X.С. Ньюкомб — Гарфилд
Художественно-литературное издание
Для младшего и среднего школьного возраста
Знаменитый кот
ГАРФИЛД
Книга по фильму
Текст X.С. Ньюкомб
Сценарий Джоэл Кохен и Алек Соколов
Идея Джима Дэвиса
Ответственный редактор Е. Позина
Редактор М. Калугина
Художественный редактор Д. Гончарова
Компьютерная верстка И. Алексин
Корректор Т. Тарасова
GARFIELD
The Movie
Copyright © 2004 Twentieth Century
Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. «Garfield» and the «Garfield» characters:
TM&© PAWS Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
© Издание на русском языке. «Стрекоза», 2008
ISBN 978-5-89537-644-7
Глава 1
В маленькой уютной кроватке в скромном доме на две спальни, расположенном на крошечном клочке земли в небольшом сонном пригороде, сладко спал клубок рыжей шерсти. Уверенный в любви и послушании человека, посапывавшего в соседней кровати, толстый счастливый кот храпел и видел сны…
Он находился в большом красивом зале, наполненном звоном бокалов и смехом. Оркестр играл одну мелодию за другой. Прекрасные женщины в сногсшибательных нарядах с блестками и перьями сидели рядом с богатыми коротышками-продюсерами, которые совсем не были привлекательны, но готовы были выложить несколько тысяч долларов за фуршет.
Обходительный рыжий полосатый кот в черной бабочке, немного съехавшей набок, наклонился к сидящей справа от него женщине. Он еще никогда не видел такой замечательной девушки… такой юной и свежей, с прекрасными карими глазами и белоснежной улыбкой. В нежно-розовом платье она казалась видением, а ее губы были словно лепестки роз, украшавших стол.
Полосатый кот стряхнул с пояса хлебные крошки и придвинулся ближе. Он навострил уши и в предвкушении задергал хвостом.
— Дженнифер, дорогая… ты будешь это есть? – на всякий случай спросил он.
Затем одним молниеносным движением кот стянул лазанью с ее тарелки и облизнулся как ни в чем не бывало. Она может поесть и моей брюссельской капусты, если захочет.
Вдруг за столом возникло замешательство. Красотка в розовом платье всплеснула руками и воскликнула: «Гарфилд, это ты?!» – но затем погладила его по голове. Другие голоса присоединились. «Прыгай сюда, Гарфилд! Они зовут тебя!» – настаивал улыбчивый молодой человек, сидевший напротив.
Я победил? Конечно, я победил. Гарфилд поправил галстук и резво побежал к сцене через рукоплещущую толпу, обдумывая по пути свою речь. Сначала я хотел бы поблагодарить А-кот-емию и всех моих поклонников. Но более всего я признателен человеку, без которого все это вряд ли было бы возможно, этому прирожденному неудачнику и рубахе-парню Джону Арбаклу, который греется в лучах моей славы…
Отрепетировав речь, Гарфилд запрыгнул на сцену и повернулся лицом к публике. Прожектор светил прямо над его головой, припекая затылок. Рев аплодисментов стал оглушительным. Гарфилд жмурился от яркого света, его галстук-бабочка болтался на шее, шерсть торчала из-под него во все стороны. Кот стоял перед ревущей толпой и первый раз в жизни не знал, что сказать.
Лежа в своей маленькой уютной кроватке, Гарфилд медленно открыл один глаз и сразу же зажмурился от лучей восходящего солнца, проникавших в комнату. Когда кот снова попытался заснуть, шквал аплодисментов превратился в резкий звон будильника. 7:23 утра. Гарфилд резко вскочил на ноги, положив конец своим мукам и своему сну. Утро мне бы нравилось больше, если бы начиналось попозже. Он зевнул и посмотрел на большую кровать, в которой крепко спал Джон Арбакл в красной пижаме с белыми полосками.
Гарфилд и его хозяин прожили бок о бок много лет с тех пор, как впервые встретились на кухне итальянского ресторана «Мама Леоне». Там и появился на свет огненно-рыжий полосатый котенок, весом около 2 килограммов, которого взял себе молодой холостяк, сбежавший из деревни покорять большой город. Отлученный от объедков одного из самых лучших местных ресторанов, Гарфилд начал приучать Джона к своим необычным гастрономическим пристрастиям. Первые же тренировки увенчались оглушительным успехом, потому что Гарфилду удалось заставить Джона делать то, чего хотелось коту: готовить лазанью и варить такой крепкий кофе, что от него можно было закашляться. Чем выше продвигался Джон по карьерной лестнице, тем, естественно, толще становился Гарфилд и тем сильнее росли любовь и взаимопонимание между ними. И даже теперь, когда Джон уже стал успешным художником- мультипликатором, Гарфилд принуждал его выделывать разные фокусы.
История персонажа
Говорящий антропоморфный кот, персонаж серии комиксов «Garfield», а также ряда фильмов и мультсериалов.
История создания
Впервые Гарфилд появился в июне 1978 года в комиксах, которые создал американский художник Джим Дэвис. Комикс о Гарфилде издается до сих пор. По статистике, каждый день двести миллионов человек читают очередной номер о приключениях рыжего кота.
Художник назвал выдуманного им рыжего котяру в честь собственного дедушки, которого звали Джеймсом Гарфилдом Дэвисом. А того, в свою очередь, назвали так в честь двадцатого американского президента Джеймса Гарфилда.
Сюжет
Гарфилд — жирный и красивый рыжий котяра. Поведение героя напоминает естественное поведение домашних кошек. Например, Гарфилд может целыми днями спать и выглядеть абсолютно пассивным, а затем внезапно впасть в состояние бешенства и разнести дом, уничтожая все, что случайно подвернется под когти.
По характеру Гарфилд необыкновенно циничен и ленив. Персонаж ведет расслабленную жизнь и проявляет чудеса изобретательности, когда хочет раздобыть вкусной еды или молока. Крошечным котенком Гарфилд оказался в коробке, откуда героя забрал Джон Арбакл. С тех пор кот живет у Арбакла как питомец.
У Гарфилда есть друзья — кошка Арлин и тайский кот Нермал, с которым герой любит играть в космонавтов. Заключается эта игра в том, что Гарфилд запускает приятеля с крыши дома в ведре. Герой также давно приятельствует с мышью, которую зовут Луис, и подкалывает агрессивного соседского добермана.
Из всей еды Гарфилд особенно обожает лазанью и не любит изюм, на который у него аллергия. У героя есть любимая игрушка — плюшевый медведь, которому Гарфилд дал прозвище «Микки Конкретный».
Долгое время Гарфилд остается единственным любимцем Арбакла, но потом в доме появляется беспородный щенок Оди. Сначала кот ревнует хозяина к новому питомцу, но потом Оди и Гарфилд становятся друзьями.
У Арбакла есть девушка — Лиз Уилсон, ветеринарный врач, на чьем попечении был щенок Оди. Роль Лиз исполняет актриса Дженнифер Лав Хьюитт. Героиня стала встречаться с Арбаклом после того, как тот взял щенка в дом. Гарфилд против этих отношений. По мнению кота, ветеринар в доме — это чересчур стрессовая ситуация.
Гарфилд учит Оди танцевать. Благодаря новообретенным навыкам щенок побеждает на шоу собак, чем привлекает внимание Хэппи Чепмена, несимпатичного местного телеведущего. Чепмен не добился успеха на телевидении и это тем обиднее, что у него есть куда более преуспевающий младший брат, который с блеском делает карьеру ведущего новостей на крупном канале.
Чепмен хочет использовать Оди в новом шоу «Kibbly Dog». Однако щенок оказывается разочарованием — Оди умеет танцевать, но это единственная его интересная способность. Чтобы добиться большего эффекта от дрессировки, злодей Чепмен использует электрошоковый ошейник.
Чепмен в фильме противопоставлен Гарфилду. У него аллергия на котов и он терпеть не может лазанью. Чепмен крадет Оди и пытается уехать с ним в Нью-Йорк, но Гарфилд мешает этим планам.
В другой раз Гарфилд и Оди едва не оказываются в приюте для животных, когда хозяин Джон Арбакл уезжает в Лондон вслед за своей девушкой Лиз. В последний момент зверям удается вырваться на свободу и забраться в машину Арбакла.
В Лондоне Джон селится в тот же отель, где остановилась Лиз, с намерением там сделать героине предложение. Гарфилда же Арбакл пытается не выпускать на улицу, чтобы кот не потерялся. Когда Арбакл и Лиз выходят прогуляться по городу, Гарфилд и щенок таки сбегают и оказываются на улицах Лондона.
В Лондоне проживает кот Принц, как две капли воды похожий на Гарфилда. Хозяйка завещала этому коту собственный замок, но злобный родственник лорд Даргис попытался утопить кота в реке, чтобы заграбастать богатства и недвижимость. Дворецкий Смитти, увидев Гарфилда на улицах Лондона, принимает того за Принца и подбирает. Арбакл тем временем находит настоящего Принца и принимает того за Гарфилда.
Злобный Даргис хочет снести замок и построить на этом месте курорт, а животных, которые живут на скотном дворе, отправить на кухню в качестве еды. На поиски Принца юристы дают неделю, после этого собственность перейдет в загребущие руки Даргиса.
Принц сбегает от Арбакла, чтобы вернуться домой, а Гарфилда тем временем в замке пытается извести Даргис, который натравил на героя собаку. Гарфилду помогает местное зверье, которому категорически не нравятся планы Даргиса.
В финале Принц возвращается в замок, Гарфилд — к собственным хозяевам, а злобный лорд Даргис оказывается в руках полиции.
Экранизации
В 1987 году вышел мультфильм «Гарфилд едет в Голливуд» от режиссера Фила Романа. Здесь Гарфилд пытается избавиться от хозяина, потому что считает, будто Арбакл может помешать им с Оди взять главный приз на шоу талантливых зверей по причине собственной бездарности.
В 1988 году по мотивам комикса о Гарфилде вышел мультсериал, в создании которого принял участие лично автор комиксов Джим Дэвис. Сериал, который назывался «Гарфилд и его друзья», транслировался до 1994 года, всего вышло семь сезонов. Гарфилда озвучивал актер Лоренцо Мьюзик.
В 2004 году вышел первый фильм под названием «Гарфилд», где героя озвучивал актер Билл Мюррей, известный зрителям по фильмам «День сурка» и «Сломанные цветы». Режиссером фильма стал Питер Хьюитт. Фильм снимался главным образом в павильонах «Universal Studios» и на улицах Лос-Анджелеса, но некоторые сцены снимали в Великобритании. Роль Джона Арбакла, хозяина Гарфилда, собирался сыграть Джим Керри, но после того как актер передумал, роль досталась актеру и музыканту Брекину Мейеру.
Билл Мюррей озвучил Гарфилда и в фильме «Гарфилд 2: История двух кошечек», который вышел в 2006 году. Эту ленту снял режиссер Тим Хилл. В обоих фильмах компьютерная анимация совмещена с игрой живых актеров.
В 2000-ых появилось еще несколько мультфильмов о Гарфилде. В 2007 году вышел «Настоящий Гарфилд», еще через год продолжение этого мультфильма — «Фестиваль Гарфилда», а в 2009 году — «Космический спецназ Гарфилда» в 3D-формате. Во всех трех мультфильмах кота озвучивал актер Фрэнк Уэлкер.
Рыжий котяра стал также персонажем видеоигры под названием «Гарфилд: в поисках приключений».
Цитаты
«Нельзя меня выпихивать, как будто я какое-нибудь животное!»
«- Гарфилд! Ты что, съел 4 коробки с лазаньей?!
— Я не виноват! Прости меня!
— Ну и что мне с тобой делать?
— Люби, корми и никогда не бросай.
— Идем, я отвезу тебя в одно место! Там тебя быстро поставят на ноги!»
«У меня есть ошейник, просто я оставил его в другом меху».
Гарфилд — кот, созданный Джимом Дэвисом. Художник назвал выдуманного им рыжего котяру в честь собственного дедушки, которого звали Джеймсом Гарфилдом Дэвисом. Персонаж очень прожорлив и любит спать, как все типичные кошки, но, когда ему нечего делать, он гуляет по столу, на улице, делает вид, что охотится за мышами (хотя он с ними дружит), пинает пса Одди, показывает спектакли во дворе, ведёт войну с Пауками и ходит на свидания с Арлин.
Биография[]
История []
Гарфилд родился на кухне итальянского ресторана в 1978 году 19 июня, где стал испытывать страсть к итальянским блюдам. Он родился вместе со своей огромной семьёй полной кузенов и кузин. Единственный родной родственник из всех у него была мама. Однако, позже повар поместил кота в коробку с надписью «бесплатные котята» (англ.»free kitties»), после чего ещё молодой Джон Арбакл находит коробку и забирает Гарфилда к себе. Далее котёнок начинает жить у него,пока не чувствует свободу и не начинает сильно действовать ему на нервы. В семье Джона спустя время появляется щенок Одди, который только раздражал Гарфилда. Не смотря на всё это, кот любил свою семью. Порой к ним приезжал надоедливый котёнок родителей Джона — Нермал, который любил тыкнуть Гарфилду на то, что он милее него. С этого момента в жизни кота появляется много интересных приключений…
Однажды Джон понимает, что Гарфилд совсем его не уважает и с ним что-то не так. По этой причине он собирается и отвозит его к ветеринару, что совсем не нравится коту и, по чистой случайности, он выпадает из машины и оказывается в большом городе совсем один. По началу толстячку это нравилось, но с наступлением ночи Гарфилд понимает, что он голоден, так ещё и по дороге он дерётся с котом. Казалось бы, что он одерживает победу, как вдруг тот зовёт с собой толпу таких же бродяг котов и Гарфилд уже убегает от них. Укрытием оказывается для Гарфилда его старый дом — где он родился, и он понимает, что его семья живёт в нищете. Утром к ним приходит та же банда и начинается война котов. В битве одерживает победу семья Гарфилда и тот уходит от них, понимая, что ему тут не место. По дороге его подбирает Джон и они уезжают. Относится к породе экзотических котов.
Характер[]
Гарфилда можно назвать одной из самых необычных личностей в массовой культуре. И все же, Гарфилда можно назвать олицетворением «типичных людей»: он не любит работу, понедельники, обожает, когда что-то может получить бесплатно и т.д.
Гарфилд обожает есть лазанью, но терпеть не может изюм — из-за аллергии на него. Стоит также добавить, что дни сна и абсолютной пассивности резко сменяются минутами бешенства, когда всё, что стоит на пути у Гарфилда, рискует быть уничтожено его когтями. Гарфилд иногда бывает флегматичен, а иногда очень вспыльчив. К собакам Гарфилд также испытывает смешанные чувства. В одних выпусках/сериях мультфильма Гарфилд дружит с щенком Одди, а в других — безжалостно над ним издевается. Гарфилд крайне прожорлив, но не может есть большинство овощей и вышеупомянутый изюм. Гарфилд считает отвратительным есть мышей, поэтому дружит с ними.
Также среди любимых вещей Гарфилда является скидыванием Одди с края стоя. Гарфилду Джон даёт поручения избавляться от мышей, но тот дружит с ними(особенно с Писклёй), при этом прося их не попадаться на глаза хозяину. Ещё Гарфилд любит убивать пауков прихлопывая их газетами. В одном из комиксов было показано, что он истребил целое семейство пауков.
Внешность[]
Внешность Гарфилда заметно менялась с 70-х годов до настоящего времени. В самых первых появлениях комиксов Джима Двиса, Гарфилд был сильно круглощёким, как хомяк. 1970-ые стали для Гарфилда временем, когда он приобрёл свою рыжею шерсть, чёрные полосы на ней, светло-жёлтую морду и розовый носик. Вокруг его головы можно было увидеть торчащие волосы. Он был всё-также сильно круглощёким и довольно толстым. 1980-ые добавили Гарфилду уже более известные ему черты. Он стал антропоморфным, начал ходить на двух лапах, и в эти моменты по нему стали делать первые мультфильмы. У него стала более нормальных размеров голова и тонкие ножки. Живот тоже убрался. В комиксе 15 июня 2003 года про это была написана небольшая шутка, где два Гарфилда (2000-го и 1970-го годов) критикуют образы друг друг. 1990-ые предоставили Гарфилду уже его знаменитый вид, голова стала больше, тело немножко уменьшилась. В 2000-ом Гарфилд получил тонкие контуры и более овальные глаза. А в 2007-2010-ом Гарфилд впервые попал на 3D в различных мультфильмах (3 полнометражки и Гарфилд шоу). Не имеет когтей.
Отношения[]
Джон Арбакл[]
Гарфилд любит Джона. Тот хоть и неудачник и не особо много (по меркам Гарфилда) готовит ему еды, он не может жить без него. У Гарфилда и Джона в каком-то роде отношения отца и сына. В «Гарфилд в большом городе» Гарфилд изначально приветствовал идею того, что он теперь будет жить без Одди и Джона. Однако, к концу короткометражки он радуется появлению Джона и понимает, что любит его. Но в большинстве случаев он издевается над Джоном, разыгрывая его. Несмотря на всё это, Гарфилд боится Джона, если тот например угрожает ему тем, что он запретит ему питаться лазаньей на неделю.
Одди[]
Одди по сути младший брат Гарфилда. Его раздражает часто то, что Одди имеет много хороших отношений с Джоном и тот часто его поощряет. Когда Одди стоит на крае стола, Гарфилд скидывает его и это уже стало его классическим любимым делом. Одди с самого детства является другом Гарфилда, в картине «А вот и Гарфилд» в момент, когда Одди собираются усыпить, Гарфилд быстро вспоминает детство с ним и начинает плакать. Это доказывает, что Гарфилд любит Одди, ибо с ним он провёл очень много времени.
Нермал[]
Нермал — котёнок родителей Джона. Гарфилд его терпеть не может и в одном из хеллоуинских эпизодов «Гарфилд шоу« Гарфилд пытается придумать, что его бесит больше всего и в его образе самой ненавистной вещи предстоит Нермал, говорящий, что он собирается есть его еду и спать в его кроватке. Нермал любит напоминать, что он моложе Гарфилда, красивее и милее, что того приводит в бешенство. Нермал является аллегорией на надоедливого младшего кузена, который злоупотребляет любовью родителей (хозяина Джона). Нермал один из злейших врагов Гарфилда, но иногда они объединяются для общих желаний.
Лиз[]
Из-за того, что Джон стал уделять ему меньше внимания, он начал ревновать Джона к Лиз.
Пауки[]
Пауки — одно из дел, которыми любит заниматься Гарфилд. Когда те попадаются на его глаза, он берёт газету Джона и начинает прихлопывать их. В одном из комиксов он убивает целую семью пауков, при этом, совершенно безразлично относясь к ним.
Пуки[]
Пуки — плюшевый медведь Гарфилда. Он обожает его, любит с ним спать и представляет его как своего воображаемого друга. В одной из серий «Гарфилд и его друзья«, когда Джон положил его в стиральную машину, Гарфилд устроил расследование над его поисками.
Мама Гарфилда
Гарфилд любит мать, хоть и находится далеко от неё.
Интересные факты[]
- Гарфилд был назван в честь дедушки Джима Дэвиса, которого назвали в честь президента США Джеймса Гарфилда.
- Гарфилд унаследовал от деда не только имя, но и некоторые черты характера, такие как скупость и осторожность.
- Слово «толстый» льстит Гарфилду, но иногда оскорбляет, почему так — неизвестно.
- Гарфилд дружит с мышами, но иногда мыши «восстают» против него и забирают еду.
- Лучший друг Гарфилда — Одди, хотя сам Гарфилд этого не признаёт.
- Гарфилд не переносит грейпфрут, изюм(из-за аллергии), улиток, кексы и большинство овощей.
Двойник[]
Гарзука — двойник Гарфилда, является командиром космического спецназа, который прилетел из мира комиксов в мультяшный мир Гарфилда, чтобы спасти вселенную от Вэтвикс, завладевшей оружием, способным подчинять всё живое и неживое. Гарзука, одним словом, силач, а также умеет, в буквальном смысле, плеваться радиоактивными шарами.
Галерея[]
Гарфилд со своей иконкой.
Гарфилд, нарисованный Джимом Дэвисом.
Рыжий экзот.
Анатомия Гарфилда. Из германской детской книжки
Эволюция стиля рисовки Гарфилда.
Гарфилд и его мама
Garfield is the main protagonist of the long-running franchise of the same name, created by Jim Davis.
Biography
Early Life
Garfield was born on June 19, 1978, in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni’s Italian Restaurant to his mother and his unnamed father, weighing 5 lbs and 6 ounces at birth. Lasagna has been Garfield’s favorite food throughout his life, unlike the majority of his family, who were more into mice. The restaurant owner of Mamma Leoni’s Italian Restaurant had to choose between keeping Garfield or closing down his restaurant due to a lack of pasta, so Garfield was sold to a pet shop. On the same day as his birth, Jon Arbuckle came to the pet store and had to choose between Garfield, an iguana, and a pet rock. On November 14, 1978, comic strip, Jon quoted, «I love cats. I wanted a cat… So what do I do? I go to the pet store and ask for a cat. What do they give me?… A lasagna with fur and fangs.»
Personality
Garfield is an overweight, anthropomorphic orange tabby cat noted for his sheer laziness, sarcasm, arrogance, selfishness, and intense passion for food, particularly lasagna and most forms of foods made from flour. He dislikes raisins and (sometimes) anchovy pizza.
Throughout the course of the strip, Garfield’s weight has been poked fun at as an object of ridicule, frequently by the electronic scale which he uses to weigh himself. Garfield usually does not handle insults or commands from the talking scale RX-2 (or anybody else) very well, and will normally respond to such remarks with either a saucy comeback or some sort of threat of violence, in spite of the fact that the character solely communicates through thought bubbles.
Garfield lives with his nerdy, socially awkward owner Jon Arbuckle and Jon’s dimwitted pet dog Odie, and derives pleasure from satirically mocking the stupid actions performed by the two of them. Garfield seems to intensely abhor Odie (as obviously expected from the assumed common hatred shared by cats and dogs) and derives joy from causing him physical harm or insulting him such as kicking him off tables, seldom showing empathy for the beagle. Albeit Odie shows Garfield no belligerence of any kind and would never deliberately cause him harm (though Odie does occasionally prank Garfield and has made fun of his weight and more recently his age), Garfield despises him nonetheless and is apt to make rude and saucy comments based on the utter lack of intelligence displayed by Odie, though at times it is not entirely clear whether Odie actually is stupid or not. Odie is not the only target of Garfield’s taunts; he frequently insults and pokes fun at Jon as well for his nerdy behavior and unpopularity with women, along with his unconventional and eccentric fashion sense.
Despite his sometimes selfishness and sheer laziness, Garfield loves both Odie and Jon, as well as his beloved teddy bear Pooky, who is frequently seen in his Garfield’s arms or close to him.
Nermal is disliked by Garfield, as he persistently claims to be cuter than him. Garfield also dislikes how Jon pays more attention to Nermal when the latter visits.
In The Garfield Live action Film duology, he acts the same as he does in the comics, but has more of a passion towards dancing and listening to music.
In The Garfield Show, while Garfield still retains his signature traits, he is considerably more compassionate towards his friends.
Physical Appearance
Garfield’s designs throughout the years.
Over the years, Garfield’s appearance has changed greatly. In the first couple of years of the strip, he looked more like a real Exotic Shorthair cat and was fatter. Over time, Garfield started to get smaller and less morbidly obese. He also started gaining more human tendencies such as walking on two feet (previously he walked on all fours) but has remained silent for the rest of the strip. He also has four toes on his feet. Despite the changes, Garfield has always remained an orange tabby over the years.
Talking
Throughout the franchise, Garfield is known for having internal monologues that are converted into text via thought bubbles. In the Lorenzo Music era, his mouth was always closed, since it is established that he and the other animals cannot talk. Despite this, he seems to communicate with Jon through some sort of telepathic connection.
It is never made clear if humans can understand what Garfield is saying. Sometimes, it appears humans can hear his thoughts, and Garfield can order things on the phone without a worry, but Garfield always establishes his inability to talk.
Starting with the live-action films, Garfield’s mouth now moves when he has dialogue, making it harder to tell whether or not he can talk.
In «The Garfield Show», Garfield is portrayed with a moving mouth. Despite this, Jon is usually unable to hear his dialogue.
Intelligence/Food Consumption
For a cat, Garfield has high intelligence to the point of an average human. He is capable of reading and writing and can operate an array of basic electronics such as TVs, telephones, voice recorders, computers (with a mouse, not the touch-pad), etc. He can communicate with elephants, humans (understand, but not talk to), dogs, mice, other animals, mythical creatures, and the viewer. He can write with a goose feather or by dipping his claws into a bottle of ink. He can also operate basic machinery in case of an emergency.
He orders an average of 50 boxes of his favorite food lasagna a week and eats extra on his birthday. He likes an arrangement of food containing wheat and is known to like Chinese food on occasion. He likes eggplants in lasagnas and pepperoni on pizzas. He usually eats by tossing lasagnas into the air and catching them. He sometimes uses a fork, albeit more rarely. He often orders a large pizza and rolls it up like a taco. He eats with more manners in «Against All Tides».
Although he has a large capacity for food consumption, he is sometimes shown to have nightmares if he eats too much before sleeping. Notably, two video games have been based on this concept, being Garfield’s Nightmare and Garfield and His Nine Lives. A large number of comic strips, TV episodes, and TV specials have also been built around this fact.
Relationships
Garfield and Jon
While Garfield loves his owner Jon, this does not stop him from pulling numerous practical jokes on him, as well as other mischievous acts.
Being the obsessive eater he is, Garfield frequently eats Jon’s food when he is not looking. Even when Jon is on his guard, Garfield manages to take his food in other, more ingenious ways, such as cutting holes through the table. Other times, when Jon tries to work out a truce with Garfield to stop him from eating his food, Garfield often ignores Jon’s offers and eats his food instead. Often times, Garfield even takes Jon’s food and adds it to his own cat food.
Garfield frequently pranks Jon in several different ways as well. One way is by locking Jon out of the house while he is out to retrieve the mail. Garfield may do this to hog all the prepared breakfast food for himself. Other times, Garfield does it to amuse the neighbors by locking Jon out while he is on out in his bunny footy pajamas.
When Jon is asleep, Garfield often goes to extreme measures to wake him up. This has included hopping on his stomach, waking him with different monster masks on his face (or otherwise frightening him), throwing his bed out of the window with him in it, knocking him off the bed after playing the radio, talking like a drill sergeant with Odie playing the cymbals, or attempting to throttle him (as he does in some early strips).
In addition, Jon often pays the price for Garfield’s acts of mischief on other people. When terrorizing the neighborhood in various ways (such as destroying flowerbeds, chasing girl scouts to ransack their cookies, or just plain harassing people), Jon gets flooded with calls from neighbors complaining about Garfield’s actions. Garfield only views such large volumes of complaint calls as an award or achievement.
In Garfield and Friends and the specials and The Garfield Show, they are best friends. The only thing the neighbors complain about Garfield is eating their food. But Jon and Garfield care about each other and both of them are protective of each other.
Garfield and Odie
Garfield frequently harasses Odie, his house-mate. Garfield enjoys kicking Odie off the table when he is not looking. He also likes to trick Odie into performing a stupid act, like chasing non-existent objects or getting him to chase his tail around in circles with no end. Despite this, Garfield does care for Odie and his well being to the point where he would put his life on the line to ensure his safety.
In the Garfield Show, Garfield does not harass Odie as much as he does in the comics. Garfield’s friendship with Odie is shown quite often when he is in danger. He also acts more generous with food towards him; after ordering pizzas whilst visiting Doc Boy’s farm, Garfield openly shares a slice with Odie after being asked.
Garfield and Spiders
Garfield often comes into contact with spiders; this almost always results with them being whacked with a rolled newspaper or stomped by his foot. This is often the result of the spider insulting Garfield, whether it be over his weight, his old age (usually around Garfield’s upcoming birthdays), his life in general, or anything else. Other times, it is merely an act resulting from Garfield’s general hatred towards spiders.
Occasionally, when Garfield flattens a spider with a magazine, he will leave the magazine out for Jon to read. When Jon opens the magazine, he finds a large, flattened out spider, causing him to scream in terror. The spiders occasionally win against Garfield by avoiding getting swatted or finding a way to annoy or harm him, such as ruining his selfie.
Garfield and Nermal
Garfield is often jealous of the treatment Nermal gets from many people, especially Jon. While not having any problem with him when having his peace and quiet undisturbed, Garfield will get very angry and annoyed when Nermal intentionally ruins it and will not have any problem with bullying or mailing him to Abu Dhabi him in return. Garfield still dislikes Nermal and wishes he would leave him alone. They get along if they needed to be, or if Garfield is in a good mood.
In the Garfield Show and the CGI movies, Garfield openly displays irritation with Nermal when he is there to intentionally annoy him and others. He once wore a mask of himself smiling to pretend to tolerate Nermal.
Garfield and Arlene
Throughout the comic strips, Garfield and Arlene appear to be close. Garfield would attempt to make some moves on Arlene, such as kissing her or attempting to compliment her, which would end with Arlene injuring him vaguely. As the comic strips went on, it was hinted that they are a pair.
Garfield may have commitment issues with Arlene. In one comic strip, Garfield imagines a future of him and Arlene being married; he grows nervous when he imagines them having kittens and brushes the idea off. In another strip, Arlene asks him from out of nowhere if it were legal for cats to get married. Garfield’s face (except for his mouth) responds with a surprised and scared expression. When being asked by Arlene if he is okay, Garfield tells her that his brain is in pain. Arlene also knows what to say to Garfield; when she randomly mentions tuna, Garfield smiles with her as he holds her paw, commenting on how much of a sweet talker she was. He also does not wish to be too critical with Arlene, as when being asked if the gap in her teeth looks silly, Garfield tells her that she could never look silly. Garfield also mentions that Arlene is cute when she is angry.
In the CGI movies, Garfield and Arlene act more romantically interested in one another. Arlene sometimes believes he could do better. She gets worried and frustrated when it seems like some other female cat is hitting on Garfield. Garfield is also shown to be afraid of losing Arlene to a better male cat. In Garfield’s Fun Fest, he sees «Ramone» become Arlene’s new dance partner, an offer that he had turned down, making Garfield grow jealous and worried. Following an unsuccessful journey for Freddy Frog’s «funny water», he expects Arlene and his fans to forget about him. When he gets encouragement from Freddy himself, Garfield puts on the clothes and dances with Arlene while fighting with Ramone until exposing him as Nermal. Garfield then apologizes to Arlene, as this was more important than Fun Fest. They end up winning a perfect score and the two kiss.
Garfield as he appears in The Garfield Show
Garfield and Plants
He likes to eat ferns and other types of flowers. Liz once said that the reason Garfield eats Jon’s houseplants is due to the fact that he is so out of shape that plants are one of the few things that are easy for him to catch. Some strips feature common flowers talking to each other, only to be eaten by Garfield in the end.
Garfield and Dogs
Besides kicking Odie off the table, when outside, Garfield enjoys teasing other dogs. They are usually chained up or smaller in size than Garfield. He occasionally faces the misfortune of the chain or rope not being securely tied, (resulting in Garfield being chased and/or injured by the dog), or the dogs are not as small or weak as they seem. At one point, an obese blue dog in a superhero costume assumed various different guises (i.e, Bungee Dog, Slingshot Dog, etc.), resulting in Garfield getting harmed.
Others
Garfield likes to torment mailman Herman Post, although Herman occasionally gets the last laugh.
Garfield’s other favorite victim to prank is Mrs. Feeny. He loves to prank her, and abuse her little dog. This makes her hate Garfield, often sending threatening letters to him. She goes to great lengths to try and keep him out of her garden as well, often to no avail.
Garfield can also be a rude slob, with almost no manners. Among the rude things he likes to do is burp very loudly. On two occasions, Garfield goes out of his way to burp louder than Jon does; when Jon states that not everything is a contest, Garfield replies «Said the loser.»
On January 8, 2009, he displays a certificate announcing his election into the Bad Habit Hall of Fame. Afterward, he crumples up the certificate and tosses it behind him.
New Olympic competition: bush diving.
Common Elements of a Garfield Comic
- Garfield sitting on the couch, watching TV.
- Garfield making fun of Jon and/or Odie.
- Garfield swatting (a) spider(s).
- Jon complaining about Garfield’s refusal to chase mice.
- Garfield harassing the neighbors, and Jon getting calls about it.
- Garfield eating Lasagna.
Garfield’s second-favourite activity
- Garfield eating ferns, either Jon’s or Mrs. Feeny’s.
- Garfield performing on the fence.
- Jon asking a girl out on a date, and Garfield making a witty comment.
- Garfield insulting or making snarky, witty, sarcastic and sometimes downright mean comments about Jon’s flaws.
- Garfield hating Mondays.
- Garfield kicking or pushing Odie off the table.
- Garfield dating Arlene.
- Nermal being a nuisance to Garfield and being mailed to Abu Dhabi.
- Garfield pulling pranks on Herman Post.
- Garfield Sleeping.
- Garfield and Odie doing «Ask a Dog».
- Odie’s barking disturbing Garfield’s eating and sleeping.
- Birthday and age-related nightmares on the days before Garfield’s birthday.
- Garfield being sent to the nurse for being over-weight.
Garfield’s anatomy (from a German book)
- Diets
- Garfield trying to cheat on his diets.
- Garfield trying to fool RX-2 the talking scale.
- Exaggerated signs that Garfield needs to go on a diet, such as the house sinking in or the floors becoming wavy or bouncy in one comic.
- Garfield throwing Nermal through the door.
- Garfield and his coffee addiction.
- Garfield shedding.
- Garfield complaining about Mondays.
- Bad things happening to Garfield on Mondays.
- Jon or Garfield being on the news.
- Garfield taunting the neighborhood dogs.
- Garfield and/or Jon ordering pizza.
- Garfield eating birds (or at least trying to).
- Garfield getting stuck in the blinds.
- Garfield clawing furniture (or curtains).
Repeatedly Used Words
While Garfield does not have any catchphrases, he has some certain words or phrases he says on several occasions:
- Nice touch: a phrase often said by Garfield on television.
- I hate Mondays: famously, Mondays seem to hate Garfield even more than he hates them!
- Rats: a word said when something goes wrong.
- Big fat hairy deal: not said as much as the others, but has a video game by the same name.
- Whoever [phrase] should be dragged out into the street and shot: said whenever he is angry at someone—most notably in certain Garfield and Friends episodes and animated specials. In an episode of The Garfield Show, «shot» was replaced with «beaten».
- I’m standing on him: whenever Garfield appears taller than usual
- We’re bachelors, baby: A phrase Garfield started saying when Jon would be lazy about things like cleaning. First used after Liz became Jon’s girlfriend.
- Feed me: said when he wants to be fed. (This is actually the second thing he said on his very first comic strip.)
- Rat Fink daisies
- This does not bode well (also said by Jon in the first comic strip of 2000.)
- Pizza
- Vito
- No anchovies!
- Lasagna
- Eat your heart out, [person]
- I’m not overweight. I’m undertall.
- Hey, you’re not exactly Ms. (phrase) yourself lady!: Not said as much as others but it is commonly said when he feels like he’s being insulted
- I hate ______. : used when something «disobeys» what Garfield wants it to do
- The plot thickens: said when something funny happens with Jon (such as showing a scar to a police officer when he thought he was showing it to a nurse) or Odie (such as being yelled at by Jon for supposedly trying to eat the last green jelly bean)
- Define «_______» : usually said when Garfield does not want to properly answer a question.
- Yo no comprehendo, señor. : Used when Garfield tries to avoid a problem by speaking the Spanish translation for «I do not understand, sir».
Friends
- Odie (best friend)
- Jon Arbuckle (best friend)
- Nermal (friends in Garfield Movie)
- Arlene
- Harry (occasionally)
- Pooky
- Squeak
- Doc Boy Arbuckle
- Vito Cappelletti
- Mrs. Arbuckle
- Mr. Arbuckle
- Grandma Arbuckle
- Floyd
- Orson Pig
- Wade Duck
- Roy Rooster
- Booker
- Sheldon
- Bo Sheep
- Penelope Pussycat
- Cactus Jake
- Liz Wilson
- Lyman
- Herman Post (acquantice in Garfield and Friends and The Garfield Show)
Enemies
- Nermal (also victim)
- Harry (sometimes)
- Bruno
- Nathan
- Spiders (also victims)
- Flies (also victims)
- Mrs. Feeny
- Aunt Ivy
- Herman Post (also victim and enemy in comics)
- Drusilla and Minerva (attacker)
- Dogs (sometimes)
- Plants
- Fish
- Birds (only specifics)
- RX-2
- Brick
- Bonzo
- Theodore Block (before finding Foo Foo’s lookalike)
- Binky the Clown (depending on the episode)
- TI-D 7000
Likes
- Lasagna
- Pizza
- Donuts
- Eating
- Sleeping
- Abusing Odie
- Mailing Nermal to Abu Dhabi
- Tormenting Jon
- Scratching curtains and furniture
- Diving in flowers
- Eating Jon and Mrs. Feeny’s flowers and plants
- Harassing Herman
- Pooky
- Eating Jon’s goldfish (or any other fish he brings home) and birds
- Befriending mice
- Coffee
- Stalking and hunting birds out in the backyard, especially in the comics (formerly in The Garfield Show)
- Squashing spiders and insects and other arthropods
- Burping loudly
- Insulting dogs
- Tormenting his neighbors, particularly Mrs. Feeny
- Tormenting Mrs. Feeny’s chihuahua
- Performing in front of the audience
- Stealing food from his neighbors, which was common in Garfield and Friends, particularly with Mr. Burnside
- Causing Jon and his neighbor’s misery
- Watching television
- Making the Laundromutt wash Odie
- Emptying all of Vito’s stock
- Binky the Clown (sometimes)
- Singing
- Dancing
Dislikes
- Mondays (Especially on the 13ths)
- Raisins in any form, especially in cookies, muffins, and cupcakes
- Spinach (occasionally)
- Grapefruits
- Irma’s cooking
- Dogs (except Odie)
- Spiders
- Flies
- Mice (as food)
- Nermal (only when he annoys him)
- Getting vaccination shots from the vet
- Rain
- Garden sprinklers and accidentally encountering sprinkler heads
- Birthdays («It’s really the aging that curdles my cheese» or without any lasagna)
- Birthday and age-related nightmares
- Diets
- Alarm clocks (they wake him up from his nap)
- Splut Pies
- Baths (This was only shown happening for the first couple of years)
- Leashes
- Some vegetables
- People who know that he hates Mondays and people who like Mondays, especially Jon
- February (sporadically in the ’80s)
- March’s weather
- Healthy foods
- Exercise
- Fleas
- RX-2, the talking scale taunting or insulting him
- Jon’s fashion sense and Christmas gift choices
- Anybody calling him overweight, or taunting/insulting him for related reasons
- Buttermilk
- Folding Chairs
- Leg Cramps
- Jon threatening never to feed him again
- Chores
- Drusilla and Minerva
- Aunt Ivy
- Buddy Bears
- Binky the Clown (Sometimes)
- Agent X
- Mama Meanie’s Pizza Palace
- Dr. Whipple
- Virtualodeon
Appearances
Garfield and Friends
- Garfield is one of two characters who appear in all episodes.
The Garfield Show
- Garfield is the only character to appear in all episodes.
Garfield Originals
- Garfield is the only character to appear in all episodes.
Trivia
- According to Jim Davis in a Denver Comic-Con interview, Jack Nicholson was considered as the voice of Garfield in the 2004 live-action film. He was the only one besides Bill Murray considered for the role; he was never contacted as Murray was immediately accepted.
- In one comic strip, Garfield claims to dream in pizza toppings.
- The comic strip for May 17, 1999 references that Garfield may have killed something.
- In the April 25, 1983 strip, it is revealed that Garfield’s favorite movie is «Old Yeller.»
- Garfield is said to weigh 5 lbs and 6 ounces at birth, which was the actual birth weight of Jim Davis’s son, James. Garfield’s birth weight was supposedly from his ego, as said in Garfield’s Guide to Everything.
- The foods Garfield will not eat are
- Raisins (including anything that contains such)
- Anchovies on pizza (occasionally)
- Most healthy foods
- Yogurt (including anything that resembles it)
- Jon’s meatloaf (although he is sometimes seen eating it in The Garfield Show)
- Snails
- Fruitcake
- Chicken salad sandwiches (especially ones with peanut butter)
- Garfield’s 1978 design can be seen in The Garfield Show on a picture frame in the living room.
- Garfield was named after Jim Davis’ grandfather, James Garfield Davis.
Garfield is the main protagonist of the long-running franchise of the same name, created by Jim Davis.
Biography
Early Life
Garfield was born on June 19, 1978, in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni’s Italian Restaurant to his mother and his unnamed father, weighing 5 lbs and 6 ounces at birth. Lasagna has been Garfield’s favorite food throughout his life, unlike the majority of his family, who were more into mice. The restaurant owner of Mamma Leoni’s Italian Restaurant had to choose between keeping Garfield or closing down his restaurant due to a lack of pasta, so Garfield was sold to a pet shop. On the same day as his birth, Jon Arbuckle came to the pet store and had to choose between Garfield, an iguana, and a pet rock. On November 14, 1978, comic strip, Jon quoted, «I love cats. I wanted a cat… So what do I do? I go to the pet store and ask for a cat. What do they give me?… A lasagna with fur and fangs.»
Personality
Garfield is an overweight, anthropomorphic orange tabby cat noted for his sheer laziness, sarcasm, arrogance, selfishness, and intense passion for food, particularly lasagna and most forms of foods made from flour. He dislikes raisins and (sometimes) anchovy pizza.
Throughout the course of the strip, Garfield’s weight has been poked fun at as an object of ridicule, frequently by the electronic scale which he uses to weigh himself. Garfield usually does not handle insults or commands from the talking scale RX-2 (or anybody else) very well, and will normally respond to such remarks with either a saucy comeback or some sort of threat of violence, in spite of the fact that the character solely communicates through thought bubbles.
Garfield lives with his nerdy, socially awkward owner Jon Arbuckle and Jon’s dimwitted pet dog Odie, and derives pleasure from satirically mocking the stupid actions performed by the two of them. Garfield seems to intensely abhor Odie (as obviously expected from the assumed common hatred shared by cats and dogs) and derives joy from causing him physical harm or insulting him such as kicking him off tables, seldom showing empathy for the beagle. Albeit Odie shows Garfield no belligerence of any kind and would never deliberately cause him harm (though Odie does occasionally prank Garfield and has made fun of his weight and more recently his age), Garfield despises him nonetheless and is apt to make rude and saucy comments based on the utter lack of intelligence displayed by Odie, though at times it is not entirely clear whether Odie actually is stupid or not. Odie is not the only target of Garfield’s taunts; he frequently insults and pokes fun at Jon as well for his nerdy behavior and unpopularity with women, along with his unconventional and eccentric fashion sense.
Despite his sometimes selfishness and sheer laziness, Garfield loves both Odie and Jon, as well as his beloved teddy bear Pooky, who is frequently seen in his Garfield’s arms or close to him.
Nermal is disliked by Garfield, as he persistently claims to be cuter than him. Garfield also dislikes how Jon pays more attention to Nermal when the latter visits.
In The Garfield Live action Film duology, he acts the same as he does in the comics, but has more of a passion towards dancing and listening to music.
In The Garfield Show, while Garfield still retains his signature traits, he is considerably more compassionate towards his friends.
Physical Appearance
Garfield’s designs throughout the years.
Over the years, Garfield’s appearance has changed greatly. In the first couple of years of the strip, he looked more like a real Exotic Shorthair cat and was fatter. Over time, Garfield started to get smaller and less morbidly obese. He also started gaining more human tendencies such as walking on two feet (previously he walked on all fours) but has remained silent for the rest of the strip. He also has four toes on his feet. Despite the changes, Garfield has always remained an orange tabby over the years.
Talking
Throughout the franchise, Garfield is known for having internal monologues that are converted into text via thought bubbles. In the Lorenzo Music era, his mouth was always closed, since it is established that he and the other animals cannot talk. Despite this, he seems to communicate with Jon through some sort of telepathic connection.
It is never made clear if humans can understand what Garfield is saying. Sometimes, it appears humans can hear his thoughts, and Garfield can order things on the phone without a worry, but Garfield always establishes his inability to talk.
Starting with the live-action films, Garfield’s mouth now moves when he has dialogue, making it harder to tell whether or not he can talk.
In «The Garfield Show», Garfield is portrayed with a moving mouth. Despite this, Jon is usually unable to hear his dialogue.
Intelligence/Food Consumption
For a cat, Garfield has high intelligence to the point of an average human. He is capable of reading and writing and can operate an array of basic electronics such as TVs, telephones, voice recorders, computers (with a mouse, not the touch-pad), etc. He can communicate with elephants, humans (understand, but not talk to), dogs, mice, other animals, mythical creatures, and the viewer. He can write with a goose feather or by dipping his claws into a bottle of ink. He can also operate basic machinery in case of an emergency.
He orders an average of 50 boxes of his favorite food lasagna a week and eats extra on his birthday. He likes an arrangement of food containing wheat and is known to like Chinese food on occasion. He likes eggplants in lasagnas and pepperoni on pizzas. He usually eats by tossing lasagnas into the air and catching them. He sometimes uses a fork, albeit more rarely. He often orders a large pizza and rolls it up like a taco. He eats with more manners in «Against All Tides».
Although he has a large capacity for food consumption, he is sometimes shown to have nightmares if he eats too much before sleeping. Notably, two video games have been based on this concept, being Garfield’s Nightmare and Garfield and His Nine Lives. A large number of comic strips, TV episodes, and TV specials have also been built around this fact.
Relationships
Garfield and Jon
While Garfield loves his owner Jon, this does not stop him from pulling numerous practical jokes on him, as well as other mischievous acts.
Being the obsessive eater he is, Garfield frequently eats Jon’s food when he is not looking. Even when Jon is on his guard, Garfield manages to take his food in other, more ingenious ways, such as cutting holes through the table. Other times, when Jon tries to work out a truce with Garfield to stop him from eating his food, Garfield often ignores Jon’s offers and eats his food instead. Often times, Garfield even takes Jon’s food and adds it to his own cat food.
Garfield frequently pranks Jon in several different ways as well. One way is by locking Jon out of the house while he is out to retrieve the mail. Garfield may do this to hog all the prepared breakfast food for himself. Other times, Garfield does it to amuse the neighbors by locking Jon out while he is on out in his bunny footy pajamas.
When Jon is asleep, Garfield often goes to extreme measures to wake him up. This has included hopping on his stomach, waking him with different monster masks on his face (or otherwise frightening him), throwing his bed out of the window with him in it, knocking him off the bed after playing the radio, talking like a drill sergeant with Odie playing the cymbals, or attempting to throttle him (as he does in some early strips).
In addition, Jon often pays the price for Garfield’s acts of mischief on other people. When terrorizing the neighborhood in various ways (such as destroying flowerbeds, chasing girl scouts to ransack their cookies, or just plain harassing people), Jon gets flooded with calls from neighbors complaining about Garfield’s actions. Garfield only views such large volumes of complaint calls as an award or achievement.
In Garfield and Friends and the specials and The Garfield Show, they are best friends. The only thing the neighbors complain about Garfield is eating their food. But Jon and Garfield care about each other and both of them are protective of each other.
Garfield and Odie
Garfield frequently harasses Odie, his house-mate. Garfield enjoys kicking Odie off the table when he is not looking. He also likes to trick Odie into performing a stupid act, like chasing non-existent objects or getting him to chase his tail around in circles with no end. Despite this, Garfield does care for Odie and his well being to the point where he would put his life on the line to ensure his safety.
In the Garfield Show, Garfield does not harass Odie as much as he does in the comics. Garfield’s friendship with Odie is shown quite often when he is in danger. He also acts more generous with food towards him; after ordering pizzas whilst visiting Doc Boy’s farm, Garfield openly shares a slice with Odie after being asked.
Garfield and Spiders
Garfield often comes into contact with spiders; this almost always results with them being whacked with a rolled newspaper or stomped by his foot. This is often the result of the spider insulting Garfield, whether it be over his weight, his old age (usually around Garfield’s upcoming birthdays), his life in general, or anything else. Other times, it is merely an act resulting from Garfield’s general hatred towards spiders.
Occasionally, when Garfield flattens a spider with a magazine, he will leave the magazine out for Jon to read. When Jon opens the magazine, he finds a large, flattened out spider, causing him to scream in terror. The spiders occasionally win against Garfield by avoiding getting swatted or finding a way to annoy or harm him, such as ruining his selfie.
Garfield and Nermal
Garfield is often jealous of the treatment Nermal gets from many people, especially Jon. While not having any problem with him when having his peace and quiet undisturbed, Garfield will get very angry and annoyed when Nermal intentionally ruins it and will not have any problem with bullying or mailing him to Abu Dhabi him in return. Garfield still dislikes Nermal and wishes he would leave him alone. They get along if they needed to be, or if Garfield is in a good mood.
In the Garfield Show and the CGI movies, Garfield openly displays irritation with Nermal when he is there to intentionally annoy him and others. He once wore a mask of himself smiling to pretend to tolerate Nermal.
Garfield and Arlene
Throughout the comic strips, Garfield and Arlene appear to be close. Garfield would attempt to make some moves on Arlene, such as kissing her or attempting to compliment her, which would end with Arlene injuring him vaguely. As the comic strips went on, it was hinted that they are a pair.
Garfield may have commitment issues with Arlene. In one comic strip, Garfield imagines a future of him and Arlene being married; he grows nervous when he imagines them having kittens and brushes the idea off. In another strip, Arlene asks him from out of nowhere if it were legal for cats to get married. Garfield’s face (except for his mouth) responds with a surprised and scared expression. When being asked by Arlene if he is okay, Garfield tells her that his brain is in pain. Arlene also knows what to say to Garfield; when she randomly mentions tuna, Garfield smiles with her as he holds her paw, commenting on how much of a sweet talker she was. He also does not wish to be too critical with Arlene, as when being asked if the gap in her teeth looks silly, Garfield tells her that she could never look silly. Garfield also mentions that Arlene is cute when she is angry.
In the CGI movies, Garfield and Arlene act more romantically interested in one another. Arlene sometimes believes he could do better. She gets worried and frustrated when it seems like some other female cat is hitting on Garfield. Garfield is also shown to be afraid of losing Arlene to a better male cat. In Garfield’s Fun Fest, he sees «Ramone» become Arlene’s new dance partner, an offer that he had turned down, making Garfield grow jealous and worried. Following an unsuccessful journey for Freddy Frog’s «funny water», he expects Arlene and his fans to forget about him. When he gets encouragement from Freddy himself, Garfield puts on the clothes and dances with Arlene while fighting with Ramone until exposing him as Nermal. Garfield then apologizes to Arlene, as this was more important than Fun Fest. They end up winning a perfect score and the two kiss.
Garfield as he appears in The Garfield Show
Garfield and Plants
He likes to eat ferns and other types of flowers. Liz once said that the reason Garfield eats Jon’s houseplants is due to the fact that he is so out of shape that plants are one of the few things that are easy for him to catch. Some strips feature common flowers talking to each other, only to be eaten by Garfield in the end.
Garfield and Dogs
Besides kicking Odie off the table, when outside, Garfield enjoys teasing other dogs. They are usually chained up or smaller in size than Garfield. He occasionally faces the misfortune of the chain or rope not being securely tied, (resulting in Garfield being chased and/or injured by the dog), or the dogs are not as small or weak as they seem. At one point, an obese blue dog in a superhero costume assumed various different guises (i.e, Bungee Dog, Slingshot Dog, etc.), resulting in Garfield getting harmed.
Others
Garfield likes to torment mailman Herman Post, although Herman occasionally gets the last laugh.
Garfield’s other favorite victim to prank is Mrs. Feeny. He loves to prank her, and abuse her little dog. This makes her hate Garfield, often sending threatening letters to him. She goes to great lengths to try and keep him out of her garden as well, often to no avail.
Garfield can also be a rude slob, with almost no manners. Among the rude things he likes to do is burp very loudly. On two occasions, Garfield goes out of his way to burp louder than Jon does; when Jon states that not everything is a contest, Garfield replies «Said the loser.»
On January 8, 2009, he displays a certificate announcing his election into the Bad Habit Hall of Fame. Afterward, he crumples up the certificate and tosses it behind him.
New Olympic competition: bush diving.
Common Elements of a Garfield Comic
- Garfield sitting on the couch, watching TV.
- Garfield making fun of Jon and/or Odie.
- Garfield swatting (a) spider(s).
- Jon complaining about Garfield’s refusal to chase mice.
- Garfield harassing the neighbors, and Jon getting calls about it.
- Garfield eating Lasagna.
Garfield’s second-favourite activity
- Garfield eating ferns, either Jon’s or Mrs. Feeny’s.
- Garfield performing on the fence.
- Jon asking a girl out on a date, and Garfield making a witty comment.
- Garfield insulting or making snarky, witty, sarcastic and sometimes downright mean comments about Jon’s flaws.
- Garfield hating Mondays.
- Garfield kicking or pushing Odie off the table.
- Garfield dating Arlene.
- Nermal being a nuisance to Garfield and being mailed to Abu Dhabi.
- Garfield pulling pranks on Herman Post.
- Garfield Sleeping.
- Garfield and Odie doing «Ask a Dog».
- Odie’s barking disturbing Garfield’s eating and sleeping.
- Birthday and age-related nightmares on the days before Garfield’s birthday.
- Garfield being sent to the nurse for being over-weight.
Garfield’s anatomy (from a German book)
- Diets
- Garfield trying to cheat on his diets.
- Garfield trying to fool RX-2 the talking scale.
- Exaggerated signs that Garfield needs to go on a diet, such as the house sinking in or the floors becoming wavy or bouncy in one comic.
- Garfield throwing Nermal through the door.
- Garfield and his coffee addiction.
- Garfield shedding.
- Garfield complaining about Mondays.
- Bad things happening to Garfield on Mondays.
- Jon or Garfield being on the news.
- Garfield taunting the neighborhood dogs.
- Garfield and/or Jon ordering pizza.
- Garfield eating birds (or at least trying to).
- Garfield getting stuck in the blinds.
- Garfield clawing furniture (or curtains).
Repeatedly Used Words
While Garfield does not have any catchphrases, he has some certain words or phrases he says on several occasions:
- Nice touch: a phrase often said by Garfield on television.
- I hate Mondays: famously, Mondays seem to hate Garfield even more than he hates them!
- Rats: a word said when something goes wrong.
- Big fat hairy deal: not said as much as the others, but has a video game by the same name.
- Whoever [phrase] should be dragged out into the street and shot: said whenever he is angry at someone—most notably in certain Garfield and Friends episodes and animated specials. In an episode of The Garfield Show, «shot» was replaced with «beaten».
- I’m standing on him: whenever Garfield appears taller than usual
- We’re bachelors, baby: A phrase Garfield started saying when Jon would be lazy about things like cleaning. First used after Liz became Jon’s girlfriend.
- Feed me: said when he wants to be fed. (This is actually the second thing he said on his very first comic strip.)
- Rat Fink daisies
- This does not bode well (also said by Jon in the first comic strip of 2000.)
- Pizza
- Vito
- No anchovies!
- Lasagna
- Eat your heart out, [person]
- I’m not overweight. I’m undertall.
- Hey, you’re not exactly Ms. (phrase) yourself lady!: Not said as much as others but it is commonly said when he feels like he’s being insulted
- I hate ______. : used when something «disobeys» what Garfield wants it to do
- The plot thickens: said when something funny happens with Jon (such as showing a scar to a police officer when he thought he was showing it to a nurse) or Odie (such as being yelled at by Jon for supposedly trying to eat the last green jelly bean)
- Define «_______» : usually said when Garfield does not want to properly answer a question.
- Yo no comprehendo, señor. : Used when Garfield tries to avoid a problem by speaking the Spanish translation for «I do not understand, sir».
Friends
- Odie (best friend)
- Jon Arbuckle (best friend)
- Nermal (friends in Garfield Movie)
- Arlene
- Harry (occasionally)
- Pooky
- Squeak
- Doc Boy Arbuckle
- Vito Cappelletti
- Mrs. Arbuckle
- Mr. Arbuckle
- Grandma Arbuckle
- Floyd
- Orson Pig
- Wade Duck
- Roy Rooster
- Booker
- Sheldon
- Bo Sheep
- Penelope Pussycat
- Cactus Jake
- Liz Wilson
- Lyman
- Herman Post (acquantice in Garfield and Friends and The Garfield Show)
Enemies
- Nermal (also victim)
- Harry (sometimes)
- Bruno
- Nathan
- Spiders (also victims)
- Flies (also victims)
- Mrs. Feeny
- Aunt Ivy
- Herman Post (also victim and enemy in comics)
- Drusilla and Minerva (attacker)
- Dogs (sometimes)
- Plants
- Fish
- Birds (only specifics)
- RX-2
- Brick
- Bonzo
- Theodore Block (before finding Foo Foo’s lookalike)
- Binky the Clown (depending on the episode)
- TI-D 7000
Likes
- Lasagna
- Pizza
- Donuts
- Eating
- Sleeping
- Abusing Odie
- Mailing Nermal to Abu Dhabi
- Tormenting Jon
- Scratching curtains and furniture
- Diving in flowers
- Eating Jon and Mrs. Feeny’s flowers and plants
- Harassing Herman
- Pooky
- Eating Jon’s goldfish (or any other fish he brings home) and birds
- Befriending mice
- Coffee
- Stalking and hunting birds out in the backyard, especially in the comics (formerly in The Garfield Show)
- Squashing spiders and insects and other arthropods
- Burping loudly
- Insulting dogs
- Tormenting his neighbors, particularly Mrs. Feeny
- Tormenting Mrs. Feeny’s chihuahua
- Performing in front of the audience
- Stealing food from his neighbors, which was common in Garfield and Friends, particularly with Mr. Burnside
- Causing Jon and his neighbor’s misery
- Watching television
- Making the Laundromutt wash Odie
- Emptying all of Vito’s stock
- Binky the Clown (sometimes)
- Singing
- Dancing
Dislikes
- Mondays (Especially on the 13ths)
- Raisins in any form, especially in cookies, muffins, and cupcakes
- Spinach (occasionally)
- Grapefruits
- Irma’s cooking
- Dogs (except Odie)
- Spiders
- Flies
- Mice (as food)
- Nermal (only when he annoys him)
- Getting vaccination shots from the vet
- Rain
- Garden sprinklers and accidentally encountering sprinkler heads
- Birthdays («It’s really the aging that curdles my cheese» or without any lasagna)
- Birthday and age-related nightmares
- Diets
- Alarm clocks (they wake him up from his nap)
- Splut Pies
- Baths (This was only shown happening for the first couple of years)
- Leashes
- Some vegetables
- People who know that he hates Mondays and people who like Mondays, especially Jon
- February (sporadically in the ’80s)
- March’s weather
- Healthy foods
- Exercise
- Fleas
- RX-2, the talking scale taunting or insulting him
- Jon’s fashion sense and Christmas gift choices
- Anybody calling him overweight, or taunting/insulting him for related reasons
- Buttermilk
- Folding Chairs
- Leg Cramps
- Jon threatening never to feed him again
- Chores
- Drusilla and Minerva
- Aunt Ivy
- Buddy Bears
- Binky the Clown (Sometimes)
- Agent X
- Mama Meanie’s Pizza Palace
- Dr. Whipple
- Virtualodeon
Appearances
Garfield and Friends
- Garfield is one of two characters who appear in all episodes.
The Garfield Show
- Garfield is the only character to appear in all episodes.
Garfield Originals
- Garfield is the only character to appear in all episodes.
Trivia
- According to Jim Davis in a Denver Comic-Con interview, Jack Nicholson was considered as the voice of Garfield in the 2004 live-action film. He was the only one besides Bill Murray considered for the role; he was never contacted as Murray was immediately accepted.
- In one comic strip, Garfield claims to dream in pizza toppings.
- The comic strip for May 17, 1999 references that Garfield may have killed something.
- In the April 25, 1983 strip, it is revealed that Garfield’s favorite movie is «Old Yeller.»
- Garfield is said to weigh 5 lbs and 6 ounces at birth, which was the actual birth weight of Jim Davis’s son, James. Garfield’s birth weight was supposedly from his ego, as said in Garfield’s Guide to Everything.
- The foods Garfield will not eat are
- Raisins (including anything that contains such)
- Anchovies on pizza (occasionally)
- Most healthy foods
- Yogurt (including anything that resembles it)
- Jon’s meatloaf (although he is sometimes seen eating it in The Garfield Show)
- Snails
- Fruitcake
- Chicken salad sandwiches (especially ones with peanut butter)
- Garfield’s 1978 design can be seen in The Garfield Show on a picture frame in the living room.
- Garfield was named after Jim Davis’ grandfather, James Garfield Davis.