46 Years Later, Garfield Still Reigns as Our Favorite Feline
If you don’t know Garfield the cat, the lasagna-craving, grumpy, overweight, orange and black-striped tabby with a dry sense of humor and a tendency to cause hilarious trouble around him, you probably live under a rock.
Filipinos who were young in the 1990s and regularly kept to the TV likely know Garfield from the animated series. His antics wherein he repeatedly pranked and bullied his dog partner Odie or attempted to get rid of the annoying Nermal surely kept us rolling on the floor in laughter. Of course, the original comic strip where Garfield originated had appeared in local newspapers.
Let’s reacquaint ourselves with our old furry friend as he turned 46 this June 19, 2024, which is a long life for a cat!
ALSO READ
The Adult Cartoons You Probably Forgot About
The Best Adult Cartoons to Entertain Your Inner Man Child
How Jim Davis Created an Iconic Feline
Garfield is the creation of the cartoonist Jim Davis, who started his comic strip career as an assistant of cartoonist Tom Ryan on his series, "Tumbleweeds." Before Garfield, Davis created the comic strip “Gnorm Gnat,” making use of the popularity of anthropomorphic characters at the time. In 1976, he came out with a new comic strip titled “Jon,” where the characters of Jon Arbuckle and Garfield were introduced. Taking note of how Snoopy became a more popular character than Charlie Brown on the “Peanuts” comic strip, Davis decided to reverse the dynamic and make the cat the main character.
On June 19, 1978, “Garfield” was published for the first time on national syndication. In 1981, Davis founded Paws, Inc. as a comic studio to manage his series. Paws, Inc. is now under Paramount Global, having been sold in 2019.
The “Garfield and Friends” animated TV series originally aired in the US from 1988 to 1994. The much-adored tabby was voiced in that series by the late Lorenzo Music, a recognizable voice talent in cartoons who also voiced Peter Venkman in The Real Ghostbusters.
A total of six live-action and CGI (computer-generated imaging) films featured Garfield, the latest of which came out in May this year. These movies are currently owned by the Disney Company through its 20th Century Studios label.
Garfield and Friends
Garfield is described on the current official website as “fat, selfish, cynical, and lazy.” His favorite food is of course lasagna and he can often be found trying to get a nap. He hates spiders and Mondays. He has a small teddy bear named Pooky who he treats as a confidant and often reveals his thoughts and wishes to. He also becomes anxious when his birthday is coming up, as he fears getting older.
Jon is Davis’ self-characterization in the series, as both grew up on a farm and worked as cartoonists. Jon had several unsuccessful dates marked by strange events (one date broke up with him because he plugged carrots into his ears) before he settled on his long-term partner, the veterinarian Liz. One connection between Jon and Davis is that the series is set in Davis’ hometown, Muncie, Indiana.
Odie is Jon’s yellow-colored beagle (a Dachshund in the live-action movies) who originally belonged to Jon’s roommate Lyman, but he became Jon’s after Lyman disappeared from the series in 1983. Odie is rarely seen without his tongue out and often slobbers either Garfield or Jon. He is portrayed as apparently naive and dumb as he does not speak. However, he can communicate by changing his facial features or playing some pranks on other characters, which reveals his hidden mischievous tendencies.
Other characters include the small gray tabby cat named Nermal, who annoys Garfield to the point that he tries to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi or other far-off location many times. Garfield has a love interest in the form of the pink-colored female cat Arlene, though she could not stand Garfield’s ego and often makes jokes deriding him.
Aside from the recent movie, Garfield continues to appear on merchandise and many other forms. He continues to appear on memes on the internet today, and several licensed mobile games were released featuring him. Last, some of the older comic strips and episodes of the animated series can be found online. It will certainly be hard to not know Garfield with all this media around.
