Garfield: His 9 Lives
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Garfield: His 9 Lives is a 1984 book (ISBN 0-345-32074-3) of illustrated short stories showing the "nine lives" of comic strip character Garfield. It was adapted into an animated television special in 1988 and also got a screensaver for download on Garfield website.
The book is slightly more "adult" than the Garfield comic strip, which has resulted in some controversy: in 1989, the public libraries of Saginaw, Michigan, moved the book to the adult section after patrons requested that children be denied access to it.
Contents |
[edit] The book
- "In the Beginning" (written by Jim Davis, illustrated by Paws Inc. staff): The cat is created. Not an actual life; it is more of a prologue.
- "Cave Cat" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz): In the Stone Age, the first cat emerges from the sea and is domesticated
- "The Vikings" (written by Jim Davis and Mike Fentz; illustrated by Fentz): An unfrozen group of Vikings, including Garfield the Orange, loots and pillages St. Paul, Minnesota
- "Babes and Bullets" (written by Ron Tuthill, illustrated by Kevin Campbell): Hard-boiled detective Sam Spayed investigates a suspicious murder. Later adapted into the television special Garfield: Babes and Bullets.
- "The Exterminators" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Davis, Mike Fentz, and Larry Fentz): A trio of Three Stooges-like cats chase a mouse, and mayhem ensues.
- "Lab Animal" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Larry Fentz): at a secret government facility, lab specimen 19-GB receives an unusual injection.
- "The Garden" (written and illustrated by Dave Kühn): Cloey and her yellow kitten play in a magical, Wonderland-like, garden. However, like the Garden of Eden there is a test of character of a chest the pair must not open.
- "Primal Self" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Jim Clements, Gary Barker, and Larry Fentz): An orange housecat meets an evil force...
- "Garfield" (written by Jim Davis; illustrated by Gary Barker and Valette Hildebrand; color by Doc Davis): Present-day Garfield meets lasagna, Jon, and Odie.
- "Space Cat" (written and illustrated by Jim Clements): Our hero battles menacing aliens.
[edit] The television special
The television adaptation featured four different "lives."
- "In the Beginning": Unlike the rest of the special, this prologue sequence is shot in live-action.
- "Cave Cat": The Cave Cat emerges from the sea and adjusts to life on the surface.
- "King Cat": In Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh's sacred cat discovers what happens to him if the Pharaoh dies. (This sequence is exclusive to the special.)
- "The Garden" is narrated in a whimsical, storybook fashion. Cloey and her yellow kitten play in a magical, Wonderland-like, garden. However, like the Garden of Eden there is a test of character of a chest the pair must not open. The pair approach the chest and after much suspense, the pair resists the temptation and stays in the garden forever.
- "Court Musician": The king demands a concerto from Handel (nicknamed "Freddie" in this segment), and if the king doesn't enjoy it... (This sequence is exclusive to the special.)
- "Stunt Cat": Garfield is (briefly) a stunt double for Krazy Kat. (This sequence is exclusive to the special.) As Garfield explained, this life was his shortest.
- "Diana's Piano": A young girl, Sara, receives a cat, Diana, who goes with her everywhere, specially to piano lessons. (This sequence is exclusive to the special.)
- "Lab Animal" The clip that shows why Garfield is so afraid of needles. In the mid-20th century a cat is injected with an experimental military serum. The lab cat escapes from the military base. After swimming across a river the serum has some interesting effects on the cat.
- "Garfield" Shows Garfield when he is first adopted with Jon. This clip also shows Garfield first meeting with Odie (who Jon adopts to keep Garfield company, rather than being Lyman's pet like he was in the original strip), Odie saving Garfield life from a passing ice cream truck and a clip of an old Garfield talking to his descendants about the ice cream truck incident... with several revisions at Odie's expense.
- "Space Cat" A preview of Garfield's future life in space and his encounter with enemy space craft.
The epilogue for this special is different from the one in the original book. Here, Garfield and Odie meet God. Garfield succeeds in gaining nine more lives for himself and Odie due to a computer problem.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Garfield: His 9 Lives at the Internet Movie Database
- Garfield: His 9 Lives at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Garfield's Babes and Bullets at the Internet Movie Database (one of the stories from the book was made into its own special)
| Garfield |
|---|
| Characters |
| Garfield | Jon Arbuckle | Odie | List of Garfield characters |
| 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 | Garfield: His 9 Lives | Here Comes Garfield |
| Video games |
| Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal | Garfield: A Winter's Tail | Garfield: A Week of Garfield | Garfield Labyrinth | Garfield: Caught in the Act | Garfield: The Search for Pooky | Garfield & His Nine Lives | Garfield Bound for Home |
| Films |
| Garfield | Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties |
| Other media |
| Am I Cool or What? | Garfield As Himself | Garfield and Friends | List of Garfield and Friends episodes | Garfield's Holiday Celebrations |
| Other |
| Jim Davis | U.S. Acres |
