Garfield

For other uses, see Garfield (disambiguation)}}}.

Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis, featuring the cat Garfield, the pet dog Odie, and their socially inept owner Jon Arbuckle. As of 2006, it is syndicated in roughly 2,570 newspapers and journals and it currently holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip [link]. The popularity of the strip has led to an animated children’s cartoon show, several animated television specials and two feature-length live-action films, as well as a large amount of Garfield-related merchandise.

Contents

Overview

The first Garfield comic strip, which appeared on 19 June 1978.

Garfield debuted on June 19, 1978, which is 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 diets, loathing of Mondays, apathy, boredom, and so on. Garfield is able to understand anything that Jon or other humans say. He doesn’t talk to humans but he does [gesture] like a human (and he communicates to the reader in thought balloons, and Jon occasionally reacts to Garfield’s thoughts). However, Garfield is able to talk in "thinking" 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 because he is the only character that doesn't know English. Although, Odie did have two thought bubbles with words in the strip. In an earlier strip, Odie is shown poking his previous owner (Lyman) and it is written in his thought bubble "I'm Hungry". In a second strip, Odie is on the fence in the alley with Garfield and it is written in his thought bubble "O sole mio". 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 extremely obese with flabby jowls and small round eyes. 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 still writes the strip, but his company, Paws, Inc., employs cartoonists and assistants who do most of the work of drawing and inking, while Davis’s final job 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 humor 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, Garfield: The Movie had its debut in the United States on June 11, 2004. The film employed a computer-animated Garfield and live-action Odie. Lorenzo Music had died prior to the filming of the movie, and Bill Murray was cast as the voice of Garfield. Murray’s laid-back, deadpan delivery has often been compared to Music’s; indeed, Music provided the voice of Murray’s Peter Venkman character in the cartoon version of Ghostbusters. Murray became the fourth actor to provide a voice for Garfield: Tommy Smothers 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.

In June 7, 1999, newspapers began to be offered full-color Garfield weekday strips.

Garfield’s second live-action feature film, , was released on June 16, 2006.

Main Characters

Garfield

First Appearance: 19th June 1978

Garfield is the central character. He is a lazy, overweight, orange tabby cat who enjoys eating and sleeping. He hates Mondays and considers himself to be more intelligent than humans or dogs. Garfield was born in the kitchen of Mama Leone's Italian Restaurant and developed a taste for lasagna the day he was born. Ever since then, it has always been his favourite food. According to the TV special Garfield Gets a Life, in the end of the episode, Jon's car is shown driving away and his licence plate says Indiana on it, indicating that Garfield lives in Indiana. Jim Davis added this in possibly because he is from Indiana. In his cartoon appearances, Garfield usually causes mischief in every episode. In June 1983, comic strips introduced Garfield's alter-ego, Amoeba Man, yet he was only shown in 6 strips (6-20 through 6-25). It was revealed on 01 July, 1983 that he doesn't like raisins. It has also been implied that they are his least favourite food in a comic strip where Garfield saves time by instead of making a list of things he wants for his birthday, he made a list of things he doesn't want. The only thing on the list was raisins. His birthday is 1978-06-19 and, as of 2006, he is 28 years old[link] [link] [link]

Jon Arbuckle

First Appearance: 19th June 1978

Garfield’s 30-year-old owner as of 23 December 1980 (although his birthday is July 28, the same as Jim Davis's). 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. 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. Even though he introduced himself as a cartoonist in the very first strip, Jon is never seen drawing cartoons, but his job was once referenced, as seen in the 1984 Christmas Sequence when Jon left for a cartoonists' convention. Jon seems to understand Garfield in some of the later comics, but only sometimes. In the [July 13, 1998, comic], he even reacted to Garfield even though Garfield hadn’t even thought anything.Davis, Jim: “Garfield: 20th Anniversary Collection.”, page 21. Ballantine Books, 1998

Odie

First Appearance: 8th August 1978

Jon’s pet dog (although technically owned by Jon’s friend Lyman, who hasn’t been seen in the strip in over two decades). A yellow, long-eared Beagle who is always drooling and walks on all four legs. He is very stupid and naïve. Because of his naïvité, Garfield likes to play tricks on him, particularly taking advantage to give him the boot—quite literally—when he is standing on the edge of a table. Odie is the only animal character who doesn't communicate with any form of dialogue. (except in one comic where Odie actually talks in Garfield’s dream, and another when he sings on a fence "O sole mio" and another one, the [June 15, 1980 comic] where he’s poking his original owner, Lyman, and saying he’s hungry), solely communicating with body language and his enthusiastic barking. Also, Odie didn’t appear in the very first comics; he debuts on 08 August, 1978 which is considered his birthdate. Odie was originally 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.

Supporting Characters

Arlene

First Appearance: 17th December 1980

Garfield’s on-and-off girlfriend. She is a pink cat with a long neck and a gap in her teeth. She wishes their relationship would take a few steps, but Garfield does not seem to notice. Garfield once quipped in the early strips that his and Arlene's affair is an apparent love-hate relationship: Garfield loves himself, and Arlene hates that.

Nermal

First Appearance: 3rd September 1979

“The world’s cutest kitten.” Garfield hates him and hates especially when he comes to show everyone how cute he is. Nermal especially does this on Garfield's birthdays to remind him of how he is getting older. Nermal is a male kitten, but his voice actress in the cartoon (Desiree Goyette) and long eyelashes have led to some confusion over his gender. He once mentioned that he is going to stay cute and small forever because he's a midget. In exasperation and feelings of being degraded for ugliness and advancement in age, Garfield ultimately ships Nermal to Abu Dhabi (which has happened a few times).

Liz

First Appearance: 26th June 1979

Liz Wilson, DVM, is Garfield’s veterinarian and Jon’s biggest crush. 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 Liz out for a date. They seldom go out, and only one has been successful so far (in which they actually kissed—their first and probably the last one). Liz has great dislike and little respect for Jon and her attempts to make him understand that she is not interested in him are generally futile, although she does deliver some pithy comments; once Jon asked her what she would suggest for an animal who is madly in love (referring to himself), Liz countered with "I usually prescribe neutering". It has been revealed, perhaps in sarcasm, in a strip that Liz's full name is not "Elizabeth" but "Lizard".

Pooky

First Appearance: 23rd October 1978

Pooky is Garfield’s teddy bear and best friend which Garfield discovered in an old bureau. Despite being a stuffed animal, Garfield acts as though he can “communicate” with Pooky, although Garfield is just pretending to do so. When Pooky first appeared, his head was smaller, his eyes were larger and he had a smile stitched on his face as opposed to the current animation.

Lyman

First Appearance: 7th August 1978

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. One clue indicated “Don't look in Jon’s basement!”

Mom

First Appearance: 13th February 1980

Jon’s mother; lives on a farm, and is known to be a great cook (she can make just about anything out of potatoes, proven in a 1980's strip when she creates five dishes of potatoes using five different techniques). Based on Jim Davis’ mother Betty Davis. Jon's mother is also known for sending him and Garfield cooked meals in packages. Jon once got mashed potatoes and Garfield gravy, which started to leak from the corner of the envelope.

Dad

First Appearance: 13th February 1980

Jon's dad; lives on a farm, and is completely useless when it comes to modern equipment. Calls Jon 'Jon Boy.' Based on Jim Davis' father James William Davis.

Doc Boy

First Appearance: 17th May 1983

Jon’s brother who lives on a farm with his mom and dad, and often fights with Jon, calling him a “city slicker.” Based on Jim Davis’ brother David "Doc" Davis, who’s not nearly as goofy as his cartoon counterpart; he’s goofier.

Spiders

Like most animals, spiders 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. Interestingly, spiders actually talked in the strip for August 24, 1986, while they just communicate with thoughts like most other non-human characters in the rest of the strip’s run.

Mice

Garfield has had many mice friends (and some enemies). Most of them are nameless but there are a few that have been identified. Three mice named Herman, Floyd and Squeak make occasional appearances. The mice usually get along with Garfield but they care little when they humiliate him. They know that Garfield doesn't chase them (although there have been a few occasions, times when Jon is present and usually supports Garfield's false motives of exterminating the mice) so they tend to take advantage of their freedom. As Jon expects Garfield to chase the mice, he gets upset when he catches them in mischievous acts and it results in Jon screaming Garfield's name.

Irma

First Appearance: 19th October 1979

The waitress and manager of a greasy diner, (Irma's Diner) she is a character that relates to Jon as a bartender like Moe Szyslak in The Simpsons. Because many young children read the strip, It would have been less appropriate for the setting to be in a pub. Another advantage of the diner setting is to express Garfield's gluttony. Irma, in one of her first appearances, proves determination and her concrete toughness with any threat when she once spanked a potato for Jon because Jon had complained that the potato was bad.

Mrs. Feeny

Although she has never appeared physically or with a voice bubble, she and her little dog are constantly tormented by Garfield resulting in her calling Jon and complaining. Although Garfield has tormented the entire neighborhood, Ms. Feeny is considerably Garfield's biggest target. Mr. Feeny was mentioned in a strip in 2005 but that was the only time he was mentioned. Other one-shot characters included Mr. Talbot.

Themes and settings

Usually, the standard setting is Garfield standing on a table or floor, always flat. Occasionally, Garfield ventures elsewhere and when he goes somewhere else, he usually spends a week or two in that area.

The table The table is the most common setting in the strip. In some subsettings, Garfield can be shown sleeping on his back, eating, drinking coffee (usually with Jon), kicking Odie off the table, sitting beside Jon who is calling women on the phone and asking for a date (mostly getting rejected) and other scenarios.
The TV Chair is one of Garfield’s favorite places, where he entertains himself with shows like Binky the Clown and others. Many of the shows mentioned are absurd and stupid, and give Jim Davis an opportunity to comment on pop-culture.
On the Lawn, Garfield has confrontations with various characters, such as dogs (more vicious than Odie), birds, worms, and even conscious flowers. “Beware of Dog” signs are abound, and Garfield often tries to torment the chained-up dogs as some kind of revenge. Garfield tries to capture birds in the birdbath, often unsuccessfully. Garfield does occasionally kill and consume his prey but not always. He finds it a lot easier to capture flowers though, and often eats them.
Early in the strip, Garfield would spend time on the window ledge and sometimes get trapped in the roll-up blinds. One of these events culminated in a two-week storyline in which Garfield, Odie, Jon, two complete strangers, and even a street lamp all got trapped in the blinds. This was one of the few storylines in which a Sunday strip was part of the regular story arc. After this, Jon bought Venetian blinds (which Garfield, somehow, still manages to get stuck in).
The Fence in the Alley is an area where Garfield often tells bad jokes or caterwauls, in a homage to vaudeville. Odie joins the act from time to time, once as a ventriloquist’s dummy, once as “Mr. Skins,” who accompanied Garfield on the drums, and once as a cue card boy. Garfield is frequently the target of disgusted fans (usually dogs), who throw shoes, vegetables, and houseplants, and other things that would hurt, at him and once burned down his fence with burning arrows (Garfield’s temporary replacement, a plastic flamingo, just “didn’t feel the same”). Garfield, however, loves the attention he receives, and once complained that he thought a joke deserved more than a single shoe. He does sometimes get applause from his audience, though one time the audience consisted solely of his mother.
Up the tree is another area where Garfield often traps himself. Garfield knows not to climb, but ironically can never overcome the urge. A firefighter usually has to save him on the last day of the week. One time, Jon got stuck up the tree trying to rescue him.
Occasionally, Garfield will be taken to the vet’s office, a place he loathes. In this setting, Jon always tries to get a date with Liz, the vet, and usually fails badly. Liz sometimes does go out with Jon. At the end of one date, Jon got a kiss, currently his only on-panel kiss in the comic.
Sometimes Jon takes Garfield to the park. Jon tries to meet girls in the park, but always fails miserably and humorously. ("She acknowledged my existence!" Jon joyfully declared after a female passer-by told him to "Shut up" before he could even say anything.)
Vacations are taken by Jon and his pets every so often, usually to exotic places. Early in the series, Garfield had to sneak along in Jon's suitcase (this tactic is also used in the second Garfield film: ). But at some point Jon gave up and took him along as an equal, albeit sometimes dressed as a child. Most often Jon will choose some undesirable tourist trap in a tropical setting. In a particular storyline, Jon takes Garfield to an isle called Guano Guano which actually means "bird feces" in Spanish. Although Jon does say "Aloha" to a native, therefore speaking Hawaiian it is not said where the isle is on the map. Greeting the native with "Aloha" was implied as ignorance that Americans have towards tropical cultures because when he greets the native, it is implied that the native gives Jon an obscene gesture.
The Beach can be a subsetting that falls under a vacation destination but it is implied that Jon takes Garfield to the local beach. This is yet another hotspot for Jon to try and pick up dates but he always fails. Garfield hates the beach simply because it has no TV, and is too hot. This theme will often show up in the summer.
An Airplane is a subsetting for vacations. Earlier in the strip, Jon & Garfield had to ride in third class but when they visited Guano Guano, it is not implied what section they were in. Garfield and Odie also had to be dressed as children so as not to ride with the luggage.
Campsites would be on and off setting, sometimes accompanied by fishing in a small boat.
Jon's Car is common for when Jon is taking Garfield to his parent's farm to visit, to the vet, or when Jon and Garfield go to a fast food drive through. Sometimes the destination is not implied.
Irma’s Diner is another off and on setting. Irma is a chirpy, but slow-witted and unattractive waitress/manager, and one of Jon’s few friends (although she is probably the only woman he has known that he hasn't asked out). The terrible food is the center of most of the jokes, along with the poor management.
Jon periodically visits his parents and brother on the farm. This results in week-long comical displays of stupidity by Jon and his family, and their interactions.
Stores & Shopping Lots are usually on and off settings where Garfield sometimes wreaks havoc. Some include the grocery store, the pet store, the furniture store, fancy restaurants, the florist, the refrigerator store, the Christmas tree lot and the used car lot.
Cinemas are rare settings but appear on and off. In a particular setting where Jon reluctantly goes on a date with Liz, he takes her to see a film called Sludge Monster VII: The Oozing. As Jon asks Liz if she wants a bucket of popcorn, she insists on only the bucket, implying she will use it to vomit in.

Garfield often engages in one to two week-long interactions with a minor character, event, or thing, such as Nermal, Arlene, the mailman, an alarm clock, a talking scale, the TV, Pooky, spiders, mice, balls of yarn, dieting, shedding, pie throwing, fishing, Mondays (The Monday That Wouldn't Die), birthdays, lasagna, the “Caped Avenger” (Garfield’s alter ego), Mrs. Feeny, colds, hallucinations with birthday displeasures or dietary complications, etc.

Some more unique themes are things like “Garfield’s Believe It or Don’t,” “Garfield’s Law,” “Garfield’s History of Cats,” 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 because of his fear of getting older. This started happening after his sixth birthday. 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 meant to be 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 right before Jon and Odie reappear, 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..."

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 horrifying theory. However, it could also be that denial is what Garfield needed to snap himself out of this dark vision. This is also more likely considering the only way Garfield could have gotten into "a world where he no longer exists" is if that world was a dream. Many, however, attribute the bleak world to the future Ebeneezer Scrooge witnessed in A Christmas Carol, where he beholds the dark and bleak image the world has become because of his negligence and lack of gratitude for other peoples efforts.

Marketing and products

As a result of the worldwide proliferation of the comic strip, Paws, Inc. has become a global licensing powerhouse, selling the characters' images for production on a wide variety of products, including common objects like food, toys, and household items. A franchise of stores selling exclusively Garfield-brand products has become popular outside of North America, such as in China.

In North America, the most mainstream appearances of Garfield are traditionally compilations of the comic strip, as well as other entertainment media, such as television, as the franchise expanded over time.

Books

Compilations

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; Davis has recalled having to invent the format in order to better fit the books on store shelves. 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. So far, the first twelve books have been reprinted.

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)
Garfield Blots Out The Sun: His 43rd Book (2007)

In the UK, over 60 Garfield books, mainly “Pocket Books” or paperbacks, have been published by Ravette. The format is slightly different, as the strips are presented in a vertical style.

Other books

(1984)—graphic novel, later made into a TV special.
Garfield Book of Cat Names (1988)
Garfield How to Party Book (1988)
Garfield Crazy About Numbers (1988)—(sticker book)
Give Me Coffee and No One Gets Hurt (discontinued)
Garfield and the Santa Spy (1989)
Garfield’s Ghost Stories (1990)—(storybook)
Garfield’s Judgment Day (1990)
Garfield: The Me Book (1990) (motivational handbook)
Garfield and the Truth About Cats (1991)
Garfield’s Christmas Tales (storybook) (1994)
Garfield’s Haunted House and Other Spooky Tales (storybook) (1994)
Garfield’s Stupid Cupid and Other Stories (storybook) (1995)
Garfield Goes to Disobedience School (picturebook) (1997)
Garfield’s Big Book of Excellent Excuses (2000)
Garfield’s Guide to Everything (2004)
Odie Unleashed: Garfield Lets the Dog Out Book (2005)
Lights, Camera, Hairballs: Garfield at the Movies (2006)

Additionally, adaptations of Garfield television specials have been published in comic format:

Garfield as Himself (2004) collects the following books:

*Here Comes Garfield (1982)

*Garfield on the Town (1983)

*Garfield Gets a Life (1991)

Garfield Holiday Celebrations (2004) collects the following books:

*Garfield in Disguise (Halloween special) (1985)

*Garfield’s Thanksgiving (1988)

*A Garfield Christmas (1987)

Garfield Travel Adventures (2005) collects the following books:

*Garfield in the Rough (1984)

*Garfield in Paradise (1986)

*Garfield Goes to Hollywood (1988)

Several early-reader adventure novels featuring Garfield were published in the late-1990s:

Garfield and the Beast in the Basement (1998)
Garfield and the Mysterious Mummy (1998)
Garfield and the Teacher Creature (1998)
Garfield and the Wicked Wizard (1999)

Garfield’s Pet Force is another series of early-reader novels:

#1: The Outrageous Origin (1997)
#2: Pie Rat’s Revenge (1998)
#3: K-Niner: Dog of Doom (1998)
#4: Menace of the Mutanator (1999)
#5: Attack of the Lethal Lizards (1999)

Garfield Extreme is a series of children’s picture books.

Garfield’s Extreme Cuisine: Pigging the Way Out! (2003)
Garfield’s Ironcat (2003)
Garfield’s Awesome Ski Adventure (2002)
Garfield’s Sumo Beach Bellyball (2002)

Television

Garfield as seen on Garfield and Friends.

Garfield and Friends (animated cartoon series, 1988–1995)
Garfield Gets a Life (animated special) 1991
Garfield’s Feline Fantasies (animated special) 1990
Garfield’s Thanksgiving (animated special) 1989
Garfield’s Babes and Bullets (animated special) 1989
(animated special) 1988
Garfield Goes Hollywood (animated special) 1987
A Garfield Christmas (animated special) 1987
Garfield in Paradise (animated special) 1986
Garfield’s Halloween Adventure (animated special) 1985
Garfield in the Rough (animated special) 1984
Garfield on the Town (animated special) 1983
Here Comes Garfield (animated special) 1982

Video games

Title screen for

Garfield was also transported into video games, 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.

Garfield [link] (1984) prototype for Atari 2600
Create With Garfield [link] (1985) for Apple II and Commodore 64
(1987) for ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Commodore 64
(1989) for Atari ST (will not work on Atari STe computers), Amiga, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64
Garfield no Isshukan (A Week of Garfield) (1989) for the Famicom
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

Garfield: The Movie (2004)—Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield.
(2006)—Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield.

Miscellaneous

His album: Am I Cool or What?

His suction-cupped kitties: “Stuck on You” were a phenomenon across America and took several years for production to meet the demand. The concept was created after an idea trade with Scott Adams in 1990, which involved what type of object could hold the thing other than sticky items. One such suction-cupped plush Garfield appears in a window of the Brig in the sci-fi film The Abyss.

His plush products and other toy replicas were licensed for production by the Dakin Company in the 1980s.

Garfield’s merchandising approach has been criticized by a number of commentators including Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, whose views against merchandising were explained at great detail in The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book. Watterson, when asked for his opinion of fellow cartoonists, including Jim Davis, once tactfully described Garfield as “consistent.” He also criticized Jim Davis’s U.S. Acres cartoon. [link] Chris Sullentrop of Slate accuses Davis of creating Garfield merely for the merchandising [link].

Garfield and Odie also are featured on product packaging for the retail chain Meijer.

At Kennywood, an amusement park in West Mifflin PA, Garfield is the mascot. There are two Garfield themed rides. They are Garfield's Nightmare and a freefall ride for kids. Lake Compounce, also run and owned by Kennywood, uses Garfield theming as well.

Removing Garfield’s thought bubbles

In February 11, 2006, author Neil Gaiman noted a new internet trend of removing Garfield’s thought bubbles from the strip [link], apparently popularized by MackJ of the Truth And Beauty Bombs forums, posted January 30, 2006 [link]. Tailsteak, author of the webcomic 1/0 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]

Recently, a project was started called [Arbuckle’s World], a blog centering around removing Garfield’s thoughts in the chronological order of the strips, with some commentary by the project’s author, Colin Moon. A spinoff blog from the same author called [Arbuckle’s World Today] focuses on the more recent Garfield strips.

Notes and references

Davis, Jim: “Garfield: 20th Anniversary Collection.”, page 21. Ballantine Books, 1998

External links

Garfield
Television specials
A Garfield Christmas > Garfield Gets a Life \| Garfield Goes Hollywood \| Garfield in Paradise \| Garfield in the Rough \| Garfield on the Town \| Garfield's Babes and Bullets \| Garfield's Feline Fantasies \| Garfield's Halloween Adventure \| Garfield's Thanksgiving \| \| Here Comes Garfield
Video games
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Other media
Am I Cool or What? > Garfield \| \| Garfield As Himself \| Garfield and Friends \| List of Garfield and Friends episodes \| Garfield's Holiday Celebrations
Other
Jim Davis \| U.S. Acres \| List of Garfield characters

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