Garfield (character)

Garfield is a fictional cat and the protagonist of the comic strip of the same name, created by Jim Davis. The comic strip centers on Garfield, portrayed as a lazy, fat, and cynical orange tabby Persian cat. He is noted for his love of lasagna and sleeping, and his hatred of Mondays, Nermal, and exercise.

This article is about the cartoon character. For the comic strip, see Garfield. For the 2004 film, see Garfield: The Movie. For other uses, see Garfield (disambiguation).

Garfield
Garfield character
First appearanceJanuary 8, 1976 in Jon
Created byJim Davis
Voiced byScott Beach (1980)
Lorenzo Music (1982–2001)
Tom Smothers (1991)
Bill Murray (2004–2006)
Jeff Bergman (2004)
Jon Barnard (2004–2016, 2021)
Frank Welker (2007–present)
Chris Pratt (2024)
In-universe information
SpeciesCat
GenderMale[1]
FamilyJon Arbuckle (owner)
Sonja (mother)
Raoul (brother)
Odie (family pet dog)
Significant otherArlene
BirthdayJune 19, 1978

Character

Fictional biography
Garfield in 1980, as portrayed on the back cover of Garfield at Large

Garfield is an orange cat belonging to Jon Arbuckle.[2] He was born on (1978-06-19)June 19, 1978, in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni's Italian Restaurant. Jim Davis named Garfield after his grandfather, James Garfield Davis.[3] As a kitten, he develops a taste for lasagna, which would become his favorite food.[4] Because of his large appetite, the owner of Mamma Leoni's has to choose between giving away Garfield or closing down his restaurant; so Garfield is sold to a pet shop. Garfield is adopted from the store by Jon Arbuckle on August 19, 1978.

It is also given that Garfield uses the "sandbox" on occasion, such as in one 1978 strip; he says he hates commercials because they are "too long to sit through and too short for a trip to the sandbox".[5] It was revealed on October 27, 1979, that he does not like raisins.[6] His birthday is June 19, 1978, the day the first Garfield strip was published.[7][8][9] On Garfield's 25th anniversary in 2003, several strips were featured in which he interacted with his 1978 version.

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.[10] There was an earlier Blondie crossover on the Garfield strip published April 1, 1997, and vice versa, as part of the comic strip switcheroo.[11]

Character Traits

Among Garfield's character traits are his laziness, his cynicism, and his sarcasm. He hates Mondays, the cat Nermal, he loves lasagna.[2] He also has a tendency to be annoyed by Jon's dog Odie.[12]

Gender

In February 2017, a dispute arose on the talk page of the character's Wikipedia page as to the character's gender. Although other characters have persistently referred to Garfield with male pronouns, owing to comments that the character's creator, Jim Davis, made in 2014 to Mental Floss, in which he said, "Garfield is very universal. By virtue of being a cat, really, he's not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old. It gives me a lot more latitude for the humor for the situations." Davis explained that although Garfield is neither male nor female, he does use male pronouns.[12] However, Davis later clarified that Garfield is, in fact, male.[1]

Voice-over timeline

Voiced by in unofficial material:

Other media
Garfield's computer animated design from the two live-action films, as seen in Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties.
  • Garfield was licensed to the Dakin Company for the creation of plush toys circa 1988.
  • Garfield has been a mascot of Kennywood, a traditional amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh since the 1990s. A ride at Kennywood, "Garfield's Nightmare", was created with the exclusive input of Garfield creator, Jim Davis.
  • In the first two Garfield films, Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, Garfield was created using computer animation, though the movies were otherwise primarily live-action. In these films, Garfield's design has been altered to more closely favor a real cat in both looks and motion, though his facial features remain exaggerated and expressive bearing a slight resemblance to his voice actor Bill Murray. The fully animated films Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest and Garfield's Pet Force also depict Garfield with computer animation, however the design used in them is much closer to his original comic strip design than the first two films'.
  • In the prime-time specials and the animated series Garfield and Friends, Garfield was voiced by Lorenzo Music. In the live-action movies, he is voiced by Murray. The two actors also shared the role of Dr. Peter Venkman, which Murray played in Ghostbusters and Music voiced in the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters. At the start of the second season of The Real Ghostbusters, Music was replaced by Dave Coulier after Murray complained that Music's voice as Venkman and as Garfield were largely indistinguishable. In Garfield Gets Real and the computer-animated series The Garfield Show, he is voiced by Frank Welker, who previously voiced multiple characters in the U.S. Acres segments of Garfield and Friends, and was the understudy for Music.
  • Garfield was one of numerous cartoon characters featured in the 1990 animated special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

References
  1. "Garfield's a boy … right? How a cartoon cat's gender identity launched a Wikipedia war". The Washington Post. 1 March 2017. Retrieved June 18, 2017. 'Garfield is male,' Davis told The Washington Post on Tuesday. 'He has a girlfriend, Arlene.'
  2. Oguri, Austin (August 11, 2022). "The Simplistic Charm of Garfield: An In-Depth Analysis of this Cool Cat's Success Story". Hollywood Insider. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  3. "Jim Davis: The Man Behind the Cat". garfield.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. Davis, Jim (1984). Garfield: His 9 Lives. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345320612.
  5. Davis, Jim (4 August 1987). "Garfield by Jim Davis for August 04, 1978". GoComics. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  6. Davis, Jim (27 October 1979). "Garfield by Jim Davis for October 27, 1979". GoComics. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  7. Davis, Jim (19 June 2006). "Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 2006". GoComics. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  8. Davis, Jim (19 June 2005). "Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 2005". GoComics. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  9. Davis, Jim (19 June 1978). "Garfield by Jim Davis for June 19, 1978". GoComics. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  10. "Blondie". Newsfromme.com. 2005-08-21. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
  11. Davis, Jim (1 April 1997). "Garfield by Jim Davis for April 01, 1997". GoComics. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  12. Feldman, Brian (March 1, 2017). "Congress Has Entered the War Over Garfield's Gender". New York. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  13. "Voice(s) of Garfield".
  14. "Today's Video Link". News From ME. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  15. "Voice(s) of Garfield in Alpo". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  16. "Brief Boomerang UK Continuity and Adverts (September 2004)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  17. "Garfield's Nightmare". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  18. "Garfield". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  19. "Garfield: Saving Arlene". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  20. "Garfield: Lasagna Tour". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  21. "The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  22. "Garfield Cat Litter". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  23. "Garfield Cat Litter". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  24. "Voice(s) of Garfield in Mad". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  25. "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl on Twitter". Twitter. June 6, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  26. Frishberg, Hannah (November 1, 2021). "Garfield set to have same voice as Mario: Chris Pratt". New York Post. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  27. "Voice(s) of Garfield in Robot Chicken". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  28. ""The Simpsons" the Cad and the Hat (TV Episode 2017) - IMDb". IMDb.
  29. "Max Caenen in: Why Would He Know if His Mother's a Size Queen". IMDb. 28 June 2020.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Garfield.
  • Garfield – The Official Site of Garfield
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