History Film / Garfield

* PlotHole: A minor one. At the climax of the second film, when Dargis finally realizes there are two identical cats, Garfield [[BreakingTheFourthWall breaks the fourth wall]] and quips, "For those of you keeping score at home, that's ''eighteen'' lives". Except it isn't, because Garfield had stated earlier in the film that he'd already lost a few of his.

--> '''Ferret''': Okay, the bad news is that Prince is floating away in the river.
--> '''Winston''': Then what's the good news?

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 consist entirely of CGI-animation, rather than the live-action/CGI hybrid style of the 20th Century Fox film series, and Creator/JimDavis, who had no involvement in Fox's franchise, will be attached as executive producer. Despite Davis ultimately selling the ''Garfield'' IP to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, this film will still be produced by Alcon and distributed by Creator/SonyPictures. Creator/ChrisPratt is set to voice Garfield.

A LiveActionAdaptation of the popular comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. It was released in 2004 by [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]]. 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]]

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Liz in the comic strip was mostly an IceQueen who had no interest in dating Jon (at least before July 2006) and was not afraid to phrase it in no uncertain terms. In the movies, she's a sweetheart who doesn't hesitate to date Jon at all. She's also the one who gave Odie to Jon, while in the comics it was Lyman. The comic strip's own Liz shortly following the movies would undergo a TookALevelInKindness and became more similar to her Hewitt-counterpart.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: Garfield is the only character who looks like his comic counterpart. Everyone else would be unrecognizable if not for their names.

* CatsHaveNineLives: Referred to at a couple of points in the second film. After being locked in a dungeon by Lord Dargis and left to die, Garfield counts out how many lives he's used up and decides he has enough left to survive his current predicament. Later, when Dargis finally realises that there are [[PrinceAndPauperPlot two identical cats]], Garfield quips, "For those of you keeping score at home, that's ''eighteen'' lives" (which isn't entirely accurate, given his earlier statement about having lost some of them).

* BritishRoyalGuards: Garfield comes across one during ''A Tail of Two Kitties'' and tried to get him to crack. He fails. Then Odie [[UrineTrouble pees on the man's trousers]]. ''[[SubvertedTrope That]]'' [[SubvertedTrope gets him to crack]].

* 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, and he screams in pain.

* DogsLoveFireHydrants: After escaping the pound, a dog noticed a fire hydrant outside but another tells him to keep running.

* 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.

** Jon in the first movie does not bother putting a collar on Odie that would state his home address and owner. Granted that Garfield doesn't need one for he's a loyal pet who wouldn't deliberately run away, but Odie only recently moved in to the house.
** In the first movie, a human train traffic controller is leaving the room for a 10-minute break, but there's nobody else to helm the panel, thus allowing Garfield to take over the train panel and nearly put the trains into collision with each other which would kill hundreds of people. The control panel Garfield took over even had a sign that said "Remain Alert Do Not Leave Control Panel Unattended".

* JealousPet: Garfield's jealousy of Odie is what kickstarts a majority of the events of the movie. After getting punished for accidentally knocking over a majority of things in Jon's house, Garfield sings about the time he used to spend together with Jon, then locks Odie out. Odie runs away, leading him to be found by Happy Chapman, a greedy TV host looking to bank in on the popularity Odie achieved from a dog show the previous day. When Garfield finds out, he sets out to rescue Odie.

* MythologyGag: Like in ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Here Comes Garfield]]'', he ended up sent to the pound, which he and the other cats and dogs escape from.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Garfield and his identical twin Prince are the only animals in the movie to be animated with CGI. Every other animal is a real-life one.

* ShakingTheRump: Garfield does this to Lord Dargis twice: first time to distract him from Liz in Carlise Castle, and second time during the film's climax chase

* TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX: "Obviously that cat is not Prince." "He's not even the cat formerly known as Prince."

* YouWontLikeHowITaste: When encountering a mob of rats in the first movie, Garfield tries persuading them not to eat him because he's 100% body fat (no nutritional value whatsoever). They just rebuff body fat's good enough for them.

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 consist 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 Fox's franchise, will been attached as executive producer. Despite Davis ultimately selling the ''Garfield'' IP to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, this film will still be produced by Alcon and distributed by Creator/SonyPictures. Creator/ChrisPratt is set to voice Garfield.

** ''Tail of Two Kitties'' has [[UpToEleven even MORE]], to ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'', ''Literature/TheUglyAmerican'', ''Born Free'', ''Fists of Fury'', ''Series/TheJeffersons'', ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'', ''Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'', ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', ''Film/FreeWilly'', ''Series/FearFactor'', and ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

** Also, Garfield watches TV at one point in the first movie, and watches a bit of ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen'', ''Franchise/{{Lassie}}'', ''Film/OldYeller'', ''Film/{{Benji}}'', ''Film/OhHeavenlyDog'', ''Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog'', and ''The Best *** Sports Show Period''. Also, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', and ''Film/AnAffairToRemember'' are on the TV at other points in the movie.

* AdaptationalBackstoryChange: In the comics, Odie moves in with Jon and Garfield because he originally belonged to Jon's friend Lyman. In the movie, Odie is given to Jon by Liz.

* MythologyGag: Like in ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Here Comes Garfield]]'', he ended up sent to a pound, which he and the other cats and dogs escape from.

** ''Tail of Two Kitties'' has [[UpToEleven even MORE]], to ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'', ''Literature/TheUglyAmerican'', ''Born Free'', ''Fists of Fury'', ''Film/TheJeffersons'', ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'', ''Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'', ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', ''Film/FreeWilly'', ''Series/FearFactor'', and ''Literature/OliverTwist''.

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Flemish version of the first movie has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxAwPIimbxI Laat Me Vrij]] (Set Me Free) by X!NK.

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 Fox's franchise, would've been attached as executive producer. Despite to Davis ultimately selling the ''Garfield'' IP to Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, this film will still be produced by Alcon and distributed by Creator/SonyPictures. Creator/ChrisPratt is set to voice 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 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.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Liz in the comic strip was mostly an IceQueen who had no interest in dating Jon (at least before July 2006). In the movies, she's a sweetheart who doesn't hesitate to date Jon at all. She's also the one who gave Odie to Jon, while in the comics it was Lyman. The comic strip's own Liz shortly following the movies would undergo a TookALevelInKindness and became more similar to her Hewitt-counterpart.

** 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. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize that since his breed was changed to a Siamese, [[AllAnimalsAreDogs who are known for their almost dog-like personalities]] he got the [[DogsAreDumb lowered intelligence]] to go along with it.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Garfield spends most of the movie thinking about himself and causing problems for Jon. His self-inflated ego gets so bad that he locks Odie outside, resulting in the dog running away. He drops this attitude and decides to bring Odie back.

* BadNewsIrrelevantNews: Used at one point in ''A Tail Of Two Kitties'':

--> '''Bulldog''': Then what's the good news?

* HumanFocusedAdaptation: The first movie came out at a time when in the comic, Liz looked down on Jon, when somehow she's madly in love with him in the movie. The comic would later follow suit. Mostly averted, as the film seemed to focus more on Garfield, especially in his efforts to rescue Odie.

** Garfield, who had spent part of the movie mistreating and being jealous of Odie, is disgusted when he sees Chapman use the collar on Odie.