The Good, the Bad and the Hungry

What is orange, smug-faced and speaks only in bubbles? Here’s a clue — A rip-roaringly hilarious, incredible lazy, eternally hungry cat that’s been making us laugh from even before the Internet LOL cats. You’ve guessed it. We celebrate the awesomeness that is Jim Davis’ Garfield, who turns 34 today

 

GARFIELD (First appearance: June 19, 1978)

This orange tabby cat loves eating lasagna, watching TV and tormenting his owner and his dog. He hates exercise, mondays and diets. These characteristics give this cat a sort of diabolical demeanor that never bores us. This furry cat is also portrayed as the master of pranks on paws as he always loves fooling around with Odie and ruining Jon’s dates with Liz, who is also Garfield’s vet. Ironically this cat hates rats and refuses to eat them “Show me a good mouser and I’ll show you a cat with bad breath” is what he presents to Jon as an argument to avoid harming the rats. Born in Mama Leoni’s kitchen to Sonja who is another tabby cat which evidently completes the puzzle to his addiction to lasagna and Italian delicacies. All of Garfield’s antics have managed to cause enough chaos inside Jon’s head, so even after 34 years since their inception he cannot fully gauge Garfield’s mentality. Most of the jokes in the comic strip are centered around Garfield’s love for food and his lack of regard for his weight issues.

 

LIZ WILSON (First appearance: June 26, 1979)

Dr.Liz Wilson is Garfield’s veterinarian and the only woman who has ever dated Jon for a continuos span of time in the comics. Although she displays a silent, somber and sardonic persona, she never reacts negatively to Jon’s tom-foolery and his eccentric interests , even finding it endearing on occasion. Jon often attempts to ask her out on a date, but rarely succeeds; however, in one of the comic strips they finally manage to share a kiss which marks the transformation of Jon’s crush into his Girlfriend. Initially Garfield is jealous of this couple but later acclimatises himself to it.

 

JON (First appearance: June 19, 1978)

Jon (Jonathan Q. Arbuckle) is Garfield’s owner, he is shown as an awkward clumsy geek who everyone considers to be a social outcast especially in the female department. Jon has a crush on Liz who is also Garfield’s vet and is now successfully dating her but with preludes and interludes by the orange feline.

Jon is shown to be really passionate about pets and especially cats. After a few mishaps in dating his inability to get a date is usually attributed to his lack of social skills, his poor taste in clothes (Garfield remarked in one strip after seeing his closet that “two hundred moths committed suicide,” in another, the “geek police” ordered Jon to “throw out his tie”). One more reason he is said to fall short is because of his interests “which range from stamp collecting to measuring the growth of his toenails to watching movies with polka ninjas.” Other strips portray him as lacking intelligence (he is seen reading a pop-up book in one strip). Jon was born on a farm that apparently contained few amenities; in one strip, his father, upon seeing indoor plumbing, remarks, “Woo-ha! Ain’t science something?”Jon occasionally visits his parents, brother and grandmother at their farm. It was later reported that Jon’s character was inspired by a drawing of Davis himself when he was initially drawing the strip.

 

ODIE  (First appearance: August 8, 1978)

Odie is a yellow, long-eared beagle with a large, slobbery tongue, who walks on all four legs, though occasionally he will walk on two like Garfield. His inception in the comics is still a question of doubt as in the movie it is shown that he is given to Jon by Liz and in the comics he is given by Lyman. Odie is portrayed as any other puppy, happy go lucky, naive and innocent, unsure and unaware of Garfield’s cynical, sadistic nature, despite the physical abuse Garfield exhibits toward him, including regularly kicking him off the kitchen table or tricking him into going over the edge himself. On some occasions, however, he is depicted more intelligently, as one strip, in which he holds a heavy rock to prevent Garfield from doing this, and actually hurts Garfield’s foot. In another strip, when Garfield and Jon are out of the house Odie is seen reading War and Peace and watching a television programme.

 

QUOTES

1. I hate Mondays

2. Diet is die with a “t”.

3. I am hungry. Therefore I am.

4. I never met a lasagna I didn’t like.

5. Eat every meal as though

it were your last.

6. I’m not overweight, I’m under tall.

7. Never send a man to do a cat’s job.

8. Love me, feed me, never leave me.

9. Why don’t YOU watch where I’m going?

10. Oh no! I overslept! I’m late! For my nap.

 

TRIVIA

How well do you know Garfield?

1. What does Garfield love eating most?

2. Garfield’s second movie was “Garfield: A Tail of Two ___________”.

3. Which household appliances do not pester Garfield?

4. What colour is Garfield’s blanket?

5. How much did Garfield weigh when he was born?

See how you scored (Each question is worth two points)

0-1 : Dummy (Brains-wise, you and Odie should get along well)

2-3 : Pretty Average (read the comic strip regularly to reach this point)

4-5 : Kinda Bright (You have probably read the books to score this high)

6-7 : Brilliant (It must be lonely at the top)

8-9 : Near Genius (Jim Davis himself would have trouble scoring this high)

10 : Genius (You cheated!)

 

 

 (Answers: 1. Lasagne 2.Kitties 3. Refrigerator 4. Blue 5. Five pounds six ounces)

 

 

Tags: birthday, cartoon, Garfield, Jon, Liz, Odie

Category: Arts & Entertainment, Arts & Entertainment News