Garfield: His 9 Lives
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For the video game, see Garfield and His Nine Lives.
Garfield: His 9 Lives is a 1984 book (ISBN 0-345-32074-3) of illustrated short stories showing the "nine lives" of comic strip character Garfield. It was adapted into an animated television special in 1988 and also got a screensaver for download on the Garfield website.
The book, released in stores October 12, 1984[1] is divided into ten segments; the first one displays the creation of cats in general, where the latter nine reveal events in Garfield's nine lives. Each of the nine stories has a short preface of Garfield in his modern incarnation, explaining how these various lives shaped aspects of Garfield's personality, such as the origin of his fear of the veterinarian, his love of destructive behavior, his proclivity for a slothful lifestyle, and his extremely playful side.
Contents |
[edit] The book
- "In the Beginning" (written by Jim Davis, illustrated by Paws, Inc. staff): The cat is created. The manner of the cat's creation, with a higher being (presumably God) dictating instructions to his staff (angels) and the language used by the staff while 'designing' the cat, is strongly similar to the manner in which products are designed in modern corporations. The angels wonder why God sees fit to give cat nine lives opposed to the usual one, prompting the Creator to reply that he likes cats, revealing that He has feline features. It is strongly suggested that Garfield himself is the first cat.
- "Cave Cat" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz): In the Stone Age, the first cat emerges from the sea and is domesticated. The segment partially parodies evolution, showing various lifeforms emerging out of the ocean. Cave Cat also meets his end when the vaguely reptilian giant dog (who resembles Odie and is termed Big Bob by the cavemen) attempts to play fetch with Cave Cat, throwing a tree at him and unintentionally crushing him. (This, as Garfield points out, explains why most cats fear dogs, and why Garfield himself tends to dislike and mistreat Odie specifically.)
- "The Vikings" (written by Jim Davis and Mike Fentz; illustrated by Fentz): A group of Vikings, including Garfield the Orange, frozen for a thousand years, thaw out and awaken from their cryogenic slumber in the modern era, and attempt to 'pillage' St. Paul, Minnesota. They are forced to adapt to the modern era after a notable lack of success with traditional Viking activities, succeeding in securing employment and a home, but losing their proud spirits in the process. Garfield's Viking incarnation snaps them out of their ennui after he rediscovers the Petrified Weasel of Booga; it restores. The segment ends a thousand years in the future, with the strong implication that the same group of Vikings are about to thaw out once again. (This story explains why the otherwise lazy Garfield enjoys occasionally engaging in rampaging and destructive behavior he would seem too lazy to engage in, such as his constant attacks on the mailman.)
- "Babes and Bullets" (written by Ron Tuthill, illustrated by Kevin Campbell): Hard-boiled detective Sam Spayed investigates the suspicious death of a priest in a segment reminiscent of classic hard-boiled detective fiction, with occasional illustrations done in a manner much more realistic than the usual Garfied style. It was later adapted into the television special Garfield: Babes and Bullets. Shortly before the story begins, Garfield appears, saying that the most significant thing he learned from this life was that he swore off work.
- "The Exterminators" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz): A trio of Three Stooges-like cats chase a mouse, and mayhem ensues. Garfield comments that he officially retired from the 'rat race' following this life, leading to his strong dislike of mice as a food source.
- "Lab Animal" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Larry Fentz): at a secret government facility, lab specimen 19-GB receives an unusual injection, followed by his escape from the military base. After swimming across a river, the serum has some unusual effects, causing 19-GB to become a dog. Garfield claims that because of his experiences as a lab animal, he becomes nauseous at the sight of medical equipment. (This most likely explains his fear of the veterinarian.)
- "The Garden" (written and illustrated by Dave Kühn): Cloey and her yellow kitten play in a magical, Wonderland-like, garden. However, like the Garden of Eden there is a test of character of a chest the pair must not open. The pair approach the chest and after much suspense, the pair resists the temptation and stays in the garden forever. The segment is written with flowery prose similar to overly romantic poetry, and the illustrations have a strong surrealistic quality.
- "Primal Self" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Jim Clements, Gary Barker, and Larry Fentz): An orange housecat meets an ancient, primal, dangerous, possibly evil force, causing him to revert to an entirely feral state. It is unclear whether the housecat is corrupted by the primal force, or if its spirit is cast back into prehistory and stranded there, while the primal essence steals its body in the present day. The story ends with him preparing to attack his unsuspecting owner, an elderly woman; it is strongly suggested that he kills his owner afterwards. Garfield is shown to be terrified of the events in this life; he is depicted cowering under a blanket in his commentary on it, remarking that this life taught him that there are elements in a cat that are not to be toyed with.
- "Garfield" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Valette Hildebrand; color by Doc Davis): Present-day Garfield meets lasagna, Jon, and Odie. This segment retcons the character's beginnings. Garfield notes that his current life is currently falling short of his expectations.
- "Space Cat" (written and illustrated by Jim Clements): While exploring outer space, our feline friend has a run-in with The Incredibly Huge Galactic War Fleet (IHGWF for short). The Warfleet doesn't like him, and shows it by blasting him to stardust. It turns out he is in a simulator, probably a computer game, and appears to be living in a world inhabited by both humans and anthropomorphic animals. The segment has a very strong resemblance to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, in both tone and thematic elements. Garfield is shown as a cyborg during his commentary on it, remarking that while he'd like to live forever, he's well aware of his mortal state and refers to the segment as a 'sneak peek of his next life.'
[edit] The television special
The one-hour long television adaptation produced in 1988 and directed by Phil Roman featured four different "lives." (consequently leaving out four of the lives in the book: "The Vikings", "Babes and Bullets", the "Exterminators" and "Primal Self".) It was nominated for an Outstanding Animated Program Emmy Award in 1989, ironically losing to Garfield's Babes and Bullets.
In 2005, it was included DVD Garfield's Fantasies, along with Babes and Bullets and Garfield's Feline Fantasies.
- "In the Beginning": Unlike the rest of the special, this prologue sequence is shot in live-action. (The scene where the angels question why God gives cats nine lives varies slightly from the storybook version; he simply states that it might make a good jumping-off point for a good story.)
- "Cave Cat" (co-directed by John Sparey and George Singer)
- "King Cat" (co-directed by John Sparey): In the days of Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh's sacred cat discovers hands-on what happens to him if the Pharaoh perishes. Garfield notes that he misses this time peroid as cats were revered and worshipped back then, but when the new pharaoh was instated, dogs now have the same level of sacrecy as cats once had.
- "The Garden" (co-directed by Ruth Kissane)
- "Court Musician"* (co-directed by Bob Scott): The king demands a concerto from Handel (nicknamed "Freddie" in this segment), and if the king doesn't enjoy it, he will be executed. Under the pressure of a deadline, "Freddie" delegates the finale to his pet, one of Garfield's incarnations, a blue cat in this life. At the concert in the King's court, the first two movements go off without a hitch, albeit, slightly boring. Lastly comes Garfields finale, which is cool jazz, which the King loves. Garfield say that he never wrote music again, because it was too much work.
- "Stunt Cat"* (co-directed by Bill Littlejohn and Bob Nesler): Garfield is (briefly) a stunt double for Krazy Kat. As Garfield explains before it starts, this life was his shortest.
- "Diana's Piano"* (co-directed by Doug Frankel): A young girl, Sara, receives a cat, Diana, who goes with her everywhere, especially to piano lessons. (This is the only one of Garfield's lives, in either the book or movie, where the cat is explicitly identified as female.) This story is told in flashback, with the images reminiscent of paintings. This story is closer than any of the others to reality; the cat, Diana, is just a normal cat, and nothing that could not happen in reality occurs in the span of the story. This however was the most moving because it had morals such as living with new people or dealing with death.
- "Lab Animal"(co-directed by Doug Frankel)
- "Garfield" (co-directed by John Sparey and Bob Nesler)
- "Space Cat" (co-directed by John Sparey and Bob Nesler): The only difference in this segment is that it does not turn out to be a simuation. Garfield actually dies (with Odie, who is present in the flesh due to a cloning machine, another difference from the book,) and they both go to Heaven to see God. ("God" is apparently modelled on pictures of Lorenzo Music, Garfield's long time voice.) God agrees with Garfield that the odds were unfairly stacked against him in his last life and permits him and Odie to return to life; also, because the computers in Heaven are apparently down, the number of lives Garfield has actually live up to this point is unknown, so Garfield claims that this was only his first life; both he and Odie are given 9 lives (Garfield covers for Odie and pretends he is also a cat.) After returning Garfield and Odie to life, it is in this final segment (rather than in the "In the Beginning" segment in the book) that we see God has glowing feline eyes. It is strongly implied that God actually grants Garfield and Odie their new chance at life not because of computer problems or because he is fooled by Garfield's lie, but because of his fondness for cats. Both the book and the movie joke that cats, not Man, are created in God's image, explaining such advantages as their nine lives.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Garfield: His 9 Lives at the Internet Movie Database
- Garfield: His 9 Lives at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Garfield's Babes and Bullets at the Internet Movie Database (one of the stories from the book was made into its own special)
