Garfield: The Movie


Garfield: The Movie is a 2004 American live action/computer-animated comedy film directed by Peter Hewitt inspired by Jim Davis' comic strip of the same name. It stars Breckin Meyer as Jon Arbuckle, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Dr. Liz Wilson and features Bill Murray as the voice of Garfield, who was created with computer animation, though all other animals were real. The film was produced by Davis Entertainment Company and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was released in the United States on June 11, 2004. While the film received negative reviews from critics, it was a box office success, grossing over $200 million on a $50 million budget. A sequel, , was released on June 16, 2006.

Plot

is an overweight, lazy and free-spirited orange cat who lives with his owner Jon Arbuckle in a cul-de-sac in Ferndale, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Garfield passes his time by antagonizing Jon and teasing his aggressive neighbor, Luca, a Doberman. Aside from Jon, Garfield maintains an unlikely friendship with a helpful mouse, Louis. Garfield also socializes with his fellow neighborhood cats, including Garfield's stooges Nermal and Arlene.
Jon has made a habit of bringing Garfield to the veterinarian, in order to see vet Dr. Liz Wilson. Jon tries to ask Liz out, but due to a misunderstanding, Jon is given custody of a dog named Odie, who is lovable, playful and friendly. Regardless, Jon and Liz begin dating. Garfield however, begins to dislike Odie and tries to get rid of him by getting revenge. Odie is brought to a canine talent show, where Liz is a judge. Garfield gets involved in an altercation there with other dogs, which moves Odie to the center of the ring, where he begins dancing to "Hey Mama" by the Black Eyed Peas.
Odie's improvised performance is a hit. A local television host, Happy Chapman, known for his cat "Persnikitty", who also is a judge of the dog show, is impressed with Odie, and offers Jon a television deal for Odie, but Jon declines, making Happy more determined than ever to upstage his brother. When Garfield comes back, he hits a ball in frustration, causing a chain reaction that trashes Jon's house. When Jon finds his house in ruins later, he forces Garfield to sleep outside for the night. Heartbroken, Garfield sadly sings. When Odie comes out to comfort Garfield, he gets inside and locks Odie out on purpose. Nermal and Arlene witness this as Odie runs away where he is then picked up by an elderly woman named Mrs. Baker. Jon searches with Liz for Odie while the neighborhood animals angrily accuse Garfield for locking Odie out and making him run away the night before while Garfield states that he only was protecting his turf and never wanted Odie to run off.
Meanwhile, Chapman, who is revealed to be allergic to cats, jealous of his news reporter brother Walter J. Chapman, and wants to be more successful than him by performing on TV show Good Day New York, and his assistant Wendell find a notice Mrs. Baker created of Odie and, recognizing the lucrative possibilities, claim Odie as Happy's own, instantly kidnaps Odie, and gives Mrs. Baker an autograph. When Garfield sees Odie on television and hears Chapman announce he and Odie are going to New York City, Garfield sets out to rescue Odie. Jon discovers Garfield is also missing so he tells Liz to start searching for him and Odie. Garfield gets into the broadcast tower via the air vents but he is blown around violently. Garfield finds Odie locked in a kennel, but Chapman enters and secures a shock collar to Odie, which, when activated, releases an electric discharge that forces Odie to perform tricks.
Chapman heads for the train station with Garfield in close pursuit. However, an animal control officer catches Garfield, mistaking him as a stray. Meanwhile, Mrs. Baker tells Jon that Chapman took Odie, making him believe Garfield was taken by Chapman too, Jon and Liz race to Telegraph Tower and then to the train station, after learning Chapman has left. At the same time, Garfield is released from the pound by Chapman's abandoned feline star Persnikitty, who is really named Sir Roland, along with the other animals. Chapman boards a New York-bound train, with Odie in the luggage car. Garfield arrives only to see the train depart. Garfield sneaks into the train system control room and frantically switches the tracks, leading to an impending train wreck. Garfield hits an emergency control and causes the train to return to the station. Garfield frees Odie and they exit the train. However, Chapman chases them and eventually corners the two in a suitcase area. Chapman threatens Odie with the shock collar, but is stopped by Garfield's friends and animals from the pound, led by Sir Roland. They swarm and attack Chapman, allowing Odie and Garfield to escape.
The shock collar is now on Chapman, who gets shocked. Jon and Liz arrive to reclaim the animals and find Chapman disoriented. Jon punches Chapman for stealing "both" his pets in the first place, and leaves with Liz and the two animals. Chapman is arrested for his supposed involvement with the trains, as well as for abducting Odie. Garfield regains the respect of his animal friends as a hero. Back at home, Liz and Jon form a relationship, and Garfield learns a lesson about friendship.

Cast

Live action actors

Garfield creator Jim Davis appeared as an uncredited drunken convention attendee, but his role was cut from the final version of the film.

Voice actors

Development

, Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller, and Adam Sandler were considered for the role of Jon but all of them were considered too expensive. Jennifer Garner and Angelina Jolie were considered for the role of Liz, both dropped out with Jolie and Garner having busy schedule respectively. Brad Dourif, Thomas Lennon, and Michael Ironside were considered to play Happy Chapman. Ironside was cast, but he dropped out after one day for unknown reasons, and Lennon was busy on Reno 911. Jack Nicholson and John Goodman were offered the role of Garfield. However, Bill Murray took the role as Garfield. During Murray's Reddit AMA, he provided the role as the titular character because he mistook the screenplay writer's name, Joel Cohen, for Joel Coen of the Coen brothers. He accepted the role, briefly skimming through the script. Co-writer Alec Sokolow disputed Murray's claim in 2014: "He knew it was not Joel Coen well before he met Joel Cohen. It's a funny take. And it kind of defends him against the criticism of making such an overtly commercial film. But, it's complete horse shit."
According to Jim Davis, Murray recorded his dialogue in his apartment in New York City and on the set of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in Greece.

Filming

This film was shot in Los Angeles, California, including some scenes that were shot at an Amtrak station in that city.

Post-production

provided special effects for the film.

Release

The film was released in theaters on June 11, 2004 by 20th Century Fox, exactly one week before Garfield's 26th anniversary on June 19, 2004. During its theatrical run, it was preceded by an Ice Age short film, Gone Nutty.

Home media

Garfield: The Movie was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on VHS and DVD on October 19, 2004. The special features includes a behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, and the Baha Men music video "Holla!". The film was released on a 3-disc Blu-ray on October 11, 2011..

Music

performed the song "Holla!" for the film and its soundtrack. The music video premiered in early summer 2004 and featured clips from the film and gags showing obvious references to the Garfield franchise.

Reception

Critical reception

Garfield: The Movie received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 3.52/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "When the novelty of the CGI Garfield wears off, what's left is a simplistic kiddie movie." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 27 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, rating it a three out of four stars saying the movie was "charming".
Joe Leydon of Variety magazine wrote: "Only very small children still easily impressed by interaction of human actors and CGI quadrupeds will be amused by Garfield."
A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "That Garfield speaks in the supercilious, world-weary drawl of Bill Murray is some small consolation, as are a few of the animal tricks."

Murray's response

Murray said in an interview with GQ that he was confused when he agreed to play the voice of Garfield for the film.
Murray continued:
Murray reprised his role two years later in the Cohen co-penned .
In Zombieland, when Bill Murray is shot he is asked if he had any regrets before dying. He responds by saying "Garfield, maybe."

Box office

The film opened up with $21,727,611 domestically in its first weekend. It grossed a total of $75,369,589 domestically, and a further $125,434,945 internationally. The film grossed in total $200,804,534 worldwide.

Sequel

A sequel, titled , was released on June 16, 2006 in North America.