Garfield

Starting in 1980, the comic strip has been collected in anthologies. The first, Garfield at Large, was published in March 1980 by Ballantine Books. These books helped increase the strip's popularity through sales, leading to several of them reaching the top of the New York Times best sellers list.[19] For these compilation books, Davis devised a book layout which is considerably longer and less tall than the average book. This allowed the strip to be oriented in the same format as it appeared in the newspaper, as opposed to earlier comic strip anthologies which often stacked the panels vertically.[19] This book style has since been referred to in the publishing industry as the "Garfield format" and has been adapted by other publishers. Davis noted that it became popular for other comic book anthologies in particular, such as those of The Far Side.[20]

Garfield.com was the strip's official website, which contained archives of past strips along with games and an online store. Jim Davis had also collaborated with Ball State University and Pearson Digital Learning to create ProfessorGarfield.org, an educational website with interactive games focusing on math and reading skills, and with Children's Technology Group to create MindWalker, a web browser that allows parents to limit the websites their children can view to a preset list.[21][22][23]

A variety of edited Garfield strips have been made available on the Internet, with some being hosted on their own unofficial, dedicated sites. Dating from 2005, a site called the "Garfield Randomizer" created a three-panel strip using panels from previous Garfield strips.[24] Another approach, known as "Silent Garfield",[25] involved removing Garfield's thought balloons from the strips.[26] Some examples date from 2006.[27] A webcomic called Arbuckle does the above but also redraws the originals in a different art style. The Arbuckle website creator writes: "'Garfield' changes from being a comic about a sassy, corpulent feline, and becomes a compelling picture of a lonely, pathetic, delusional man who talks to his pets. Consider that Jon, according to Garfield canon, cannot hear his cat's thoughts. This is the world as he sees it. This is his story".[28]

Another variation along the same lines, called "Realfield" or "Realistic Garfield", was to redraw Garfield as a real cat and remove his thought balloons.[29][30] Still another approach to editing the strips involved removing Garfield and other main characters from the originals completely, leaving Jon talking to himself. While strips in this vein could be found online as early as 2006,[27] the 2008 site Garfield Minus Garfield by Dan Walsh received enough online attention to be covered by news media. Reception was largely positive: at its peak, the site received as many as 300,000 hits per day. Fans connected with Jon's "loneliness and desperation" and found his "crazy antics" humorous; Jim Davis himself called Walsh's strips an "inspired thing to do" and said that "some of [the strips] work better [than the originals]".[31][32] Ballantine Books, which publishes the Garfield books, released a volume of Garfield Minus Garfield strips on October 28, 2008. The volume retains Davis as author and features a foreword by Walsh.[29]

On June 19, 2020, the website was shut down during the strip's 42nd anniversary, following Viacom's acquisition of Paws, Inc. in August 2019. The website now redirects to Nick.com, with an alternative link to GoComics.

Garfield's animation debut was on The Fantastic Funnies, which aired on CBS on May 15, 1980, voiced by actor Scott Beach. Garfield was one of the strips featured, introduced as a newcomer (the strip was only two years old at the time). From 1982 to 1991, twelve primetime Garfield cartoon specials and one hour-long primetime documentary celebrating the character's 10th anniversary were aired; Lorenzo Music voiced Garfield in all of them. A Saturday morning cartoon show, Garfield and Friends, aired for seven seasons from 1988 to 1994. This adaption also starred Music as the voice of Garfield.[33]

The Garfield Show, a CGI series, started development in 2007 to coincide with the strip's 30th anniversary in 2008.[34] It premiered in France in December 2008 and made its U.S. debut on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2009. A new series is currently in development at Nickelodeon after Paramount Global acquired the franchise.[35]

A live-action/computed animated film titled Garfield: The Movie was released in theaters on June 11, 2004 and a sequel titled Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties was released on June 16, 2006. Both films were released by 20th Century Fox with actor Bill Murray voicing the character in both films. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the films were both commercial successes.

Three direct-to-video films were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Garfield Gets Real on November 20, 2007, Garfield's Fun Fest on August 5, 2008, and Garfield's Pet Force on June 16, 2009.

On May 24, 2016, it was announced that Alcon Entertainment would develop a new CG animated Garfield film, with John Cohen and Steven P. Wegner producing, and Mark Dindal.[48][49][50] In August 2019, Viacom acquired the rights to Garfield, leaving the status of the movie for the time uncertain, with Dindal confirming that the film was still in production in December 2020.[4][51] On November 1, 2021, Chris Pratt was announced as the voice of Garfield, with animation being provided by DNEG, a production company of the film. David Reynolds was announced as the screenwriter of the film, reuniting him with Dindal after they worked together on The Emperor's New Groove. Sony Pictures will maintain global distribution rights for the film, apart from China.[52] On May 24, 2022, Samuel L. Jackson joined the voice cast as Vic, Garfield's father.[53] In September 2022, the film was scheduled to be released on May 24, 2024.[54]

A Garfield video game was developed by Atari, Inc. for its Atari 2600 home video game system and appears in their 1984 catalog.[55] However, after Atari's spinoff and sale of its home games and computers division, owner Jack Tramiel decided the character's royalties were too expensive given the declining state of the video game industry at the time, and the game was cancelled.[56] A ROM image of the game was however released with Jim Davis' blessing.[56]

Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal is a 1987 video game for the Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Amiga based on the comic strip. Towa Chiki made A Week of Garfield for the Family Computer, released only in Japan in 1989. Sega also made the 1995 video game Garfield: Caught in the Act for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Gear and Windows 3.1 computers. Other companies made games, such as A Tale of Two Kitties for the DS, published by Game Factory, Garfield's Nightmare for DS, Garfield's Funfest for DS, and Garfield Labyrinth for Game Boy. On PlayStation 2 were Garfield and Garfield 2 (known in the US as Garfield, a Tale of Two Kitties). Garfield Lasagna World Tour was also made for PS2. Garfield: Saving Arlene was only released in Japan and in the United Kingdom. And recent additions for mobile devices are "Garfield's Diner" and "Garfield's Zombie Defense".

Konami also released a Garfield handheld electronic game titled Lasagnator in 1991, which met with mild success.

In 2012, a series of Garfield video games was launched by French publisher Anuman Interactive, including My Puzzles with Garfield!, Multiplication Tables with Garfield, Garfield Kart, and Garfield's Match Up.[57]

Garfield appears as a playable character through free DLC for 2021's Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.[58]

Joseph Papp, producer of A Chorus Line, discussed making a Garfield stage musical, but due to some complications, it never got off ground. A full-length stage musical, titled "Garfield Live", was planned to kick off its US tour in September 2010, but got moved to January 18, 2011, where it premiered in Muncie, Indiana. The book was written by Jim Davis, with music and lyrics by Michael Dansicker and Bill Meade, and it was booked by AWA Touring Services. The opening song, "Cattitude" can be heard on the national tour's website, along with two more, "On the Fence", and "Going Home!".[59] When the North-American tour concluded in 2012, it toured throughout Asia.

In agreement with Paws, Boom! Studios launched in May 2012 a monthly Garfield comic book, with the first issue featuring a story written by Mark Evanier (who has supervised Garfield and Friends and The Garfield Show) and illustrated by Davis's long-time assistant Gary Barker.[60]

In 2016, Hermes Press signed an agreement with Paws, Inc to publish an art book on the art of author Jim Davis, titled The Art of Jim Davis' Garfield.[61] The book includes an essay by author R.C. Harvey and other original material, and was released in July 2016 for the San Diego Comic-Con.[61]

In 2018, a ghost restaurant themed after the franchise known as GarfieldEATS was opened in Dubai. Customers order food through the official mobile app, which also contains games and allows users to purchase episodes of Garfield and Friends. The restaurant serves lasagna, Garfield-shaped pizza, "Garfuccinos", and Garfield-shaped dark chocolate bars. A second location opened in Toronto in 2019.[62][63] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a dispute over rent, the restaurant closed in 2020.[64]

First appearance: June 19, 1978

Garfield is an orange, fuzzy tabby cat born in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant (later revealed in the television special Garfield: His 9 Lives to be Mama Leoni's Italian Restaurant) who immediately ate all the pasta and lasagna in sight, thus developing his love and obsession for lasagna and pizza.[66][67]

Gags in the strips commonly deal with Garfield's obesity (in one strip, Jon jokes: "I wouldn't say Garfield is fat, but the last time he got on a Ferris wheel, the two guys on top starved to death")[68] and his disdain of any form of exertion or work. He is known for saying "breathing is exercise".

Though Garfield can be very cynical, he does have a soft side for his teddy bear, Pooky, food, and sleep, and during one Christmas he says, "They say I have to get up early, be nice to people, skip breakfast… I wish it would never end." However, in the feature film Garfield Gets Real and its sequels, Garfield is better behaved, friendlier towards Jon and Odie, less self-centered, and more sympathetic.

It has been wondered by many readers if Garfield can actually be understood by the human characters around him. Sometimes, it seems like Jon can hear him. However, it is mentioned in more than one strip that Jon cannot understand Garfield.[69] However, in the feature film Garfield Gets Real and its sequels, Garfield and the other animals (save for Odie) are able to talk to, and be understood by, Jon and the other humans. In the April 1 (April Fools' Day), 1997, strip drawn by the artists of Blondie as part of the comic strip switcheroo,[70] Garfield, still with thought balloons, can be understood by Jon.

To break the fourth wall, June 19 is celebrated within the strip as Garfield's birthday. The appearance in 1979 claimed it to be his first birthday, although in the first appearance of the strip (June 19, 1978), he was portrayed as a fully grown cat, implying that the birthday is for the strip itself.[71]

First appearance: June 19, 1978

Jon (Full name: Jonathan Q. Arbuckle) is Garfield's owner, usually depicted as an awkward clumsy geek who has trouble finding a date. Jon had a crush on Liz (Garfield's veterinarian) and is now dating her. Jon disapproves of Garfield's "don't care, not interested", attitude and often encourages his pet to take an interest in the world around him, sometimes stating an interesting fact or asking a philosophical question in an attempt to prompt Garfield into thought. Garfield tends to brush off these attempts with a simple yet logical remark, and despite the trouble Garfield causes, Jon has a heart of gold and is very tolerant of Garfield's shortcomings, a fact which Garfield often takes advantage of. In the December 23, 1980, strip, Jon states that he is thirty years old (nominally meaning he should presently be in his sixties, although he has not aged physically). His birthday is July 28.[73][74]

Jon loves (or occasionally hates) Garfield and all cats. Many gags focus on this; his inability to get a date is usually attributed to his lack of social skills, his poor taste in clothes (Garfield remarked in one strip after seeing his closet that "two hundred moths committed suicide";[75] in another, the "geek police" ordered Jon to "throw out his tie"),[76] and his eccentric interests which range from stamp collecting to measuring the growth of his toenails to watching movies with "polka ninjas". Other strips portray him as lacking intelligence (he is seen reading a pop-up book in one strip).[77]

Jon was born on a farm that apparently contained few amenities; in one strip, his father, upon seeing indoor plumbing, remarks: "Woo-ha! Ain't science something?"[78] Jon occasionally visits his parents, brother and grandmother at their farm. It was implied that Jon is inspired by a drawing of Davis himself when he was first drawing the strip. Jon was portrayed as a cartoonist in the first strip[79] and occasional others in the early years; Davis stated his intent had been to express his own frustrations as a cartoonist. Ultimately, Jon's job has been referenced far more frequently in Garfield animated series than in the strip.

First appearance: August 8, 1978[80]

Odie is a yellow, long-eared beagle with a large, slobbering tongue, who walks on all four legs, though occasionally he will walk on two like Garfield. He was originally owned by Jon's friend Lyman, though Jon adopted him after Lyman was written out of the strip. The book Garfield: His 9 Lives (1984) retcons Odie's origin: there is no mention of Lyman, and Odie was a puppy when he was acquired by Jon as company for Garfield (when Garfield was a kitten).

Odie is younger than Garfield and usually portrayed as naïve, happy, affectionate and blissfully unaware of Garfield's cynical, sadistic nature, despite the physical abuse Garfield exhibits toward him, including regularly kicking him off the kitchen table or tricking him into going over the edge himself. On some occasions, however, he is depicted more intelligently, as in one strip, in which he holds a heavy rock to prevent Garfield from doing this, and actually hurts Garfield's foot. In one strip when Garfield and Jon are out of the house, Odie is seen reading War and Peace and watching An Evening With Mozart on television,[82] but in "Ask a Dog" strips, he is depicted as illiterate and has to be read to by Garfield. Odie has only thought once. In another strip, published on January 28, 2010, he is seen solving Jon's sudoku puzzle.

First appearance: June 26, 1979

Dr. Liz Wilson is Garfield and Odie's sarcastic veterinarian and a long time crush of Jon Arbuckle. She has a somewhat deadpan, sardonic persona and almost always reacts negatively to Jon's outlandish and goofball behavior but can even find it endearing on occasion. Jon often attempts to ask her out on a date, but rarely succeeds; however, in an extended story arc from June 20 to July 29, 2006 (with the main event taking place on July 28), Liz and Jon kiss, and have been a couple ever since.[84]

One particular semi-recurring storyline features Jon and Liz on a date in a restaurant. They sometimes are waited on by the Italian Armando, who is refined and sophisticated and shows a great loathing towards Jon, presumably for his immature and uncouth behavior at the prestigious eatery. On other occasions, the couple receives a different waiter, such as a large ogre-like man who intimidates Jon when he is about to report a complaint about the food.

Another commonly recurring character, although hardly ever seen, is Jon's neighbor, Mrs. Feeny. Garfield seems to take both enormous pride and excess zeal in doing whatever it takes to harass her, to the point that she even erects an electric fence (which does not stop him).

Other unique themes are things like "Garfield's Believe it or Don't",[89] "Garfield's Law",[90] "Garfield's History of Dogs",[91] and "Garfield's History of Cats",[92] which show science, history, and the world from Garfield's point of view. Another particular theme is "National Fat Week", where Garfield spends the week making fun of skinny people. Also, there was a storyline involving Garfield catching Odie eating his food and "kicking Odie into next week".[93] Soon, Garfield realizes that "Lunch isn't the same without Odie. He always slips up behind me, barks loudly and makes me fall into my food" (Garfield subsequently falls into his food by himself).[94]

A few days after the storyline began, Garfield is lying in his bed with a "nagging feeling I'm forgetting something", with Odie landing on Garfield in the next panel.[95] Jon and Liz began to go out more frequently. Jon has started hiring pet sitters to look after Garfield and Odie, though they do not always work out. Two particular examples are Lillian, an eccentric (and very nearsighted) old lady with odd quirks, and Greta, a muscle-bound woman who was hired to look after the pets during New Year's Eve.

Most of December is spent preparing for Christmas, with a predictable focus on presents. Other Christmas themed strips include Jon's attempts at decorating the tree and house, or the attempt to buy the tree. Some years, the Christmas strips started as early as the end of November. Another example is "Splut Week", when Garfield tries to avoid pies that are thrown at him. For most of Garfield's history, being hit with a pie has inevitably resulted in the onomatopoeia "splut", hence the name.

Every week before June 19, the strip focuses on Garfield's birthday, which he dreads because of his fear of getting older. This started happening after his sixth birthday. However, before his 29th birthday, Liz put Garfield on a diet. On June 19, 2007, Garfield was given the greatest birthday present: "I'M OFF MY DIET!" Occasionally the strip celebrates Halloween as well with scary-themed jokes, such as mask gags. There are also seasonal jokes, with snow-related gags common in January or February and beach- or heat-themed jokes in the summer.

Right panel of the October 27, 1989, strip

One storyline, which ran the week before Halloween in 1989, is unique among Garfield strips in that it is not meant to be humorous.[96] It depicts Garfield awakening in a future in which the house is abandoned and he no longer exists. In Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection, in which the strips are reprinted, Jim Davis discusses the genesis for this series:

During a writing session for Halloween, I got the idea for this decidedly different series of strips. I wanted to scare people. And what do people fear most? Why, being alone. We carried out the concept to its logical conclusion and got a lot of responses from readers. Reaction ranged from 'Right on!' to 'This isn't a trend, is it?'

One of the recurring storylines involves Garfield getting lost or running away. The longest one of these lasted for over a month (in 1986, from August 25 to September 28); it began with Jon telling Garfield to go get the newspaper. Garfield walks outside to get it, but speculates about what will happen if he wanders off – and decides to find out. Jon notices Garfield has been gone too long, so he sends Odie out to find him. He quickly realizes his mistake (Odie, being not too bright, also gets lost).

Jon starts to get lonely, so he offers a reward for the return of Garfield and Odie. He is not descriptive, so animals including an elephant, monkeys, a seal, a snake, a kangaroo and joey, and turtles are brought to Jon's house for the reward. After a series of events, including Odie being adopted by a small girl, both pets meeting up at a circus that they briefly join, and both going to a pet shop, Garfield and Odie make it back home.

Another story involved Jon going away on a business trip around Christmas time, leaving Garfield a week's worth of food, which he devoured instantly. Garfield then leaves the house and gets locked out. He then reunites with his mother, and eventually makes it back home in the snow on Christmas Eve (December 3–23, 1984). Part of this storyline was taken from the 1983 Emmy-winning special Garfield on the Town.

• Davis, Jim (1998). 20 Years & Still Kicking!: Garfield's Twentieth Anniversary Collection. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-42126-5.
• Davis, Jim (2004). In Dog Years I'd be Dead: Garfield at 25. Random House, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-345-45204-7.

• Price, Nelson (1997). Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman. Emmis Books. ISBN 978-1-57860-006-9.
• Choron, Sandra; Choron, Harry; Moore, Arden (2007). Planet Cat: A Cat-alog. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-81259-2.
• Hoffmann, Frank W.; Bailey, William G. (1994). Fashion & Merchandising Fads. Haworth Press. ISBN 978-1-56023-031-1.
• Hurd, Jud (2004). Cartoon Success Secrets: A Tribute to 30 Years of Cartoonist Profiles. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7407-3809-8.
• Rogers, Katharine M. (2001). The Cat and the Human Imagination: Feline Images from Bast to Garfield. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08750-1.
• Thomas, Phyllis (2007). Indiana: Off the Beaten Path: A Guide to Unique Places. Globe Pequot. ISBN 978-0-7627-4414-5.
• Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7407-5118-9.
• Lang, J. Stephen (2004). 1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know about Cats. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-7645-6926-5.
• Inde, Vilis R. (1998). Art in the Courtroom: Piracy or Fair Use?. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-95971-5.