Garfield (character)

Infobox character
name = Garfield


caption = Garfield in black-and-white
first = "Garfield" comic strip (June 19, 1978)
species = Orange Tabby cat
gender = Male
weight = 27 lbs.
age = 30
born = birth date and age|1978|6|19|mf=yes
family = Sonja (mother), Raoul (half-brother), Jon (owner), two unnamed grandfathers, Arno (uncle), Barney/Bernice (uncle/aunt), Berle (uncle), Bernie (uncle), Bob (uncle), Ed (uncle), Edna (aunt), Evelyn (aunt), Harry (uncle), Hubert (uncle), Leo (uncle), Morty (uncle), Nick (uncle), Patrick (uncle), Ralph (great uncle), Reba (aunt), Roy (uncle), two unnamed uncles, unnamed great uncle
portrayer = Lorenzo Music (animated series and prime-time specials)
Bill Murray (live-action/CGI films since "")
Frank Welker ("Garfield Gets Real" and other recent productions)
Ancestors = Garfield from the sea
Org
Fluffy the danger
rolo
Eye Avisor
medieval Garfield
Descendants = Robo Garfield
Pet(s) = an ant
Owners = Jon Arbuckle
Friends = Arlene
Persnikitty
Floyd the Mouse
Penelope Pussycat
Ludlow the Sparrow
Guido and Fluffy
Pooky
Side-Kick = Odie
Fans =
Boss =
Employees =
Enemies = Lord Dargis
Happy Chapman
Nermal
Most dogs
Mondays
tree
Raisins
The mailman
Interests = Eating
Watching T.V.
kicking Odie off the table
Sleeping
Education =
Favorite TV Show(s) = Binky the Clown
Favorite Food(s) = Lasagna
Favorite Holiday(s) = Christmas
Thanksgiving
Halloween
Awards= Numerous awards, some fictional, some real
Powers/Abilities= Can devour lasagna in seconds
License # =
License Plate=
Card Card # =
First appearance= "June 19, 1978"
Portrayer= Lonrenzo Music
Bill Murray

Garfield is the main 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. However, in "Garfield in Paradise", Garfield's fantasy dream had a cat named Mike say that he's from Wages, Nevada(this was a fantasy), and in the Garfield & Friends episode of the 2nd seasonhas Jon running from a Chicago airport.

Jim Davis named Garfield after his grandfather, James Garfield Davis. [ [http://pressroom.garfield.com/jim_bio/index.html Jim Davis: The Man Behind the Cat] ] According to an interview with Jim Davis in the second Garfield compilation book, "", 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 (although Jon is quite frequently shown having what looks like a conversation with Garfield's thoughts and has often guessed Garfield's thoughts verbatim, somewhat like the characters in "Peanuts" when talking to Snoopy).

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. [""] 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. ["Garfield on the Town"] When Jon came to the store, 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 [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1981-ga810517 The Garfield Vault Strip ] ] . 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 [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga790506 The Garfield Vault Strip ] ] . Also, in the strip for September 16, 1979, Garfield sleepwalks away on two feet [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga790916 The Garfield Vault Strip ] ] . 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. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1978-ga780804 8-4-1978 strip] ] It was revealed on October 27th, 1979 that he doesn’t like raisins. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga791027 10-27-79 strip] ] His birthday is 1978-06-19, the day the first "Garfield" strip was published. [cite web | title = The Garfield Vault Strip | url = http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2006-ga060619 | work = Garfield.com | date = 2006-06-19 | accessdate = 2006-08-07 ] [cite web | title = The Garfield Vault Strip | work = Garfield.com | accessdate = 2006-08-07 | url = http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2005-ga050619 | date = 2005-06-19 ] [cite web | title = The Garfield Vault Strip | work = Garfield.com | url = http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1978-ga780619 | accessdate = 2006-08-07 | date = 1978-06-19 ] 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 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 [ [http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2005_08_21.html Blondie] ] . Garfield got excited because he didn't have to think [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2005-ga050820 8-20-05 strip] ] . There was an earlier Blondie crossover on the Garfield strip published April 1, 1997. [cite web | title = The Garfield Vault Strip | work = Garfield.com | accessdate = 2007-12-02 | date = 1997-04-01 | url = http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1997-ga970401 ]

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

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 sweets 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 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".

Mischievous Habits

Garfield has a knack for mischievous habits. Besides tormenting Jon with his sarcastic remarks or kicking Odie off a table, Garfield's next favorite prey would be the mailman, often ripping the mailman's pants to shreds, or at times dragging the mailman around. Jon often gets calls from neighbors about his cat eating their flowerbeds or trying to eat their pet birds.

His hatred towards spiders always ends up with them being whacked with a rolled newspaper or stomped by his foot. Sometimes he does the same to insects such as flies.

He likes to eat ferns and other types of flowers. In some comic strips you would see common flowers talking to each other to only be eaten by Garfield in the end.

When outside Garfield teases other dogs, usually those chained up or smaller his size. However he gets some misfortunes in which the chain/rope is not securely tied or the dogs are not smaller or weaker as they seem.

Next to Odie, Jon is his favorite person to prank. Especially when asleep, Garfield has many ways of waking Jon up. May it be hopping on his stomach or waking him with a goblin's mask on his face, frightening Jon.

Family

Over the course of the strip, Gafield has shared information on members of his family:

* Uncle Arno — He said, "Life is like a festival; you have to get out there and enjoy it." He was run over by a parade. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1990-ga900305 03-05-90 strip] ]
* Uncle Barney — He went to the vet once and came back as Garfield's Aunt Bernice. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga790626 06-25-79 strip] ]
* Uncle Berle — He was described as crazy and thought he was a dog. He always chases himself up trees and was constantly exhausted as a result. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1984-ga841117 11-17-84 strip] ]
* Uncle Bernie — He coined the phrases, "Never listen for a train by putting your ear on a train track," and "Curiosity killed the cat," in that order. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1988-ga880919 09-19-88 strip] ]
* Uncle Bob — He used to say, "Slow down, take it easy," before he got hit by a bus. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1993-ga930526 05-26-93 strip] ]
* Uncle Ed — Described as crazy, he liked to sniff waffle irons, and his face was used for tic-tac-toe games. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1989-ga890419 04-19-89 strip] ] He also always said, "Never belch out loud," and blew out an eyeball one day. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1995-ga950717 07-17-95 strip] ]
* Aunt Edna — She used to say, "Let a smile be your umbrella," until her dentures were blown clean through the garage door by a bolt of lightning. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1992-ga921008 10-08-92 strip] ] She also married a hyena. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1999-ga990603 06-03-99 strip] ]
* Aunt Evelyn — She plucked all her hair from her body to stop shedding. She currently recides in L.A., with a family that thinks she's a chihuahua. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga791010 10-10-79 strip] ]
* Uncle Harry — He lived in a gas plant in Gas City, Indiana. He was a famous mouser, eventually chasing a mouse into Tank #2. He is now a paperweight in Bayonne, New Jersey. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga790523 05-23-79 strip] ]
* Uncle Hubert — He once caught a 30-pound canary in Chicago, and was last spotted over Dallas, Texas. This is the reason Garfield does't chase birds. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga790623 06-23-79 strip] ]
* Uncle Leo — He always had a smile until an incident with denture weevils. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2007-ga070928 09-28-07 strip] ]
* Uncle Morty — His gluttony killed him for trying to take a papaya from a silverback gorilla. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2007-ga070816 08-16-07 strip] ]
* Uncle Nick — He loves to destroy things and used to eat chickens whole. There are two conflicting statements to his current status, however. In one strip, it is said that he tried to swallow an ostrich whole after he mistook it for a chicken, his last words being, "That's the biggest chicken I ever saw." [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1981-ga811029 10-29-81 strip] ] In another, it is stated that he is presently a postal employee in Chicago. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1983-ga830322 03-22-83 strip] ]
* Uncle Patrick — Famous for the quote, "I regret that I have but nine lives to give to my country." [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1985-ga850517 05-17-85 strip] ]
* Great Uncle Ralph — It is only said that he was a wart hog. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1988-ga880505 05-05-88 strip] ]
* Aunt Reba — Garfield reacts with her name when Jon revealed that his tennis racket was strung with catgut. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1979-ga790606 06-06-79 strip] ]
* Uncle Roy — Said to be weird, he underwent a species change operation into a dog. He chased himself to death. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1982-ga820105 01-05-82 strip] ]
* There are also two unnamed uncles and one great uncle. One uncle went to the vet once and had his brain replaced with that of a chicken. The rest of his life was spent sitting on eggs in grocery stores. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1989-ga890716 07-16-89 strip] ] Another uncle used to play with yarn, and is now a pattern in an angora sweater. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1987-ga870818 08-18-87 strip] ] The great uncle was lion who ate a sick monkey. [ [http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1990-ga900208 02-08-90 strip] ]

Voice Over Time Line

*Lorenzo Music (deceased) - 1982 - 1994
*Bill Murray - 2004 - 2008
*Frank Welker - 2007 - Present

Other media

*In the two live-action 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, in Garfield and Friends when Lorenzo was ill Frank would occasionally voice Garfield.

References

External links

* [http://www.garfield.com "Garfield"] - The Official Site of Garfield.