Garfield (character)
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| Garfield | |
|---|---|
 Garfield in black-and-white |
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| First appearance | Garfield comic strip (June 19, 1978) |
| Portrayed by | Lorenzo Music (animated series and prime-time specials) Bill Murray (live-action/CGI films since Garfield: The Movie) Frank Welker (Garfield Gets Real and other recent productions) |
| Information | |
| Species | Orange Tabby cat |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of birth | June 19, 1978 |
| Family | Sonja (mother), Raoul (half-brother), Jon (owner) unnamed grandfather |
Garfield is the 27 lb (12 kg)[1] fictional protagonist of the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. He is a lazy, fat, selfish, orange, anthropomorphic tabby cat who enjoys eating (especially lasagna), sleeping, and tormenting his owner Jon and Odie the dog. He considers himself to be more intelligent than humans and other animals. He hates Mondays, and is often struck by bad luck in Monday comic strips. He enjoys performing on a wooden fence in the middle of the night, although he is usually booed at and bombarded with various objects. He can't stand spiders, and although he doesn't chase mice (unless bribed to do so), he is often seen trying to eat birds. He frequently destroys Jon's curtains and ferns, as well as the flowerbeds of Jon and their neighbor, Mrs. Feeny. He detests being taken to the vet, and usually tries to hide from Jon when informed or if he has a "feeling". In one strip sequence in 1986, their home address is revealed that Garfield, Jon and Odie live in 711 Maple Street.
Jim Davis named Garfield after his grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis. [2] According to an interview with Jim Davis in the second Garfield compilation book, Garfield Gains Weight, the name "Garfield" makes him think of "...a fat cat...or a St. Bernard...or a neat line of thermal underwear." He "speaks" through thought bubbles, and even though other animals can understand him, Jon generally cannot.
Contents |
[edit] History
Garfield was born June 19, 1978, in the kitchen of Mama Leone's Italian Restaurant and loved lasagna the day he was born. Ever since then, it always been his favorite food.[3] According to his grandfather, he was born five pounds, six ounces, surprisingly enough, he managed to fit in a tiny bed. Later in his life, Garfield runs across his Mother again one Christmas Eve, accidentally, and meets his other grandfather for the first time.[4] When Jon stopped eating pudding, he had to choose between Garfield, an iguana, and a pet rock. According to the strips, Garfield first stood on just two feet on May 17, 1981[5]. However, this contradicts some of the earlier strips. For example, he is shown tap dancing on Jon's head in the strip for May 6, 1979[6]. Also, in the strip for September 16, 1979, Garfield sleepwalks away on two feet[7]. In the TV special Garfield Gets a Life, Jon's car is revealed to have an Indiana vehicle registration plate at the end of the episode, indicating that they live in Indiana. In Garfield Goes Hollywood, while Jon, Mr Bant, Odie and Garfield are on Pet Search, the announcer says that they're from Muncie, Indiana. This is possibly because Jim Davis is from Indiana, and Paws, Inc. is located in Muncie. 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 6 strips (6-20 through 6-25). Amoeba Man is only one of his few imaginary alter egos though, his most common one being the Caped Avenger. And for a very short period of time, Garfield would fall prey to various dogs e.g. Bungee Dog, Warm up dog etc which would 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 short for a trip to the sandbox.[8] It was revealed on July 1st, 1983 that he doesn’t like raisins.[9] His birthday is 1978-06-19, the day the first Garfield strip was published. [10][11][12] Interestingly, 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 blinds, 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[13]. Garfield got excited because he didn't have to think[14]. There was an earlier Blondie crossover on the Garfield strip published April 1, 1997.[15]
Garfield was one of the cartoon characters featured in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
[edit] Eating
A long running gag is that Garfield is a ravenous and gluttonous eater. He is almost always shown eating a foodstuff high in fat. Among the spaghetti, pizza, cookies (particularly those from Jon's mother), hamburgers, whole chickens, popcorn, pie, pork chops, doughnuts, ice cream, steaks, and confections he consumes, his favorite food has been stated consistently as lasagna and he may commonly be seen in his trademark eating position with his head arched back, mouth wide open, shoveling food down his throat with a big smile on his face. He is very desperate to steal Jon's food, and will go to any extent to obtain it. In one strip, he snatched a cylindrical shape off of a plate Jon was carrying, ate it, and remarked, "I hope that was food". Although eating is a hobby for him, Garfield is very picky. He is known to detest cat food (only on occasion, as he can be seen eating cat food frequently), raisins, snails, fruitcake, grapefruit and vegetables, especially during his occasional diets. These are followed by hallucinations of some of his favorite foods following him around, asking to be ingested.
Subsequently, another running gag revolves around Jon's attempts at putting Garfield on a diet. In retaliation, Garfield will often seek methods to either sneak away food behind Jon's back, or physically harm Jon. As well another gag is the talking scale. On each of his diets, he would weigh himself, saying something to the scale first, then stepping on the scale. The scale would respond by saying something about his weight, such as "I was made for people and pets, not cargo ships".
[edit] Voice Over Time Line
- Lorenzo Music - 1982 - 1994
- Bill Murray - 2004 - 2008?
- Frank Welker - 2007 - 2009?
[edit] Other media
- In the two live-action movies and Garfield Gets Real, Garfield was created using CGI animation, though the Garfield Gets Real version is closer to his original form than his live-action movie form.
- In the animated series and prime-time specials, he was voiced by Lorenzo Music. In the live-action movies, he is voiced by Bill Murray. An interesting side note is that the two actors also shared the role of Dr. Peter Venkman as well.In Garfield Gets Real, he is voiced by Frank Welker who played Bo, Booker, and Sheldon in Garfield and Friend's U.S. Acres Episodes, and also worked with Lorenzo Music as Dr. Ray Stanz in The Real Ghostbusters.
[edit] References
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip. Garfield.com (1986-01-21). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ Jim Davis: The Man Behind the Cat
- ^ Garfield: His 9 Lives
- ^ Garfield on the Town
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip
- ^ 8-4-1978 strip
- ^ 7-1-83 strip
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip. Garfield.com (2006-06-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip. Garfield.com (2005-06-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip. Garfield.com (1978-06-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
- ^ Blondie
- ^ 8-20-05 strip
- ^ The Garfield Vault Strip. Garfield.com (1997-04-01). Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
[edit] External links
- Garfield - The Official Site of Garfield.
