Garfield (character)

Garfield is a fictional cat and the protagonist of the comic strip of the same name, created by Jim Davis. The comic strip centers on Garfield, portrayed as a lazy, fat, and cynical orange persian/tabby cat. He is noted for his love of lasagna and sleeping, and his hatred of Mondays, fellow cat Nermal and exercise.

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).
Garfield
Garfield character
First appearanceJanuary 8, 1976 in Jon
Created byJim Davis
Voiced byScott Beach (1980)
Lorenzo Music (1982–2001)
Tom Smothers (1991)
Bill Murray (2004–2006)
Frank Welker (2004, 2007–present)
Jon Banard (2004–2016)
In-universe information
SpeciesCat
GenderMale[1]
FamilyJon Arbuckle (owner)
Sonja (mother)
Raoul (brother)
Odie (family pet dog)
Bill the Cat (illegitimate son)[2]
Significant otherArlene
BirthdayJune 19, 1978

Character

Fictional biography
Garfield, as portrayed on the back cover of Garfield At Large.

Garfield was born on (1978-06-19)June 19, 1978, in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni's Italian Restaurant. As a kitten, he develops a taste for lasagna, which would become his favorite food.[3] Because of his appetite, the owner of Mamma Leoni's has to choose between keeping 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. In his cartoon appearances, Garfield usually causes mischief in every episode. In June 1983, comic strips introduced Amoeba Man, one of Garfield's alter-egos, yet he was only shown in six strips (June 20–25). In February 2010, another alter ego was introduced called Super Garfield, and his sidekick Odieboy (Odie). Amoeba Man and Super Garfield are only two of his few imaginary alter egos though, his most common one being the Caped Avenger. And for a very short period of time in 2001–02, Garfield would fall prey to an overweight dog assuming various identities (e.g. Bungee Dog, Trapdoor Dog, Warm-Up Dog, etc.), which would appear from out of nowhere and squish him in any direction.

It is also given that Garfield uses the "sandbox" on occasion, such as in one 1978 strip; he says he hates commercials because they're "too long to sit through and too short for a trip to the sandbox".[4] It was revealed on October 27, 1979, that he doesn't like raisins.[5] His birthday is June 19, 1978, the day the first Garfield strip was published.[6][7][8] On Garfield's 25th anniversary in 2003, several strips were featured with him interacting with the version of him from 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. In 2005, Garfield and Jon appeared in several comic strips of Blondie in honor of their 75th anniversary.[9] Garfield got excited because he didn't have to think.[10] There was an earlier Blondie crossover on the Garfield strip published April 1, 1997 and vice versa, as part of the comic strip switcheroo.[11]

Garfield was one of numerous cartoon characters featured in the 1990 animated special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Personality

Garfield is an overweight anthropomorphic orange tabby noted for his laziness, smug sarcasm, and intense passion for food, particularly lasagna, pizza, and ice cream. Throughout the course of the strip, Garfield's weight is often an object of ridicule, particularly by his talking electronic scale. Garfield usually does not handle insults or commands from the scale (or anybody else) very well, and will normally respond to such remarks with violence or a comeback of some type.

Garfield lives with his slightly eccentric, socially awkward owner Jon Arbuckle and Jon's unintelligent pet dog Odie, and enjoys satirically teasing them. He particularly enjoys causing Odie physical harm or insulting him, and teases Jon for his social awkwardness and unpopularity with women. Despite this, Garfield cares for Odie and Jon, but cares most for his beloved teddy bear Pooky, which is frequently seen in his arms or close to its owner.

Name

Jim Davis named Garfield after his grandfather, James Garfield Davis.[12]

Voice-over timeline

Voiced by in unofficial material:

Other media
Garfield's computer animated design from the first two theatrical films, as seen in Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties.
Garfield graffiti in Chełmno, Poland
  • 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 favor 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 the first two films'.
  • In the prime-time specials and the animated series Garfield and Friends, Garfield was voiced by Lorenzo Music. In the live-action movies, he is voiced by Murray. The two actors also shared the role of Dr. Peter Venkman, which Murray played in Ghostbusters and Music voiced in the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters. At the start of the second season of The Real Ghostbusters, Music was replaced by Dave Coulier after Murray complained that Music's voice as Venkman and as Garfield were largely indistinguishable. In Garfield Gets Real and the CGI series The Garfield Show, he is voiced by Frank Welker, who previously voiced multiple characters in the U.S. Acres segments of Garfield and Friends, and was the understudy for Music.
  • Garfield was licensed to the Dakin Company for the creation of plush toys circa 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.

References
  1. "Garfield's a boy … right? How a cartoon cat's gender identity launched a Wikipedia war". The Washington Post. 1 March 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017. 'Garfield is male,' Davis told The Washington Post on Tuesday. 'He has a girlfriend, Arlene.'
  2. Bloom County, December 29, 2015
  3. Davis, Jim (1984). Garfield: His 9 Lives. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345320612.
  4. "8-4-1978 strip". Garfield.com. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  5. "10-27-79 strip". Garfield.com. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  6. "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  7. "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2005-06-19. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  8. "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1978-06-19. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  9. "Blondie". Newsfromme.com. 2005-08-21. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  10. "8-20-05 strip". Garfield.com. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  11. "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 1997-04-01. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  12. "Jim Davis: The Man Behind the Cat". garfield.com. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  13. "Voice(s) of Garfield".
  14. "Today's Video Link". News From ME. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  15. "Brief Boomerang UK Continuity and Adverts (September 2004)". YouTube. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  16. "Voice(s) of Garfield in Mad". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  17. "Garfield". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  18. "Garfield: Saving Arlene". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  19. "Garfield: Lasagna Tour". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  20. "The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  21. "Garfield Cat Litter". YouTube. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  22. "Voice(s) of Garfield in Robot Chicken". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  23. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5847492/
  24. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12523934/
  • Garfield – The Official Site of Garfield
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