History Film / Garfield

After 20th Century Fox's film rights to the character expired, reports circulated in 2016 that ''Garfield'' would have its film franchise rebooted at Alcon Entertainment. The new franchise would've consisted entirely of CGI-animation, rather than the live-action/CGI hybrid style of the 20th Century Fox film series, and Jim Davis, who had no involvement in 20th's franchise, would've been attached as executive producer. However, thanks to Davis ultimately selling the ''Garfield'' IP to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, the reboot's fate is currently unknown.

A LiveActionAdaptation of the popular comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. It was released in 2004 by [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Studios]]. It starred Creator/BillMurray as the voice of Garfield, Creator/BreckinMeyer as Jon, and Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt as Liz. It was directed by Pete Hewitt. [[note]] no relation to Jennifer[[/note]]

After 20th Century's film rights to the character expired, reports circulated in 2016 that ''Garfield'' would have its film franchise rebooted at Alcon Entertainment. The new franchise would've consisted entirely of CGI-animation, rather than the live-action/CGI hybrid style of the 20th Century film series, and Jim Davis, who had no involvement in 20th's franchise, would've been attached as executive producer. However, thanks to Davis ultimately selling the ''Garfield'' IP to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, the reboot's fate is currently unknown.

** AdaptationalDumbass: Nermal was more a diva {{Jerkass}} in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends''. Here, he's as dim as Odie is, if not dimmer. For example, Arlene calls Garfield a pig for putting Odie out and Nermal interprets her remark of him being a literal swine.

* EYebrowWaggle: Becomes one of Garfield's most used moves in the films, he gives one [[AsideGlance to the camera]] whenever he's about to pull a prank on Jon or Odie.

* GuileHero: Garfield in the second film only, to taunt Lord Dargis, during the film's climax chase.

** AdapationalDumbass: Nermal was more a diva {{Jerkass}} in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends''. Here, he's as dim as Odie is, if not dimmer. For example, Arlene calls Garfield a pig for putting Odie out and Nermal interprets her remark of him being a literal swine.

A LiveActionAdaptation of the popular comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. It was released in 2004 by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox. It starred Creator/BillMurray as the voice of Garfield, Creator/BreckinMeyer as Jon, and Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt as Liz. It was directed by Pete Hewitt. [[note]] no relation to Jennifer[[/note]]

After Fox's film rights to the character expired, reports circulated in 2016 that ''Garfield'' would have its film franchise rebooted at Alcon Entertainment. The new franchise would've consisted entirely of CGI-animation, rather than the live-action/CGI hybrid style of the Fox film series, and Jim Davis, who had no involvement in Fox's franchise, would've been attached as executive producer. However, thanks to Davis ultimately selling the ''Garfield'' IP to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, the reboot's fate is currently unknown.

Following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Disney uploaded the 2004 Garfield movie on their streaming service Disney+ as now Disney maintains the distribution rights to both live-action ''Garfield'' films.

** Arlene in the comics is [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife pink]], while Arlene in the first movie is gray (since the cat that plays Arlene is a Russian Blue).

* BuffoonishTomCat: Nermal being TheDitz in the movie compared to other cats, while [[CatsAreMean Garfield]] can have [[ButtMonkey his moments]] [[TheChewToy of clumsiness]], Nermal is thoroughly Garfield's [[DumbIsGood friendly]], [[CloudCuckooLander goofy]], [[KindHeartedSimpleton dimwitted best friend]] and had a moment of being prone to {{slapstick}} when [[SuperGullible gullible]] in Garfield's milk stunt.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: [[TheDitz Nermal]] says this in the first movie when Garfield locks Odie outside.

* BuffoonishTomCat: Nermal being TheDitz in the movie compared to other cats, while [[CatsAreMean Garfield]] can have [[ButtMonkey his moments]] [[TheChewToy of clumsiness]], Nermal is thoroughly Garfield's [[DumbIsGood friendly]], [[CloudCuckooLander goofy]], [[KindHeartedSimpleton dimwitted best friend]] in the live action films.

* KindHeartedSimpleton: Nermal by how [[DumbIsGood pleasant he usually is]] while [[ComicallyMissingThePoint missing some details]], has no malicious bone towards anyone (compared to [[Jerkass Garfield]] with [[NaiveNewcomer Odie]]) and was shown to be [[SuperGullible gullible]] to Garfield's milk scam in a scene and had a moment of {{slapstick}}. Nermal in the live action films is this.

* BuffoonishTomCat: Nermal being TheDitz in the movie compared to other cats, while [[CatsAreMean Garfield]] can have [[ButtMonkey his moments]] [[TheChewToy of clumsiness]], Nermal is thoroughly Garfield's [[DumbIsGood friendly]], [[KindHeartedSimpleton dimwitted best friend]] in the live action films.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Nermal says this in the first movie when Garfield locks Odie outside.

* AdaptationalBadass: Jon, especially as in both movies' climax he punches out the BigBad. Even so in the second movie he resorts to using a bow-and-arrow to save Liz.

* BigBad: Happy Chapman in the first film and Lord Dargis in the second.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Dargis tries to train his rottweiler, Rommel, to seek out Prince (actually Garfield) and savage him to death. Winston the English bulldog intercepts Rommel before he can do so and retrains him to attack Dargis' trousers, leading to the aforementioned GroinAttack.

** Garfield, just as he is in the comics.

* LiveActionAdaptation: But with a CGI Garfield.

* DartboardOfHate: In ''Tale of Two Kitties''; The greedy Lord Dargis is throwing darts at a portrait of Prince (who [[IdenticalStranger looks exactly like Garfield]]) when the phone rings. As Dargis answers the phone, a rabbit places a mousetrap next to his darts. Then Dargis hangs up and reaches for another dart, only for the mousetrap to snap his hand.

After 20th Century Fox asked Jim Davis for the commencement of animated Garfield movies, there were also three [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] DirectToVideo {{Non Serial Movie}}s from 2007, 2008, and 2009: ''Garfield Gets Real'', about Garfield getting sick of his job as a comic strip character and escaping to the real world (but then regretting it forcing him to find a way back home), ''Garfield's Fun Fest'', about Garfield trying to get Arlene back from a cat named "Ramone", and ''Garfield's Pet Force'', a spin off showing the characters as superheroes.

Following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Disney uploaded the 2004 Garfield movie on their streaming service Disney+ as now Disney maintains the distribution rights to both live-action ''Garfield'' films and the three direct-to-video CGI movies.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:The live-action movies]]

* LetsSeeYOUDoBetter: A CollectorsEdition UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} of the first movie has a tool for making your own ''Garfield'' strips.

* RealSongThemeTune: In the first ''Garfield'' movie, Garfield turns on the TV and the Music/BlackEyedPeas' "Hey Mama" starts playing, which makes Odie dance. The song played again during the contest, this time on the radio.
* {{Retcon}}: Jon buys Odie from a pet shop in the first movie, when in the comic strip, Jon's former roommate Lyman gave him to him.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The CGI movies]]
* AlternateUniverse: In ''Pet Force'', it's established that the universe Garzooka hails from is one to the main comic strip universe, with counterparts for several characters.
* AnimatedActors: The trilogy takes place in a world where comic strip characters are actually actors, making comic strips for people in the real world to enjoy.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Inverted in ''Pet Force''; Eli is the only black character in the studio, and one of the only ones who manages to escape zombification.
* TheCameo: Grimm from ''Mother Goose and Grimm'' and Dagwood and Blondie from ''Blondie'' make background appearances in ''Garfield Gets Real''.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Shecky (a cat from the Real World who was brought into the Cartoon World at the end of ''Garfield Gets Real'') only cameos in ''Fun Fest'' afterward.
* DancePartyEnding: ''Garfield Gets Real''.
* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:Emperor Jon forgives Vetvix for everything she did at the end of ''Pet Force'', largely because her HeelFaceBrainwashing led to her reciprocating his feelings.]]
* ExcessiveEvilEyeshadow: Vetvix sports some purple eyeshadow, and is the BigBad of ''Pet Force''. [[spoiler:She loses it after turning good.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: At one point in ''Garfield Gets Real'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UhclY-nMgA#t=34s Garfield and Odie hide behind a poster of themselves with a black-and-white comic as the background.]] The comic is a grayscale version of [[http://i.imgur.com/nO6aQ.gif this edited strip]]. Most of the time, it's too blurry to read the text, but [[http://i56.tinypic.com/szjser.png when Garfield and Odie react to Hale and Hardy's introduction, the text that isn't blocked is fully visible]]. That's right, '''they canonized Jon dropping the F-bomb.''' (The movie ''is'' unrated, but it's still pretty shocking that they let that slip by.)
* HeelFaceBrainwashing: [[spoiler:Vetvix's ultimate fate; Garfield uses the Mo-Scram gun to fuse her with Betty's happy corner, turning her into a complete sweetheart.]]
* InterspeciesRomance: In ''Pet Force'', the human Betty falls head-over-heels for the cat humanoid Garzooka.
* MixAndMatchCritters: The Mo-Scram gun from ''Pet Force'' mixes and matches different people and items. The resulting creations are completely under the control of the one who scrambled them, which is why Vetvix wants it.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: In the Pet Force books, the original Pet Force was depowered and imprisoned in a "ghastly dimension" by Vetvix, which prompted Garfield and his friends to take their place. In the movie, Garzooka keeps his powers and his teammates became temporarily under Vetvix's control thanks to the Mo-Scram gun, prompting Garzooka to seek Arlene, Nermal, and Odie's help by giving them serums that turn them into their Pet Force counterparts.
* SpinOff: ''Pet Force'', a loose adaptation of the comics of the same name.
* TheStinger: ''Pet Force'' has one: [[spoiler:after the wedding of Emperor Jon and Vetvix, it's revealed that Betty followed Garzooka back to Dorkon, meaning the Director needs a new assistant. Nermal quickly volunteers.]]
[[/folder]]

* DartboardOfHate: In ''Tale of Two Kitties''; The greedy Lord Dargis is throwing darts at a portrait of Prince (who [[IdenticalStranger looks exactly like Garfield]]) when the phone rings. As Dargis answers the phone, a goat places a mousetrap next to his darts. Then Dargis hangs up and reaches for another dart, only for the mousetrap to snap his hand.

* SparedInTheAdaptation: In the Pet Force books, the original Pet Force was depowered and imprisoned in a "ghastly dimension" by Vetvix, which prompted Garfield and his friends to take their place. In the movie, Garzooka keeps his powers and his teammates became temporarily under Vetvix's control thanks to the Mo-Scram gun, prompting Garzooka to seek Arlene, Nermal, and Odie's help by giving them serums that turn them into their Pet Force counterparts.

* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: In the first movie, Garfield stumbles out the window of a tall building, and survives by landing in a lasagna truck. Ignore the fact that he hit the solid metal top of it first, which would be a solid floor with an impact equal to having hit the ground, if not more so. (Justified, as he is a cat.)

* ShoutOut: The first movie has ones to ''Film/ApocalypseNow'', ''Film/CapeFear'', ''Disney/TheLionKing'', ''Film/JerryMaguire'', ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'', and ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc''.

A LiveActionAdaptation of the popular comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. It was released in 2004 by Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox. It starred Creator/BillMurray as the voice of Garfield, Breckin Meyer as Jon, and Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt as Liz. It was directed by Pete Hewitt. [[note]] no relation to Jennifer[[/note]]

The plot deals with Garfield, as lazy and fat as ever, being the extreme {{Jerkass}} and DeadpanSnarker he is. Jon Arbuckle buys a dog named Odie because his extreme crush, Liz Wilson told him to. Needless to say, Garfield doesn't like this, but then Odie gets kidnapped by a [[BigBad villain]] named "Happy Chapman" (Creator/StephenTobolowsky). Garfield sets out on an adventure to rescue Odie... and get back to his beloved chair! The plot borrows crucial elements from the 1982 animated half-hour ''Here Comes Garfield'', such as the animal kennel and Garfield having to go rescue Odie.

* DartboardOfHate: In ''Tale of 2 Kitties''; The greedy Lord Dargis is throwing darts at a portrait of Prince (who [[IdenticalStranger looks exactly like Garfield]]) when the phone rings. As Dargis answers the phone, a goat places a mousetrap next to his darts. Then Dargis hangs up and reaches for another dart, only for the mousetrap to snap his hand.