Information AboutGarfield |
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''Garfield'' is a . The main character is named after Davis' grandfather ''James Garfield Davis'', who was named after former U.S. President '' James Garfield ''. OVERVIEW ''Garfield'' had its debut on June 19 , 1978 , which is also considered Garfield's birthday. The strip pokes fun at pet owners and their relationship with their pets - often portraying the pet as the true master of the home. Garfield also struggles with human problems, such as Diet s, loathing of Mondays, Apathy , Boredom , and so on. Garfield is able to understand anything that Jon or other humans say, but doesn't talk to humans (he communicates to the reader in thought balloons, and Jon reacts to Garfield's thoughts). However, Garfield is able to talk to Odie and the other animals. Odie understands what Garfield says to him, but in general can not communicate back to Garfield except by barking. Most of the other animals (Arlene, Nermal, mice, and the other dogs) are capable of a two-way conversation with Garfield. Garfield apparently is able to type and a few times has written messages that Jon has read and understood (typically letters to Santa Claus ), however this happens very rarely. Over the course of the strip, Garfield's behavior and appearance evolved. Initially, he was drawn grossly obese with flabby Jowl s and small round Eye s. Later, his appearance was slimmed down and his eyes enlarged. By 1983, his familiar appearance—featuring Oval -shaped eyes—had taken shape. By this time, Garfield was walking on two feet, and the strip emphasized Sitcom situations such as Garfield making fun of Jon's stupidity and Jon's inability to make social connections. A number of the strip's readers feel that the quality of the writing has lessened, even as the artwork retained a consistent level of quality. Like many comic strips, ''Garfield'' is not exclusively drawn and written by its creator. Jim Davis's company, Paws Inc. , employs cartoonists and writers who do most of the work of scripting, drawing, and inking the strip, while Davis's work is usually confined to approving and signing the finished strip. Davis spends most of his time managing the business and merchandising aspects of Garfield. Learning from the indifference met with his previous comic strip creation Gnorm Gnat , Jim Davis has made a conscious effort to include all readers in Garfield; keeping the jokes broad and the humour general and applicable to everyone. As a result the strip typically avoids the social or political commentary present in some of Garfield's contemporaries, such as '' Boondocks '', '' Doonesbury '', '' Dilbert '', and '' Cathy ''. Although a couple of strips in 1978 addressed inflation and, arguably, Organized Labor , as well as Jon frequently smoking a pipe or subscribing to a "bachelor magazine", these elements were ultimately pruned from the product with the intent of maintaining a more universal appeal. Davis adamantly disavowed social commentary in an interview published at the beginning of one of the book compilations, joking that he once believed that OPEC was a Denture adhesive. The characters and situations in Garfield are often constant, with no change or development for the past several years. While this is not unique to Garfield, as Calvin in '' Calvin And Hobbes '' and the children of '' Peanuts '' never age, other strips such as '' For Better Or For Worse '', '' Cathy '', and '' Doonesbury '' maintain a continuity with characters who develop, age, and may even die as the strip proceeds. The comic strip was turned into a cartoon special for television in 1982 called '' Here Comes Garfield ''. Actor Lorenzo Music , previously known as the voice of Carlton the doorman on the show '' Rhoda '', was hired to portray the voice of Garfield. Soul Singer Lou Rawls provided musical accompaniment. Twelve television specials were made (through 1991 ) as well as a television series, '' Garfield And Friends '', which ran from 1988 to 1995 . A live-action movie version of the comic strip, '' voiced the role in a cat food commercial, and an unnamed Music sound-alike was used in another TV spot. Prior to Murray being cast, it was widely reported that actor John Goodman had been picked to provide Garfield's voice for the film. For his work on the strip, creator Jim Davis received the National Cartoonist Society Humor Strip Award for 1981 and 1985, and their Reuben Award for 1989. On June 7 , 1999 , newspapers began to be offered full-color ''Garfield'' weekday strips. Garfield's second live-action feature film, , will be released on June 23 2006 . GARFIELD'S MARKETING
Garfield's inoffensive, merchandising-oriented approach has been criticized by a number of commentators including '' accuses Davis of creating Garfield merely for the merchandising {Link without Title} Garfield and Odie also are featured on product packaging for the retail chain Meijer . CHARACTERS See Also: List of Garfield characters Major characters in ''Garfield'' include: ; Garfield : The main character. He is a lazy, overweight, orange Cat who likes eating (especially food that isn't his) and sleeping above all. He considers himself to be more intelligent than humans or dogs. Also, he hates Mondays and loves lasagna apparently since he was born into an Italian restaurant (1984).Garfield occasionally teases dogs but usually gets hurt in the attempt. ; Jon Arbuckle: Garfield's owner. He has poor social skills and his attempts at dating women always fail, but Garfield is happy as long as he keeps him fed. His mother often refers to him as Johnny, and his full name was once revealed to be Jonathan Q. Arbuckle, but he usually just goes as Jon. His birthday was July 28 1950 as was revealed in the 2005 strip on that date and a strip on December 23 1980 where he declares that he is 30 years old, making Jon currently 55 years old. Jim Davis got this name from an old coffee commercial. He thought the name fit the poor sap who would be stuck with a cranky feline with an overactive appetite. Davis, Jim: "Garfield: 20th Anniversary Collection.", page 21. Ballantine Books, 1998 ; Odie : Jon's pet Dog (although technically owned by Jon's friend Lyman, who hasn't been seen in the strip in well over a decade). A yellow, long-eared dog who is always drooling and walks on all four legs. He is very stupid and naïve. Because of his naïvity, Garfield likes to play tricks on him. He was smart enough to play tricks on Garfield sometime. Odie is the only character who cannot speak any sort of English , communicating with Body Language and his enthusiastic barking. Also, Odie didn't appear on the very first comics; he debuts on August 8 , 1978 (the day after Lyman). Odie was orignally going to be named Spot, but Davis thought the name "Odie" better indicated stupidity. Odie used to have black ears, but Davis was told that he looked a little like Snoopy; Odie's ears are now brown. ; Arlene : Garfield's on-and-off girlfriend. She is a Pink cat with a long neck and a gap in her teeth. She truly loves Garfield, but he's too in love with himself to care. ; Nermal : "The world's cutest Kitten ". Garfield hates him when he comes to show everyone how cute he is. Garfield often tries to mail him to Abu Dhabi . Nermal is a male kitten, but his voice actress (Desiree Goyette) and long eyelashes have led to some confusion over his gender. ; Liz : Liz Wilson, DVM, is Garfield's Veterinarian . Even though Garfield hates going to the vet's, Jon often forces him to go. Sometimes the visit is just an excuse for Jon to ask the beautiful Liz out for a date. ; Pooky : Garfield's teddy bear and best friend. Garfield claims that he gives the best hugs in the world. ; Lyman : Once was Jon's roommate and Odie's owner. He stopped appearing in the strip after a few years, apparently because he was considered superfluous. ( Jim Davis explained how the character was created to give Jon someone to be friends with and talk to, but as Garfield's character evolved and ended up speaking with Jon, the conversations became more Garfield-Jon oriented. This made Lyman's character unneeded, so even though they don't explain why, he was written out. Jim Davis later gave humorous scenarios of what happened in the ''Garfield 25th Anniversary Book''.) ; Mom : Jon's mom; lives on a farm, and is known to be a great cook. Based on Jim Davis' mother. ; Dad : Jon's dad; lives on a farm, and is completely useless when it comes to modern equipment. Based on Jim Davis' father. ; Doc Boy : Jon's brother who lives on a farm with his mom and dad, and often fights with Jon, calling him a "City sissy". Based on Jim Davis' brother Doc. He's not nearly as goofy as his cartoon counterpart; he's goofier. ; Spiders : Like most animals, Spider s can communicate freely with Garfield. Unfortunately for them, he takes great pleasure in swatting, squishing or smashing them. The spiders occasionally show a desire for revenge, but are usually friendly. ; Mice : Mice were shown in many previous Garfields. They live to torture Garfield, and get Garfield into a lot of trouble when Jon sees the things the mice do (tiny snowmen, balconies, etc.). Jon also makes many futile attempts to entice Garfield into chasing the mice and usually plots against them, with or without Garfield. The mice are typically unnamed, but Floyd, Herman, and Squeak make occasional appearances. THEMES AND SETTINGS Usually, the standard setting is Garfield standing on a table or floor, always flat. Occasionally, Garfield ventures elsewhere and when goes somewhere else, he usually spends a week or two in that area.
Garfield often engages in week-long interactions with a minor character, event, or thing, such as Nermal, Arlene, the mailman, an alarm clock, a scale, the TV, Pooky, spiders, mice, coffee, hamburgers, balls of yarn, Rubber Chicken s, dieting, shedding, pie throwing, fishing, Mondays, Clive (Gafield's invisible friend), lasagna, the "Caped Avenger" (Gafield's Superhero identity), sweaters, colds, etc. Some more unique themes are things like "Garfield's Believe It or Don't", "Garfield's Law", "Garfield's History", which show the world, history, and science from Garfield's point-of-view. Another particular theme is the "National Fat Week", where Garfield spends the week making fun of skinny people. Most of December is spent preparing for Christmas , with a predictable focus on presents. Every week before June 19 , the strip focuses on his birthday, which Garfield dreads. Occasionally the strip celebrates Halloween as well with scary-themed jokes. Jokes are introduced seasonally, with snow-related gags common in January or February and beach or heat themed jokes in the summer. One storyline, which lasted a week from October 23 , 1989 (possibly to coincide with Halloween, although the 31st actually fell the following week), is unique in that it is not humorous. It depicts Garfield awakening in a future in which the house is abandoned and he no longer exists. This is revealed to have been a dream of some kind, and ends with this narration: "An imagination is a powerful tool. It can tint memories of the past, shade perceptions of the present, or paint a future so vivid that it can entice...or terrify, all depending on how we conduct ourselves today." Alternatively, some theorize that the end of this storyline actually implies that the rest of the series, the more conventional strips, are all fantasies Garfield is playing out in his head to delude himself from realizing the dark turn his life has taken, as he slowly starves to death in an abandoned house. This is arguably supported by the text, as the narration reads "After years of taking life for granted, Garfield is shaken by a horrifying vision of the inevitable process called 'time'. He has only one weapon... Denial" right before Jon and Odie reappear. This emphasis on Denial, with the word given its own box in the panel it appears in, and being followed immediately by the earlier text on the power of the imagination, could support the theory. However, it could also be that denial is what Garfield needed to snap himself out of this dark vision. REMOVING GARFIELD'S THOUGHT BUBBLES On and progenitor of a similar project, ''Arbuckle'', explains: "'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." {Link without Title} TELEVISION
BOOKS Numbered paperbacks These books, generally released twice a year, contain reprints of the comic as it appears in newspapers daily. These books were originally printed in black and white, but recent volumes have been in color. Each book collects approximately six months of comics, including the larger weekend comics (in black and white in all except the recent editions). The titles of these books were styled as Double Entendres alluding to Garfield's weight or his habits. These books introduced the "Garfield format" in publishing, whereby the books are horizontally oriented to match comic strip dimensions. They are currently being reprinted in a larger format, showing the Sunday strips to be formatted in a size as they usually are, instead of shrunken-down to meet the book size. Newer versions of the books will be released in paperback only, with every comic in full color, not just the Sunday strips. # ''Garfield At Large: His First Book'' (1980) # ''Garfield Gains Weight: His Second Book'' (1981) # ''Garfield Bigger than Life: His Third Book'' (1981) # ''Garfield Weighs In: His Fourth Book'' (1982) # ''Garfield Takes the Cake: His Fifth Book'' (1982) # ''Garfield Eats His Heart Out: His Sixth Book'' (1983) # ''Garfield Sits Around the House: His Seventh Book'' (1983) # ''Garfield Tips the Scales: His Eighth Book'' (1984) # ''Garfield Loses His Feet: His Ninth Book'' (1984) # ''Garfield Makes it Big: His 10th Book'' (1985) # ''Garfield Rolls On: His 11th Book'' (1985) # ''Garfield Out to Lunch: His 12th Book'' (1986) # ''Garfield Food for Thought: His 13th Book'' (1987) # ''Garfield Swallows His Pride: His 14th Book'' (1987) # ''Garfield World Wide: His 15th Book'' (1988) # ''Garfield Rounds Out: His 16th Book'' (1988) # ''Garfield Chews the Fat: His 17th Book'' (1989) # ''Garfield Goes to Waist: His 18th Book'' (1990) # ''Garfield Hangs Out: His 19th Book'' (1990) # ''Garfield Takes Up Space: His 20th Book'' (1991) # ''Garfield Says a Mouthful: His 21st Book'' (1991) # ''Garfield By the Pound: His 22nd Book'' (1992) # ''Garfield Keeps His Chins Up: His 23rd Book'' (1992) # ''Garfield Takes His Licks: His 24th Book'' (1993) # ''Garfield Hits the Big Time: His 25th Book'' (1993) # ''Garfield Pulls his Weight: His 26th Book'' (1994) # ''Garfield Dishes it Out: His 27th Book'' (1995) # ''Garfield Life in the Fat Lane: His 28th Book'' (1995) # ''Garfield Tons of Fun: His 29th Book'' (1996) # ''Garfield Bigger and Better: His 30th Book'' (1996) # ''Garfield Hams it Up: His 31st Book'' (1997) # ''Garfield Thinks Big: His 32nd Book'' (1997) # ''Garfield Throws His Weight Around: His 33rd Book'' (1998) # ''Garfield Life to the Fullest: His 34th Book'' (1999) # ''Garfield Feeds the Kitty: His 35th Book'' (1999) # ''Garfield Hogs the Spotlight: His 36th Book'' (2000) # ''Garfield Beefs Up: His 37th Book'' (2000) # ''Garfield Gets Cookin': His 38th Book'' (2001) # ''Garfield Eats Crow: His 39th Book'' (2003) # ''Garfield Survival of the Fattest: His 40th Book'' (2004) # ''Garfield Older and Wider: His 41st Book'' (2005) # ''Garfield Pigs Out: His 42nd Book'' (2006)
OTHER BOOKS
Additionally, adaptations of Garfield television specials have been published in comic format:
Several early-reader adventure novels featuring Garfield were published in the late- 1990s :
''Garfield's Pet Force'' is another series of early-reader novels:
''Garfield Extreme'' is a series of children's picture books.
VIDEO GAMES Garfield was also transported into Video Game s, the first being a never-released Atari 2600 Prototype , in 1983 , and there was also an 8-bit NES game of '' Garfield '' made in Japan in 1989 . Other titles #'' and Commodore 64 #'''' (1987) for ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 #'''' (1989) for Atari ST (Will not work on Atari STe computers), Amiga , ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 #'' Garfield No Isshukan (1989) for the NES #'' Garfield Labyrinth '' (Unknown year) for Nintendo Game Boy #'''' (1995), for Genesis , Game Gear and PC #'' Garfield '' (2004), for PC and PS2 (UK Only) #'' Garfield's Mad About Cats '' (2005), for PC #'''' (2005) for GBA #'' Garfield & His Nine Lives '' (2006) for GBA #'''' (2006) for Nintendo DS #'' Garfield Bound For Home '' (2006) for Nintendo DS FILMS
NOTES OR FOOTNOTES Davis, Jim: "Garfield: 20th Anniversary Collection.", page 21. Ballantine Books, 1998 EXTERNAL LINKS
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