Garfield (character)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Garfield, in black and white |
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| First appearance | Garfield comic strip (June 19, 1978) |
| Information | |
| Species | Tabby cat |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 28 |
| Year of birth | June 19, 1978 |
| Family | Sonja (mother) |
| Portrayed by | Lorenzo Music (voice in all animated appearances) Bill Murray (voice in the live-action films) |
| Created by | Jim Davis |
Garfield is a fictional character comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. He is a lazy, fat, selfish, orange, anthropomorphic tabby cat who enjoys eating, sleeping, stealing Jon's meals, and being mean to Odie by kicking him off the table. He hates Mondays because he suffers bad luck on those days and considers himself to be more intelligent than humans, dogs, or animals. He also enjoys peforming on a wooden fence in the middle of the night, usually being booed at by an audience and gets bombarded by various objects by the agitated audience for it. He hates spiders, and often swats them with a newspaper or whatever may be close to a paw. Sometimes, he shreds Jon's curtains, and Jon gets really angry at Garfield.
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[edit] History
Garfield was born in the kitchen of Mama Leone's Italian Restaurant and loved lasagna the day he was born. Ever since then, it always been his favorite food. According to his grandfather, he was born five pounds, six ounces, surprisingly enough, he managed to fit in a tiny bed. Later in his life, Garfield runs across his Mother again one Christmas Eve, accidentally, and meets his other grandfather for the first time. According to the TV special Garfield Gets a Life, in the end of the episode, Jon’s car is shown driving away and his vehicle registration plate says Indiana on it, indicating that Garfield lives in Indiana, in Garfield Goes Hollywood, while Jon, Odie and Garfield are on Pet Search, the announcer says that they're from Muncie, 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 Amoeba Man, one of Garfield's alter-ego's, yet he was only shown in 6 strips (6-20 through 6-25). Amoeba Man is only one of his few imaginary alter egos though. The Caped Avenger is the more common one. It was revealed on July 1st, 1983 that he doesn’t like raisins.[1] His birthday is 1978-06-19, the day the first Garfield strip was published. [2][3][4] Garfield frequently gets into many adventures, such as getting stuck in roll-up blinds, sparring with mice, and getting locked up in animal shelters.
[edit] Eating
A long running gag is that Garfield is a ravenous and gluttonous eater. He is almost always shown eating a foodstuff high in fat. Among the spaghetti, pizza, hamburgers, whole chickens, popcorn, doughnuts, ice cream, and confections he consumes, his favourite food has been stated consistently as lasagna and he may commonly be seen in his trademark eating position with his head arched back, mouth wide open, shoveling food down his throat with a big smile on his face. Although eating is a hobby for him, Garfield is very picky. He is known to detest raisins and vegetables, especially when he is put on a diet which is infrequently. This is followed by hallucinations of some of his favourite foods following him around, asking to be ingested.
[edit] Other media
In the animated series and prime-time specials, he was voiced by Lorenzo Music. In the live-action movies, he is voiced by Bill Murray. An interesting side note is that the two actors also shared the role of Dr. Peter Venkman as well.
[edit] Cameo
In Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!, he was brought to the station after being captured in an expedition to find life in other comic strips.
[edit] Trivia
- According to the strips, Garfield first stood on just two feet on May 17, 1981[1]. However, this contradicts some of the earlier strips. For example, he is shown tap dancing on Jon's head in the strip for May 6, 1979[2]. Also, in the strip for September 16, 1979, Garfield sleepwalks away on two feet[3].
- Interestingly, Lorenzo Music and Bill Murray played the animated and live-action versions of Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters, respectively. The same happened with Garfield as well.
- Jim Davis named Garfield after his grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis. According to an interview with Jim Davis in the second Garfield compilation book, Garfield Gains Weight, the name "Garfield" makes him think of "...a fat cat...or a St. Bernard...or a neat line of thermal underwear."
- When Jon went to buy a pet, the choice came down to him choosing either Garfield or an Iguana and a pet rock.
- Garfield likes to squash spiders with newspapers.
| Garfield |
|---|
| Characters |
| Garfield | Jon Arbuckle | Odie | List of Garfield characters |
| Television specials |
| Here Comes Garfield | Garfield on the Town | Garfield in the Rough | Garfield's Halloween Adventure | Garfield in Paradise | A Garfield Christmas | Garfield Goes Hollywood | Garfield: His 9 Lives | Garfield's Babes and Bullets | Garfield's Thanksgiving | Garfield's Feline Fantasies | Garfield Gets a Life |
| 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 | Gnorm Gnat |
[edit] External Links
- Garfield - The Official Site of Garfield.
