History WesternAnimation / TheGarfieldMovie

* CanonForeigner: Garfield's father never appeared, or was ever even mentioned, in the comic strip (save for a single mention of Garfield coming from "a long line of bachelors" on August 20, 1979) or any adaptations prior (save for Garfield's grandfather bringing him up in "Garfield on the Town"). Only in a few pieces of Father's Day merchandise did a framed photo of him appear, and he looks completely different from how he looks in the trailer.

* AmbiguouslyAbsentParent: To say that Garfield's parents had SwappedRoles as the ambiguously absent one [[RoleSwapAU in this adaptation]] would be an {{understatement}}, as his mother isn't seen during the flashbacks nor mentioned throughout the movie. Although FridgeSadness implies that she experienced DeathByChildbirth [[DeathByAdaptation in this version]].

* BigEater: It wouldn't be Garfield without his famous appetite. The first trailer shows a kitten Garfield being invited into an Italian restaurant and proceeding to eat most of the food in the place. [[spoiler: With his father being a stray StrugglingSingleFather who could barely feed him, [[FreudianExcuse this at least explains it]].]]
* BigNo: Vic gives one of these in one clip where Garfield is dropped into a trap hole in the factory, before being saved by a platform carrying a giant cube of cheddar cheese. The line was not used in the final cut, however.

** Said flashback at the beginning features the scene in Mama Leone's where baby Garfield goes on his eating spree. The montage at the end of the film features a brief scene in Mama Leone's with him, Vic and Odie dressed like real people (and a nerve-wracked Jon, presumably hoping their disguises aren't busted).
** And right before said flashback, Garfield eats an entire pizza by stuffing it in his mouth and it going in like a dollar bill in a slot machine. In the montage, both he and Vic do the same thing.

* CatsAreMean: Most of the cats in the film avert this trope, being either friendly or indifferent to everyone around them. Garfield and Vic are amongst straighter examples, though despite their unsavory aspects, they uphold themselves to clear standards and generally have everyone's best interests in the end. ''Jinx'', however, plays this trope to the extreme, being the most morally despicable character in the entire film.

** [[spoiler:Garfield uses one of Otto's pinecone-earpieces to contact him, as they find out that Jinx has captured Vic.]]

* DramaticPause: Garfield points out twice to Otto his tendency to use a lot of these, once as he's giving them the plan to enter the factory, and he asks if he's "taking another dramatic pause" after taking a while to respond to Garfield as they continue the plan after Garfield's initial return home.

* FailedASpotCheck: Apparently, Garfield is unaware that he's wearing a collar complete with license tag, which even his father noticed. [[spoiler:In Vic's flashback, it turns out he also failed to spot the food worker across the alley where he was "abandoned" that [[NoObjectPermanence his father was hiding out of sight from]].]] He finally notices after Jon bails him out from the pound following the heist.

* HatesTheirParent: When Garfield introduces Odie to his father, Vic, there is audible and visible disdain in the tone of his voice and body language. This is due to Vic never returning to Garfield[[note]]who, mind you, is still a kitten at that time[[/note]] despite his promise to "[[ParentNeverCameBackFromTheStore be right back]]", and Garfield gives a disdained "YOUUUUUU" after he removes the cloak covering Vic and recognizes him. After discovering of Jinx's schemes, [[CallingTheOldManOut an apoplectic Garfield tears into Vic]], who begs Garfield for a chance to speak in his defense, but Garfield is having none of it.

* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler: After [[ParentsInDistress Garfield's attempted rescue of Vic]] ends in EpicFail, Jinx has the father and son at her mercy. She would've won if it wasn't for her CoDragons turning against her]].

* ThisIsMyHuman: After the flashback, Garfield proudly describes to the audience how he "adopted Jon."

* BigEater: It wouldn't be Garfield without his famous appetite. The first trailer shows a kitten Garfield being invited into an Italian restaurant and proceeding to eat most of the food in the place. [[spoiler: With his father being a stray StrugglingSingleFather who could barely feed him, [[FreudianExcuse this at least explains it]].

** Said flashback at the beginning features the scene in Mama Leone's where baby Garfield goes on his eating spree. The montage at the end of the film features a brief scene in Mama Leone's with him, Vic and Odie dressed like real people (and a nerve-wracked Jon, presumably because of said incident).

** At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:after Vic is adopted by Jon, he, Garfield, and Odie go to an Italian restaurant complete with [[PaperThinDisguise Paper-Thin Disguises]],]] which is similar to the main times in the comics Jon had to sneak in Garfield and Odie with human clothes so they could enter areas that pets aren't allowed.

** At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:after Vic is adopted by Jon, He, Garfield, and Odie go to an Italian restaurant complete with [[PaperThinDisguise Paper-Thin Disguises]],]] which is similar to the main times in the comics Jon had to sneak in Garfield and Odie with human clothes so they could enter areas that pets aren't allowed.

* BigEater: It wouldn't be Garfield without his famous appetite. The first trailer shows a kitten Garfield being invited into an Italian restaurant and proceeding to eat most of the food in the place.

* {{Jerkass}}: This movie reveals that while Garfield may be a jerk, compared to his father Vic and Jinx, he's downright ''pleasant''. One of Vic's {{Establishing Character Moment}}s in the first trailer is ''kicking his own son out of a moving train'' and proceeding to ''joke with Odie about it''. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope However]] the film proper reveals that it's not all orange and black with Vic.]] Jinx meanwhile is a criminal who has no care to anyone but herself.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Jinx gets hers when she pushes Garfield, Vic, Roland and Nolan off the bridge and soon after gets hit by an overpass unbeknownst to her that causes her to fall off too, before she gets sent back to the pound later on in the end after it's ultimately discovered that she sent Garfield and Vic on the mission with the intent to frame them.]]

** When Marge sees the heist happening through her surveillance cameras, she cries out, "Jiminy Davis!" in a nod to Garfield's creator, Jim Davis.
** At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:after Vic is adopted by Jon. He, Jon, Garfield and Odie go to an italian restaurant complete with [[PaperThinDisguise Paper Thin Disguises]],]] which is similar to the main times in the comics Jon had to sneak in Garfield and Odie with human clothes so they enter areas that pets aren't allowed.

* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Downplayed at the beginning as Garfield gets on Jon's bed and right in his face to say good morning to him.

* FailedASpotCheck: Apparently, Garfield is unaware that he's wearing a collar complete with license tag, which even his father noticed. [[spoiler:In Vic's flashback, it turns out he also failed to spot the food worker across the alley where he was "abandoned" that [[NoObjectPermanence his father was hiding out of sight from]]. To be fair, it was dark and somewhat foggy, but since he's a kitten,[[note]]who can see in dark places[[/note]] he still should've noticed the porch light and the worker's phone conversation.]] He finally notices after Jon bails him out from the pound following the heist.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Jinx gets hers in the end and is sent back to the pound after it's ultimately discovered that she sent Garfield and Vic on the mission with the intent to frame them.]]

** At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:after Vic is adopted by Jon. He, Jon, Garfield and Odie go to an italian restaurant complete with [[PaperThinDisguise Pare Thing Disguises]],]] which is similar to the main times in the comics Jon had to sneak in Garfield and Odie with human clothes so they enter areas that pets aren't allowed.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Odie is shown to be ''much'' smarter here than in the comic strip, being quite intuitive and able to think fast on his feet. He is also more judgmental of Garfield's arrogance and laziness and can even solve math problems ''faster'' than he can. At one point he is able to create a durable lasso out of cheese within only a few seconds.

** Maurice shares his design with one of the Claws from ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials Garfield on the Town]]'', both being blue cats wearing an eyepatch over their left eye and in conflict with one of Garfield's parents.

* YouDidntSeeThat: The second trailer ends with the FluffyDryCat gag, with Garfield telling Odie, "You saw nothing" which didn't make the [[MissingTrailerScene final cut]] during the Mondays montage. Instead, in the film it is used when Garfield ends up kissing Odie when they're both on Jon's bed.