Garfield

Garfield is the name of a newspaper strip created by Jim Davis, which features Garfield the cat, the not-very-bright dog Odie, and his owner, the naive Jon Arbuckle (Jon Bónachon in the Spanish-American dubbing). The protagonist is named after Davis's grandfather, James Garfield Davis, who was in turn named after American President James A. Garfield.

History

In the '70s, Davis created a strip called Gnorm Gnat, which was not very successful. One editor said, "His art was good, his jokes were great," but "no one can relate to insects." Davis decided to take a long, hard look at the comic strips and saw that the dogs were doing very well, but there were no cats at the time. Davis thought that having been raised on a farm with 25 cats he could come forward with a strip based on a cat. He then proceeded to create a new strip with a cat as his main character and created Garfield, who borrows the first letter of the name from his first work. Garfield originally consisted of three main characters. Garfield, the titular character, was inspired by the cats Davis had when he was little; He took his name and personality from Davis's grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis, who was, in Davis's words, "a huge, loud man." Jon Arbuckle came from a 1950s coffee commercial, and Odie was based on a car sales commercial that Davis had written. Initially in the strip, Odie's owner was a man named Lyman. Lyman had been created to give Jon someone to talk to. Davis later acknowledged that Garfield and Jon could "communicate non-verbally." The strip, originally centered on Jon, was rejected by King Features, Post-Hall and the Chicago Tribune-New York News agencies, as all of them asked Davis to focus on the cat, who in their opinion, He had the best lines. United Feature Syndicate accepted the rewritten strip in 1978 and it debuted in 41 newspapers on June 19 of that year (however, after a test run, the Chicago Sun-Times pulled the strip, but would reinstate it following reader complaints). Garfield's first Sunday strip ran on June 25, 1978, running as a third pager until March 22, 1981. A half-pager debuted the following Sunday, March 29, with strips for March 14 and 21. from 1982, having it in a single nine-panel format, but UFS restricted its use (however, it allowed Davis to use the format for his U.S. Acres strip).

The strip went through several stylistic changes, evolving from the strip style between 1978 and 1983, to a more cartoonish look from 1984 onwards. This change has been mainly noted in Garfield's design, which went through a "Darwinian evolution" In which he started walking on his hind legs, he became a little thinner and his eyes became a little bigger. His evolution, according to Davis, was to make it easier to "push Odie off the table." or "grab a piece of cake."

On August 6, 2019, Viacom announced the acquisition of Paws, Inc., including the rights to the Garfield franchise (comic strips, marketing, and animated series). Jim Davis will continue to direct the strip, and will produce a new Garfield animated series for Viacom subsidiary Nickelodeon.

Characters

Garfield

Garfield is a fat orange cat, with black stripes and a peculiar way of acting. He is approximately 7 years old (he is a British Shorthair Red and not a Persian cat). He loves to eat, sleep (both actions in staggering amounts), watch TV, and make fun of Jon and Odie. His favorite food is lasagna, and he hates raisins and spinach. He has been seen hunting birds, but not mice, as he considers eating them disgusting. He also hates spiders and, above all, Mondays (not applicable when it's his birthday).

At the beginning of the comic strip, Garfield was a really obese cat, thus justifying the continuous jokes from the other characters (including his own scale) about his weight. As time went by, his figure became stylized, although he continued to show a bulging belly. In addition to the line, Garfield also shows other human concerns, such as the passage of time.

Other main characters

• Jonathan 'Jon' Q. Arbuckle (Jon Bónachon, in Hispanoamérica): He owns Garfield and Odie. He is an extremely awkward and unfortunate person, especially in his loving life. He was Garfield's first conversation partner and often white with his jokes. He's a cartoonist, and he's forced to spend a lot of money to meet Garfield's needs, including industrial amounts of food and repair the wreckage he causes at home.

• Odie: is a lovely (but dumb) yellow peeled dog and chestnut ears, which constantly boasts showing its big tongue. He is the only character without a "voice" (although on one occasion he was shown thinking: "I am hungry"; he has also been seen speaking in some Garfield dreams and saying, "the smell does not fail"). It's the common target of Garfield's jokes, being the most classic to throw it off a splash from the table. Odie's original owner was Lyman, a friend and home partner of Jon Arbuckle. However, when Lyman disappeared in 1983, Odie became Jon's pet. It's, compared to Garfield, an idiot that drools everything. Recently, Odie seems to be walking much more often on two legs. His first appearance was August 8, 1978.

In the 2004 film Odie is given to Jon by Dr. Liz who only adopts him to make Liz happy, later he gets lost and is kidnapped by the television host Happy Chapman.

• Dr. Liz Wilson: Garfield Veterinary and Jon Arbuckle's eternal love. She accepts her invitations to leave from time to time, but these quotations almost always become disasters, because of her jokes or stupidities (in addition to Garfield's omnipresence, she always manages to be present on the dates). Since July 2006 there has been a lot of Jon's stable couple, as it is the only one Garfield accepts.

• Arlene: is Garfield's girlfriend (although not always) It is a very thin pink cat, which seems to be the only living thing in the world that can successfully make Garfield laugh. It has big lips and a very thin neck that distinguishes it. Before in the series he also had a gap between his teeth (which was Garfield's first observation when he met her); and it appeared much more than now.

• Pooky: It's Garfield's Teddy Bear. His first appearance was on 23 October 1978. The comic strip showed Garfield investigating through one of Jon's drawers, finding Pooky, and adopting him as his own. Together with him lives constant imaginary adventures.

• Nermal: it is a cute and cute little kitten (the most tender kitten in the world, as it is self-define) that greatly upsets Garfield, which usually results from sending Nermal to Abu Dhabi. It often enters without being announced, for Garfield mortification. In his first appearances, he was Jon's parents, but that explanation stopped using quickly. When you see it, it's usually because Jon has to babysit with him. He's never seen him on Jon's parents' farm. Because of his long eyelashes and his seemingly shaved personality, fans have often confused him as a female, and in the Chilean bent he is known as such (with the name of Telma). As a curiosity in one of the comics Nermal tells Garfield that he will never grow, because he is a dwarf cat, to which Garfield responds "there are cats that are born with luck". However, in another Garfield comic he discovers that the secret of the eternal youth of Nermal lies in the fact that masks are applied every night.

In the 2004 film it is noted that a stray cat mentions obvious things to Garfield and they both play “Astronaut” which is only a trick on Garfield's part to steal the milk.

• Mom.: Jon's mother, who is always cooking and sending her uncomfortable sweaters to Garfield.

• Dad: Jon's father, who takes care of the family farm.

• Doc Boy: Jon's only brother, who takes care of the pigs on the farm, and a loser like his brother. He's apparently younger than Jon. He doesn't like being called Doc Boy.

• Grandma: Loves Jon and Garfield, and occasionally makes appearances throughout the series. The data on her were revealed in a Christmas special, where it is said that her husband has passed away and talks about his life with him.

• Lyman: Friend of Jon who lived with him for some time, and original owner of Odie. He disappeared from the comic book in 1983, which was never fully explained. His last appearance in the strip was a cameo on the logo board for the Sunday strip published on June 19, 1988. Recently, Davis was forced to refer directly to this issue: according to Davis, Lyman's original purpose was to be someone Jon could actually speak and communicate, a mission that was taken more forcefully by Garfield. From there he disappeared from the strip without explanation.

• Irma: waitress and owner of the “Restaurant de Irma”, a place that is once in a while visited by Jon and Garfield. The food you prepare, your service, your mental health is more than questionable and apparently had several husbands (the first died when eating a tuna special).

• Herman Post: Jon Arbuckle's mailman. He's in a state of perpetual anxiety about Garfield's attacks, and he's constantly looking for a way to deliver the mail safely, but he's almost never successful.

Secondary characters

• Hubert and Reba: they are Jon's neighbors, and they perfectly fulfill the role of "old and wizards."

• Mrs. Feenyanother neighbor of Jon, who has never appeared in the strips. Garfield always mocks her and her little dog (which has never appeared) and in the end she's always complaining to Jon on the phone about what Garfield does.

• The Binky Clown: he is a television actor who interprets a chilly and donkey character, his main sentence is: "Heeeeeeey, children!"

• Ellen.: is a girl Jon has tried to date on many occasions. He has never appeared in the strips except in the strip of July 20, 2006 but it is usual to see Jon on the phone with her to propose a date. She usually prefers to do anything before dating him. In a recent strip it is mentioned that she suffered amnesia and goes to dinner with Jon, although finally she goes with another one and Jon ends up dating Liz.

• The avenger of the layer: it's Garfield's other personality, which looks a lot like Superman. Usually, the avenger of the layer is quite coward, and when there is some kind of danger he flees; his archenemy is the long tongue of a dog who lives with him.

• Ralph.: is Doc Boy's assistant at Arbuckle Farm. It is responsible for maintaining the order and production of it, milking the cows and taking care of the chicken coops.

• Floyd: it is a mouse that dwells in a hole in Jon's house, enjoying a great social life behind him. Garfield doesn't care about hunting him, like any domestic cat would, and maintains a pact with him: Garfield doesn't try to hunt them down, and they don't invade their sand.

• Squeak: is another mouse that appears also in the strips since 1984. Although his real name is not Squeak, this is what Garfield calls it, In the 2006 film he is mentioned with the name “Luis” which is on a diet and likes Linaza and Nopal cookies. To be able to recognize Squeak in the strips of Garfield you have to check if there are no other mice around.

• Another of the recurring characters that appear in the Garfield strips are the spiders, they usually appear walking around the table or hanging from their spider webs. Spiders are crushed without remorse by Garfield with a rolled paper. The spiders They tend to get revenge, but they tend to be unsuccessful attempts on most occasions. The only names that have been given to a spider have been Guido and Renata.

• Garfield's diets have made several characters appear, such as food walking and talking which are produced by Garfield hallucinations due to lack of food.

• The scale, on television and the alarm appear constantly in the strips. Of the three objects, only the scale has a defined personality and has ever called itself RX-2, but above all it is famous for being very cruel and cynical with Garfield's overweight. In order not to be destroyed or thrown into the trash, Garfield is often misled about his real weight, although in the end he usually makes some hurtful commentary. The alarm clock always appears next to Garfield's bed, a box with a blanket, and next to Pooky, Garfield's bear. Television He often answers what Garfield thinks at that time or even insults himself. It's usual to see Garfield watching the cat channel, the show Clown Binky Or an amazing world.

• Clive He's Garfield's invisible friend. Clive Takes Jon and Odie out of his mind.

• Stretch is Garfield's rubber chicken, which was given to him by Jon and Odie on his 6th birthday (1984). It has only appeared in 13 strips and some cameos from time to time to be used as a weapon throws at Jon.

• Mother It's Garfield's mother. It appears in the special Garfield in the city. It's a pretty thin street cat. She lives in an abandoned pizza shop next to her other relatives.

Series and movies

TV series

• Garfield and his friends (1988-1994) — TV series with 2 segments of Garfield and one of the Orson Farm.
• The Garfield Show (2008-2016) — show from 2 to 3 segments of Garfield in third dimension.

TV Specials

• Here Comes Garfield (1982)
• Garfield on the Town (1983)
• Garfield in the Rough (1984)
• Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985)
• Garfield in Paradise (1986)
• Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)
• A Garfield Christmas (1987)
• Happy Birthday, Garfield (1988)
• Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988)
• Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989)
• Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989)
• Garfield's Feline Fantasies (1990)
• Garfield Gets to Life (1991)

Cinema movies

• Garfield: the film (2004, real picture film)
• Garfield 2 (2006, sequel Garfield: the film)

Direct-to-video movies

• Garfield Gets Real (2007) Third-dimensional film
• Garfield's Fun Fest (2008) Garfield Gets Real Sequel in third dimension
• Garfield's Pet Force (2009) Term sequel to the Garfield's saga in the third dimension

Video games

• Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal (1987) (Atari ST/ZX Spectrum/Commodore 64/Amstrad CPC/Amiga)
• Garfield: Winter's Tail (1989) (Atari ST/Amiga/ZX Spectrum/Commodore 64)
• A Week of Garfield (1989) (Nintendo Family Computer)
• Garfield: Caught in the Act (1995) (Mega Drive/Sega Game Gear/PC)
• Garfield's Mad About Cats (1999) (PC)
• Garfield (videogame) (2004) (PS2/PC)
• Garfield: The Search for Pooky (2005) (GBA)
• Garfield and His Nine Lives (2006) (GBA)
• Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2005) (PS2/PC/DS)
• Garfield's Nightmare (2007) (DS)
• Garfield's Fun Fest (2008) (DS)
• Garfield Gets Real (2009) (WII/DS)
• The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna (2010) (Wii/PC)
• Garfield Kart (2015) (3DS/iOS/PC)
• Garfield Kart: Furious Racing (2019) (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC)
• Garfield Lasagna Party

(2022) (PS5/PS4/Xbox Series/Xbox One/Switch/PC)