Garfield

Garfield is the titular protagonist of the franchise of the same name. He is one of the most well-recognized and beloved comic strip characters in the United States, alongside Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

He was voiced by late Lorenzo Music in animated series, Bill Murray (who also played Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters and Baloo in the 2016 remake of The Jungle Book) in the live-action movies and currently Frank Welker (best known as Scooby-Doo & Fred Jones) who also voices Eddie Gourmand in the same show and also voiced Bronx in Gargoyles in Garfield Gets Real through The Garfield Show. In the upcoming animated film being developed by Alcon entertainment and Columbia Pictures, he will be voiced by Chris Pratt who was best known for playing Star Lord, Owen Grady and Emmet Brickowski.

Brief History and Overview

Garfield was born in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant on a winter's night in 1978. He weighed five pounds, six ounces at birth, which is unusually big for a kitten. Right from the start Garfield showed a passion for Italian food. The restaurant owner, forced to choose between Garfield and closing his doors for lack of pasta, sold Garfield to a pet store. Garfield thought he was a goner until Jon Arbuckle walked in the door and approached him. The man showed sympathy for the cat and adopted the latter.

Garfield is a fat, ginger cat. He lives with his owner Jon and a dog named Odie. Garfield despises Odie and often beats him up. Garfield is most well known for his prodigious eating ability. He also has strength disproportionate to his size, as he can often beat up humans. He also has use opposable thumbs which allow him to use many gadgets such a bungee ropes. He is sometimes seen walking up walls using his claws.

In his debut in Garfield and Friends, he was presumed for one Miss Edna Fogerty and subjected to numerous forms of egregious torment by the legendary Binky the Clown. He had innocently wished who he presumed to be Miss Fogerty a happy birthday, only for Garfield to cruelly wish death upon him. Fantasizing about Binky being dragged into the street (which he could have done himself had he not been so slothful) he tried to fall asleep, only to be roused to consciousness by an elaborate drum set and made to absorb the smell of a deceivingly gorgeous flower that brought a state of wetness unto his fur to dampen his resting booth. He callously banished Binky from his house, but the clown's admirable willpower exceeded his own, and he returned promptly, clad in a Santa Claus costume. He presented to him a wrapped present with a tag reading "CAUTION: SPLUT ENCLOSED", which caused a pie to be smacked into his face. But Binky's most beautiful asset of all was a tin of chocolate, which Garfield thankfully learned too late contained chocolate-covered Tabasco hot peppers. He masqueraded as Miss Fogerty to throw Binky off, only for Jon to bring him back shortly thereafter. Garfield fled, but Binky fortunately got the last laugh by awaiting him on a mountain, so blatantly clairvoyant was he. It was all Garfield could do was to accept his inevitable defeat and partake in the long-awaited permittance of Binky's wholesome singing.

Appearance

Garfield's appearance has changed dramatically over the years. In the first couple of years of the strip, he resembled a real Exotic Shorthair cat and was larger. Over time, Garfield started to get smaller and less morbidly obese. He also gained more human tendencies such as walking on two feet (previously he walked on all fours) but has remained silent for the rest of the strip. He also has four toes on his feet. Despite the changes, Garfield has always remained an orange tabby throughout the franchise.

Abilities

Telepathy: Throughout the franchise, Garfield is known for having internal monologues that are converted into text via thought bubbles. In the Lorenzo Music era, his mouth was always closed (when he isn't eating, yawning, or making faces), since it is established that he and the other animals cannot talk. Despite this, he seems to communicate with Jon through some sort of telepathic connection. He can communicate with elephants, humans (understand, but not talk to), dogs, mice, and other animals.
Intelligence: Likewise, Garfield has high intelligence to the point of an average human. He is capable of reading and writing and can operate an array of basic electronics such as TVs, telephones, voice recorders, computers (with a mouse, not the touch-pad), etc. He can write with a goose feather or by dipping his claws into a bottle of ink. He can also operate basic machinery in case of an emergency.
Prodigious Appetite: Garfield's appetite is the stuff of legend, as he once ate 244 hot dogs.

Personality

Garfield is an overweight anthropomorphic orange tabby who is well-known for his laziness, acerbic wit, and strong 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 yet charming 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. Even though he hates Binky the Clown with a seething passion, he is still willing to bail him out of jail.

Trivia

In an interview, Bill Murray stated that he took the role of Garfield because he originally thought the script was written by Joel Coen of the Coen brothers. It wasn't until the recording process, and watching dailies, that he realized that it was written by Joel Cohen, not the same person that he was thinking of.
Jack Nicholson and Dan Aykroyd were considered to voice Garfield for the 2004 live-action movie version of Garfield.
Garfield's breed is implied to be an Orange Tabby.
Garfield and Odie made their first guest appearence in Winnie the Pooh and the Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: The Legend of Grimace Island.
- Garfield and Odie will guest star in Winnie the Pooh Asks Which Witch Is Which?.
Garfield and Odie are members of Pooh's Adventures and Bill and Aldo's Adventures Team.
Garfield is also Toralei Stripe's half-uncle, and she learned a few of his laziness.
Garfield will join Barney in Barney's Adventures of Muppets Most Wanted.
Garfield was voiced by the late Lorenzo Music in the TV specials and Garfield and Friends, and Bill Murray in the 2004 live-action movie and its sequel, A Tail of Two Kitties. He's recently being voiced by Frank Welker. In the upcoming 2024 CGI animated movie, he will be voiced by Chris Pratt.
In an interview, Bill Murray stated that he took the role of Garfield because he originally thought the script was written by Joel Coen of the Coen brothers. It wasn't until the recording process, and watching dailies, that he realized that it was written by Joel Cohen, not the same person that he was thinking of.
- Jack Nicholson, Dan Aykroyd, and John Goodman were considered to voice Garfield for the 2004 live-action movie.
His birthday is June 19, 1978, the day the first Garfield strip was published.
- Interestingly, on Garfield's 25th anniversary in 2003, several strips were featured with him interacting with his 1978 counterpart.
He will meet Winnie the Pooh and his friends in Pooh's Adventures of Garfield: The Movie.
He will meet Ash Ketchum, SpongeBob SquarePants, Simba, Alex, Skipper, King Julien, Baloo, Scooby-Doo and their friends in Ash's Adventures of Garfield: The Movie.
He will meet Littlefoot, Stan Marsh, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Genie, Jack Skellington and their friends in Littlefoot's Adventures of Garfield: The Movie.
Garfield was one of the cartoon characters featured in the anti-smoking propaganda film Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, although he was used without the permission of his creator Jim Davis yet his voice actor Lorenzo Music still participated.
He is the Odie's brother and only son of Catnip and Grinder (Hello Kitty) in Beetle Bailey's Adventures Series.
Garfield is currently owned by Nickelodeon. It's unknown if his fellow Jim Davis characters from U.S. Acres (Orson's Farm) are as well.
Despite being a major foodie, he has his limits. This is mainly according to the Garfield and Friends episode "Top Ten" where he mentions hating raisins.

Garfield

Contents

Brief History and Overview

Appearance

Abilities

Personality

Trivia

Gallery

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