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A Live-Action Movie based off the popular comic strip Garfield. It was released in 2004 by Twentieth Century Fox. It starred Bill Murray as Garfield, Breckin Meyer as Jon, and Jennifer Love Hewitt as Liz. It was directed by Joel Cohen.
The plot deals with Garfield, as lazy and fat as ever, being the extreme Jerkass and Deadpan Snarker 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 villain named "Happy Chapman". Garfield sets out on an adventure to rescue Odie...and get back to his beloved chair!
The movie was followed with a sequel in 2006, called Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties. In it, Liz goes to England to make a speech, and while she, Jon, and Garfield are there, Garfield gets his life mixed up with that of a English cat.
There were also three CGI DTV Non Serial Movies from 2007, 2008, and 2009: Garfield Gets Real, about Garfield getting sick of his job as a comic strip character and going to the real world, 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.
The live-action movies contain examples of:[]
- Actor Allusion: Bill Murray, well known for playing Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters, played Garfield in both movies. In The Real Ghostbusters, Lorenzo Music played Peter Venkman, who was also Garfield in Garfield and Friends.
- Bad News, Irrelevant News: Used at one point in A Tail Of Two Kitties:
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Bulldog: Okay everyone, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first? |
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- Disaster Dominoes: Garfield's destruction of Jon's living room in the first movie. At the end, a large shelf falls and perfectly misses Garfield.
- Human-Focused Adaptation: 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.
- Let's See You Do Better: A collectors edition DVD of the first movie has a tool for making your own Garfield strips.
- Live Action Adaptation
- Mirror Routine: In A Tale of Two Kitties, Garfield and Prince do this when they finally meet, over a hedge arch. They desynchronize once Garfield tries some wicked dance moves.
- Preview Piggybacking: Argubly, the only reason anyone saw the first movie when it aired on The Hub was to see the Equestria Girls commercial that premiered on it. This got lampshaded in this comic.
- Prince and Pauper: The main idea of A Tail Of Two Kitties.
- The UK version was even called The Prince and the Paw-per.
- Real Song Theme Tune: In the first Garfield movie, Garfield turns on the TV and the song called "Hey Mama" by the Black Eyed Peas plays in its music video, which makes Odie dance. The song would repeat again in the contest, this time from the radio.
- Retcon: Jon buys Odie from a pet shop in the first movie, despite the fact that in the strip, Jon's former roommate Lyman gave him to him.
- Risky Business Dance: The first movie's trailer.
- Shout-Out: The first movie has ones to Apocalypse Now, Cape Fear, The Lion King, Jerry Maguire, Apollo 13, and Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc.
- Also, Garfield watches TV at one point in the first movie, and watches a bit of Cheaper By the Dozen, Lassie, Old Yeller, Benji, Oh Heavenly Dog, Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, and The Best Damn Sports Show Period. Also, The Simpsons, and An Affair to Remember are on the TV at other points in the movie.
- Tail of Two Kitties has even MORE, to The Maltese Falcon, The Ugly American, Born Free, Fists Of Fury, The Jeffersons, History of the World Part One, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, The Silence of the Lambs, Free Willy, Fear Factor, and Oliver Twist.
- Sphere Eyes: Garfield only. Which is slightly creepy to some, even for a CGI talking animal in a live action movie.
- Starring Special Effects
- The Trope Formerly Known as X: "I'm not Prince. I'm not even the cat formerly known as Prince."
The CGI movies contain examples of:[]
- 3D Movie: Garfield's Pet Force was re-released with a 3D version.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Shecky (a cat from the Real World who was brought into the Cartoon World at the end of Garfield Gets Real).
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: At one point in Garfield Gets Real, 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 this edited strip. Most of the time, it's too blurry to read the text, but 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.)
- Spin-Off: Pet Force.