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Garfield

Garfield is the popular comic strip created by Jim Davis featuring the lasagna eating feline character named Garfield, the less than brilliant pet dog Odie, and their socially inept owner Jon Arbuckle.

Overview

First appearing on June 19, 1978 (also considered Garfield's birthday), the syndicated comic strip has been entertaining millions with jokes that poke fun at pet owners and their relationship with their pets often portraying the pet as the true master of the home. Garfield also appeals because of the way he struggles with very human problems, such as diets, hatred of mondays, apathy, boredom, and so on.

Over the course of the strip, Garfield's behavior has became more 'human' and less 'cat-like.' A few years after the beginning of the strip, Garfield began walking on two feet, and the strip changed to more of an emphasis on sitcom situations (Garfield making fun of his owner's stupidity, Jon's inability to pick up girls) and less on the foibles of cats. A number of the strip's readers feel that the quality of the writing has lessened, even as the artwork has retained a consistently high level of quality.

The comic strip was turned into a cartoon special for television in 1982 called Here Comes Garfield. Actor Lorenzo Music, previously known as the voice of Carlton the Doorman on the show Rhoda, was hired to portray the voice of Garfield. 12 television specials were created in all (through 1990) as well as a television series, Garfield and Friends, which ran for 7 years between 1988 and 1994.

A live-action version of the comic strip (with animated animals) is set to begin production in 2004(see Garfield (movie)). Due to Music's unfortunate death in 2001, Bill Murray will provide the voice of Garfield.

The strip is also cited by many as an example of a stale idea that has run far, far too long, with creator Davis seen as a kind of merchandizing-crazed anti-Christ. The entire plot of the comic has been summed up aptly with the expresson, "Oh Garfield, how much lasagna will you eat?!"

Characters

Primary characters

Garfield: fat cat with an attitude
Odie: loveable but dopy dog
Jon Arbuckle: their owner
Arlene: Garfield's on-and-off girlfriend
Pooky: Garfield's huggable teddy bear
Nermal: cute kitten who flaunts his cuteness (the cutest kitten in the world, it says), which annoys Garfield immensely

Secondary characters

Mom: Jon's mother who's always cooking up a meal
Dad: Jon's father who tends the family farm
Doc Boy: Jon's only brother who tends to the pigs on the farm
Lyman: a friend of Jon's who lived with him for a while; original owner of Odie. Fans and regular readers of the comic strip cite a rumor that Lyman was removed from the strip because of the suggestion that he was actually engaging in a homosexual relationship with Jon Arbuckle. Jim Davis has dismissed this rumor as nonsense; he has stated that Lyman no longer appears in the strip because Davis didn't find the character to be very interesting.
Irma: waitress and owner of "Irma's Diner," diner occasionally patronized by Jon and Garfield
Liz: Garfield's veternarian and long-time crush of Jon
The mailman: one of Garfield's favourite chew-toys

Garfield marks its paws

His album: Am I cool or what?
His sction-cupped kitties: "Stuck on You" phenomenon across America and takes several years for production met the demand.
His books: forms the "Garfield format" in publishing as its books mostly are designed to fit for its comic strips format
His comic strips: broke the Guiness World's Record as it got published over 2000 papers in the world.

External links

official site

Other meanings of "Garfield"

Garfield is also the name of several places in the United States of America:

James Garfield was the 20th President of the United States.

Referenced By

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Garfield".