The Garfield Movie | |
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Directed by | Mark Dindal |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Garfield by Jim Davis |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Edited by | Mark Keefer |
Music by | John Debney |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release dates |
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Running time | 101 minutes [3] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $60 million [4] |
Box office | $254.9 million [2] [5] |
The Garfield Movie is a 2024 American animated comedy film based on the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis. Directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove, and David Reynolds, the film stars Chris Pratt as the voice of the titular character, alongside the voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Harvey Guillén, Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang, and Snoop Dogg. In the film, Garfield is reunited with his long-lost father, a street cat named Vic, before being forced into joining him on a high-stakes adventure. It is the sixth Garfield film adaptation and the first since Garfield's Pet Force , which was released fifteen years prior.
Development on The Garfield Movie started at Alcon Entertainment in May 2016. Dindal was announced as the film's director in November 2018, and pre-production began the following month. By 2021, Sony Pictures had already purchased the film rights for global distribution and Pratt was cast as Garfield, with the rest of the cast joining the following year. The film was animated by DNEG Animation, while John Debney, a frequent collaborator of Dindal, composed the score.
The Garfield Movie premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on May 19, 2024, and was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing on May 24, 2024. Upon release, the film received generally negative reviews from critics who criticized its unfaithfulness to the source material although the animation and voice acting were praised. It was a box-office success, grossing $254.9 million worldwide against a $60 million budget.
In a town in California, Garfield is an obese, sedentary, orange tabby cat who lives a pampered average lifestyle with his beagle dog sidekick, Odie, and their owner, Jon Arbuckle. One night, while getting a midnight snack, Garfield and Odie are abducted by a Shar Pei, a whippet, and a Western bluebird respectively named Roland and Nolan, and Barry, who take them to an abandoned mall as prisoners. Garfield and Odie are soon rescued by the former's estranged father, Vic, whom Garfield hates, believing that Vic had abandoned him in an alley back when he was a kitten, on the stormy night he met Jon. The dogs' boss, Jinx, a deranged Persian cat, whom Vic has a history with, arrives to exact revenge on him for leaving her behind during a milk heist at Lactose Farms before she was caught and imprisoned at the animal shelter. She lies that she will forgive Vic if he, Garfield, and Odie break into Lactose Farms to steal a large quantity of milk as compensation for her imprisonment, which they reluctantly agree, while Roland and Nolan closely observe them.
The following morning, Jon notices Garfield and Odie’s disappearance but has trouble calling people to help search for them. Freighthopping a train to Lactose Farms, Vic attempts to bond with Garfield, to no avail as the latter refuses to engage with him. The three reach the farm, which is heavily guarded by an advanced security system. They meet Otto, a Highland bull and the farm's former mascot, who was cast out after a corporation took over, separating him from his cow girlfriend, Ethel. They agree to help get Ethel out of the farm if he helps them break in.
While preparing for the heist, Garfield and Vic frequently clash with each other, forcing Odie and Otto to tie them to a tree. During a heated argument, Vic forlornly reveals what happened on the night he left Garfield behind: he was actually obtaining food for the starving kitten from across the alley but returned too late to find Jon taking care of him in an Italian restaurant he wandered off to. Sadly accepting that Jon would be a better care provider, Vic decided to let him adopt Garfield and kept his distance from his son. Finally understanding the circumstances, Garfield forgives his dad. Meanwhile, Roland and Nolan report to Jinx that Garfield and crew are ready to heist, and she calls the farm's Animal Control officer, Marge Malone, to frame them for it.
The trio successfully infiltrate the farm and circumvent the factory's dangerous equipment, but Marge intercepts them at the loading dock and captures Garfield and Odie. Vic remorsefully leaves them behind despite his son's pleas, stealing the milk truck and successfully delivering it to Jinx, only to be betrayed and captured by her as she reveals that she actually wanted Vic to be sent to the pound like she was. A heartbroken and confused Garfield and Odie are taken to the pound, where Garfield meets the rest of Vic's old crewmates, who have long distanced themselves from him because he was constantly leaving their capers to check up on Garfield, watching from afar whenever he visits him, but Garfield is unconvinced. However, Jon soon arrives to bail Garfield and Odie out and takes them home. Returning to his regular life, Garfield finds Vic's tally marks on an old oak tree across from his house that the cat crew told him about, realizing that Vic does love him and only left him and Odie behind at the farm to keep them safe from Jinx.
With his trust in his father restored, Garfield decides to go back to the mall and save him, where he and Odie learn that Jinx intends to throw Vic off a canyon from a high bridge from a train into stalagmites at the bottom of the canyon and a ravine. Garfield and Odie, along with Otto and an army of drones, arrive to rescue him, only to eventually fail. However, finally seeing Vic's genuine love for his son, and realizing the illogical irony of her plan, Roland and Nolan turn on Jinx. Enraged, Jinx pushes the four of them off the train, only to be knocked off herself by an overpass and falls into the canyon as well. Otto swings a rope to catch them all and safely lands them on a net set up by Odie, also apprehending Jinx. They later return to the farm by the milk truck and bring in Jinx to Marge in exchange for Ethel's release, finally reuniting her with Otto. The reformed Roland and Nolan begin working as security guard dogs for Marge, while Jinx ends up sentenced to community service as punishment for her crimes.
Returning home, Garfield finally reconciles with Vic, who first promises to visit him every Sunday for dinner, then eventually moves in with the trio, officially becoming a part of his son's life.
In May 2016, seven years after 20th Century Fox's license with Paws, Inc. expired, it was announced that Alcon Entertainment would develop a sixth Garfield film, with John Cohen and Steven P. Wegner producing, from a script by Mark Torgove and Paul A. Kaplan. [8] [9] Warner Bros. was considered a likely distributor given their partnership with Alcon, and Alcon also intended to launch a franchise of CG-animated Garfield films. [10] Mark Dindal was announced as director in November 2018, with pre-production beginning the following month. [11] [12] In November 2021, David Reynolds was announced to write the film, reuniting with Dindal after having previously worked together on Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (2000). [13] Sony Pictures would distribute the film under its Columbia Pictures label except for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and DNEG Animation would provide the animation. [13] By September 2023, it was reported that the film would be entitled The Garfield Movie. [14] [15]
In November 2021, Chris Pratt was announced to star as Garfield. In May 2022, it was reported that Samuel L. Jackson joined the film as Garfield's father, Vic. [16] In August 2022, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Hannah Waddingham and Cecily Strong were added to the cast. [17] In November 2022, Brett Goldstein and Bowen Yang were added to the cast. [18] Harvey Guillén was confirmed to voice Odie in November 2023, [19] and Hoult was later confirmed to voice Jon Arbuckle in December 2023. [20] With the release of the second trailer in March 2024, Snoop Dogg was revealed to star in the film, and Janelle James was also announced to star the same month. [7] [21]
Garfield creator Jim Davis has approved of Pratt's casting as Garfield, believing his performance embraced "all sides of the character" and not just Garfield's deadpan humor. [22] Pratt was also director Mark Dindal's first choice to voice Garfield, believing "he had been 'imagining [Pratt's] voice coming out of Garfield' for years". [22] Dindal believed that his natural voice captured Garfield's laziness and sarcasm, and to test the compatibility, the animators have paired his voice with snippets of Garfield's dialogue. [23]
Animation services for the film were provided by DNEG Animation, who aimed to translate the 2D aesthetic of the original Garfield comics and cartoons into computer animation. Despite being more realistic, three-dimensional adaptions of the characters, the animators aimed to blend it with the added softness and pastel look reminiscent of the strip, including the exaggerated poses and expressions of the characters translated into the 3D medium. [24]
In November 2023, it was reported that John Debney would compose the film's score, marking his third collaboration with Dindal following Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and Chicken Little (2005). [25] Snoop Dogg collaborated with Keith Urban on an original song for the film titled "Let It Roll", which was released as a single on April 12, 2024. [26] Another single titled "Then There Was You" was released by Calum Scott in May 2024. [27] On May 15, 2024, yet another single titled "Good Life", this time from Jon Batiste, was released. [28] The soundtrack was released on May 17, 2024, by Republic Records.
A musical number titled "I'm Back" was sung by Hannah Waddingham for her character Jinx. However, Waddingham did not record it until after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Not long after recording, the crew discovered that they had run out of time to animate the song's sequence, and the song was subsequently cut from the film, but it does appear in the end credits of the final film, along with parts of the animatic of its sequence. [29]
The Garfield Movie was theatrically released earlier in international markets on May 1, 2024, [30] and later in the United States on May 24, 2024. [31] It was previously scheduled for release domestically on February 16, 2024. [32]
On May 12, 2024, the film had special previews for cinemas across the United Kingdom; the previews were for MediCinema. [33] The film also had its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on May 19, 2024. [34]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the film on digital download on July 9, 2024, [35] and it was made available on DVD and Blu-ray on August 27. [36]
In April 2021, Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney for the rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18-month window and included The Garfield Movie. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks. [37] The film began its run on Netflix in the US on September 21. [38]
As of September 30,2024 [update] , it had grossed $92 million in the United States and Canada and $162.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $254.9 million. [5] [2]
In the United States and Canada, The Garfield Movie was released alongside Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Sight , and was projected to gross around $30 million from 4,000 theaters in its four-day opening weekend. [41] The film made $8.4 million on its first day, including $1.9 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $24.8 million (and a total of $31.1 million over the four days), finishing second behind Furiosa. [42] In its second weekend the film dropped 42% to $14 million, finishing in first. [43]
The film opened in 18 countries on May 3, and grossed $22 million in its first weekend. Its largest markets were Mexico ($8.8 million), [44] Spain ($3.2 million), Brazil ($2.2 million), Italy ($1.6 million), and Peru ($1.3 million). [45]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 37% of 136 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "The Garfield Movie rolls along at a zany enough clip to be diverting for kids, but this animated adventure doesn't much resemble Jim Davis' iconically grumpy creation." [46] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 31 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. [47] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale (the same as the live-action films), while those polled by PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 73%. [42]
In a negative review, Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film's unfaithfulness to the comic, writing, "As anyone familiar with cartoonist Jim Davis' iconic feline character knows, Garfield doesn't like to move around very much. He likes to eat, particularly pepperoni pizza and lasagna, and he likes to lie around and make sarcastic comments. In other words, he's not a cat of action. And yet for some reason, the creators of the new animated film revolving around him think that what the audience really wants is to watch Garfield engage in Mission: Impossible -style, stunt-laden violent mayhem." [48] Brandon Yu of The New York Times criticized the quality of the animation, stating the film was "visually flat, with compositions that seem oddly half-populated and cheap", [49] while a review in The Guardian went as far as to call it a "foul feline origin tale littered with product placement". [50] A mixed review for TheWrap , however, praised certain aspects of the film mildly and conceded, "While this new film isn't especially funny it's still a reasonably enjoyable kids flick. It's short on laughs but surprisingly big on tenderness." [51]
The film was nominated at the 2024 Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Animated Movie, but lost to another Columbia Pictures animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . [52]
Upon the film's May 2016 announcement, it was revealed that Alcon Entertainment intented to launch a franchise of Garfield films. [10]
Garfield is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as Jon in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, Odie the dog, and their owner Jon Arbuckle. As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals; the comic held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.
Garfield: The Movie is a 2004 American comedy film based on Jim Davis' comic strip Garfield. Directed by Peter Hewitt and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, 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-generated imagery.
Mark Dindal is an American filmmaker, animator and voice actor. Best known for his work at Disney, he directed the company's 2000 animated film The Emperor's New Groove (2000), as well as their 2005 film Chicken Little. Prior, he was credited with animation work on the Disney Renaissance films The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992), as well as Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992). In 1997, he briefly moved to Warner Bros. Animation and made his directorial debut with the film Cats Don't Dance, which won an Annie Award for Best Animated Film. Dindal directed the 2024 animated film The Garfield Movie for Sony Pictures and Alcon Entertainment, which was met with commercial success despite negative reviews.
Christopher Michael Pratt is an American actor. He rose to prominence in the late 2000s for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series Everwood (2002–2006) and had supporting roles in the films Wanted (2008), Jennifer's Body (2009), Moneyball (2011), Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Her (2013).
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult is an English actor. His filmography includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in American and British films. He has received several accolades, including nominations for a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2012.
A Garfield Christmas Special is a 1987 American animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip, created by Jim Davis. It is directed by Phil Roman and stars Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield the house cat, as well as Thom Huge, Gregg Berger, Julie Payne, Pat Harrington Jr., David L. Lander and Pat Carroll. The special is about Garfield spending Christmas with the Arbuckle family on their farm, and discovering the true meaning of Christmas.
Garfield is a fictional cat and the protagonist of the comic strip of the same name, created by Jim Davis. Garfield is portrayed as a lazy, fat, cynical and self-absorbed orange tabby Persian cat. He is noted for his love of lasagna and pizza, coffee, and sleeping, and his hatred of Mondays, Nermal, the vet, and exercise.
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties is a 2006 adventure comedy film directed by Tim Hill and written by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. It is the sequel to Garfield: The Movie (2004), and stars Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Bill Murray reprising their respective roles as Jon Arbuckle, Dr. Liz Wilson, and the voice of Garfield. New cast members include Billy Connolly, Ian Abercrombie, Roger Rees, Lucy Davis and Oliver Muirhead in live-action roles and Tim Curry, Bob Hoskins, Rhys Ifans, Vinnie Jones, Joe Pasquale, Richard E. Grant, and Jane Leeves as the voices of the film's new animal characters. In the film, Garfield, Odie, Liz and Jon travel to the United Kingdom, where Prince, another cat that looks exactly like Garfield, is ruling over a castle after the death of his owner. His reign is soon jeopardized by an evil aristocrat, who plans to remodel the castle into condominiums, destroy the estate, and get rid of Prince. The story is loosely inspired by Mark Twain's novel The Prince and the Pauper, while its title is a parody of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities.
Paws, Inc., doing business as Paws, Incorporated, is an American comic studio and production company founded by American cartoonist Jim Davis in 1981 to support the Garfield comic strips and its licensing. The company is located inside Paramount Global's headquarters building in New York City. It was originally located in Muncie, Indiana, relocated in 1989 from Davis' own farm when he was a boy.
Garfield Gets Real is a 2007 American animated adventure comedy film based on the comic strip Garfield. It was produced by Paws, Inc. in cooperation with Davis Entertainment, and The Animation Picture Company and distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was written by Garfield's creator Jim Davis, who started working on the script in the autumn of 1996. It is the third Garfield film, after Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. This was the first fully animated Garfield production since the 1991 television special Garfield Gets a Life, and the series finale of Garfield and Friends. The DVD was shipped to stores on August 9, 2007. Gregg Berger reprises his role of Odie, Garfield is voiced by veteran voice actor Frank Welker, and Jon is voiced by Wally Wingert. The film received unfavorable reviews.
Happy Birthday, Garfield is an hour-long television special dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Garfield comic strip, hosted by its creator Jim Davis. It uses both live-action and animation.
Garfield's Fun Fest is a 2008 animated comedy film based on the comic strip Garfield. It was produced by Paws, Inc., in cooperation with The Animation Picture Company. It was written by Garfield's creator Jim Davis as a sequel to Garfield Gets Real. The film was released on DVD in the United States on August 5, 2008, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and was pre-sold internationally by sales representative Velvet Octopus. It is the fourth Garfield film, and it was later followed by a fifth film, Garfield's Pet Force, in 2009.
Garfield's Pet Force is a 2009 animated superhero comedy film based on characters from the Jim Davis comic strip Garfield and loosely based on the Pet Force novel series. It is the third and final installment of the animated trilogy, following Garfield Gets Real and Garfield's Fun Fest. Also, it is the fifth Garfield movie overall. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the United States on June 16, 2009, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, while it was pre-sold overseas by sales representative Velvet Octopus. It was written by Garfield creator Jim Davis. It was released theatrically in 3-D in select countries such as Poland, Italy and Spain, and became the most profitable film in the trilogy. It is the last Garfield film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, ten years prior to Nickelodeon's acquisition of Paws, Inc. in August 2019, as well as the 2024 film The Garfield Movie, distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label.
Hannah Waddingham is a British actress, singer and television presenter. She is known for playing businesswoman Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso (2020–2023), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2021, and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2021 and 2022.
Alcon Entertainment, LLC is an American indie film and television production company, founded in 1997 by film producers Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. Since its establishment, Alcon Entertainment has developed and financed films that are ultimately distributed – in the United States mostly, and internationally on occasion – by Warner Bros. Pictures, following a ten-year motion picture production agreement.
David Reynolds is an American screenwriter. He is known for having written animated movies such as Finding Nemo (2003) and The Emperor's New Groove (2000).
Jonathan Q. "Jon" Arbuckle is a fictional character from the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis. He also appears in the animated television series Garfield and Friends and The Garfield Show, two live-action/animated feature films, and four fully animated films.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a 2024 post-apocalyptic action film directed and produced by George Miller, who wrote the screenplay with Nico Lathouris. It is the fifth installment in Miller's Mad Max franchise, and the first not focused on series protagonist Max Rockatansky, instead acting as both a spinoff prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and an origin story for the Fury Road character Furiosa, portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy and Alyla Browne in the prequel. Set years before the events of Fury Road, the film follows the title character's life for over a decade, from her kidnapping by the forces of warlord Dementus to her ascension to the rank of Imperator. Tom Burke also stars as Praetorian Jack, a military commander who befriends Furiosa. Several Fury Road cast members return in supporting roles, including John Howard, Nathan Jones, and Angus Sampson reprising their characters.