield: Lasagna Tour". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
22. ^ "The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
23. ^ "Garfield Cat Litter". YouTube. 2 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
24. ^ "Garfield Cat Litter". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
25. ^ a b "Voice(s) of Garfield in Mad". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
26. ^ "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl on Twitter". Twitter. June 6, 2022. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
27. ^ Frishberg, Hannah (November 1, 2021). "Garfield set to have same voice as Mario: Chris Pratt". New York Post. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
28. ^ a b "Voice(s) of Garfield in Robot Chicken". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
29. ^ ""The Simpsons" the Cad and the Hat (TV Episode 2017) - IMDb". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2020-09-27.[unreliable source?]
30. ^ "Max Caenen in: Why Would He Know if His Mother's a Size Queen". IMDb. 28 June 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2020.[unreliable source?]
31. ^ Waltz, Amanda. "Defunctland traces weird, horny history of Kennywood ride". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved 2024-03-27.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Garfield.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Garfield.

* Garfield.com – "The Official Site of Garfield"

* v
* t
* e

Garfield by Jim Davis

* Merchandise
* home video releases

Characters|

* Garfield
* Jon Arbuckle

Books|

* Garfield at Large (1980)
* His 9 Lives (1984)
* Pet Force (1998–99)

Television|

| Specials|

* Here Comes Garfield (1982)
* On the Town (1983)
* In the Rough (1984)
* Halloween Adventure (1985)
* In Paradise (1986)
* Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)
* A Garfield Christmas (1987)
* His 9 Lives (1988)
* Babes and Bullets (1989)
* Thanksgiving (1989)
* Feline Fantasies (1990)
* Garfield Gets a Life (1991)

|

Animated series|

* Garfield and Friends
* episodes (1988–94)
* The Garfield Show
* episodes (2009–16)
* Garfield Originals (2019–2020)
* Untitled Garfield series (TBA)

Feature films|

| Live-action|

* Garfield: The Movie (2004)
* A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)

|

Animated|

* Garfield Gets Real (2007)
* Fun Fest (2008)
* Pet Force (2009)
* The Garfield Movie (2024)

Video games|

* Create with Garfield (1986)
* Big Fat Hairy Deal (1987)
* Winter's Tail (1989)
* Garfield Labyrinth (1993)
* Caught in the Act (1995)
* Garfield (2004)
* A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
* Garfield's Nightmare (2007)
* Lasagna World Tour (2007)
* Garfield Gets Real (2009)
* Garfield Kart (2013)
* Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (2021)
* Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway (2022)
* Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (2023)

Other media|

* Happy Birthday, Garfield (1988)
* Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
* Am I Cool or What? (1991)
* Lasagna Cat (2008–17)
* Garfield Minus Garfield (2008–)

Other Davis comics|

* Gnorm Gnat (1973–75)
* U.S. Acres (1986–89)

People|

* Phil Roman
* Lorenzo Music
* Mark Evanier

Companies|

* Paws, Inc.
* Film Roman
* GarfieldEats

Authority control databases

National|

* United States
* Israel

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

Other|

* Yale LUX

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