Jon Arbuckle
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| Jon Arbuckle | |||||||||||||||
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| Jon in colour. | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Philip Mitchell (voice in Here Comes Garfield) Thom Huge (voice in most other animated appearances) Breckin Meyer (in the live-action films) Wally Wingert (current) Unknown stage actor (In "Garfield Live") |
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| First appearance | Garfield comic strip (June 19, 1978) | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Jim Davis | ||||||||||||||
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| Species | Human | ||||||||||||||
| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Cartoonist |
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Jonathan Q. "Jon" Arbuckle is a character from the Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis. He has also appeared in the animated television series Garfield and Friends, the computer-animated The Garfield Show, and two live-action feature films.
A nerdy and clumsy man, Jon is the owner of Garfield and Odie. He converses with Garfield and is often the butt of his jokes. In the animated Garfield and Friends, he was frequently portrayed as being incredibly gullible when faced with unscrupulous salesmen and rather dumb in general.
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[edit] Background
Jon's birthday is July 28, 1950 (the same month and day as that of Jim Davis). Jon tells Garfield that he is 29 years old in a December 23, 1980 strip (he makes a joke that he would be 30, but he was sick a year).
In the animated show Garfield and Friends, we learn that Jon has an Italian ancestor whose name was Tony Arbuccli. Some episodes of the show suggested that Jon and his pets live in Muncie, Indiana, which is also where Jim Davis lives. Jon wears contact lenses, and his favorite music style is polka (a preference that he shares neither with Garfield nor with any other character). He can play accordion, guitar and bongos, though his musical skills are far from good. Some of his "fun" ways to cure boredom are buying new socks, clipping his toenails, or playing "Guess the Burp" with Garfield[1]. Jon was raised on a farm and occasionally visits his mother, father, and brother, Doc Boy.
Jon acquired Odie when Lyman, an old friend of his (and Odie's original owner) moved in with him and Garfield. After a few years, Lyman disappeared from the strip, never to be heard from again. In Garfield's Twenty Years and Still Kickin' book to honor Garfield's twentieth year, there were parodies of how Lyman left such as, "Had lunch with Jimmy Hoffa and then...".
Jon was voted #1 on "The Most Depressed Comic Book Characters" on the Best Week Ever blog.[2] In the early days of the strip, Jon would often be seen having whole chickens for dinner, which would invariably be stolen by Garfield. By the mid 1980s, this had been dropped.
[edit] Personal Information
Jon Arbuckle's favorite color is red, and he likes decaffeinated coffee, chocolate-chip cookies, and unleaded gasoline. According to one episode of "Garfield and Friends", Jon's favorite meal is lobster thermidor.
[edit] Dating
Jon has been bad at dating, even though he believes himself to be a smooth-talking ladies' man. He has even been classified in his high school yearbook as "Most likely to date a kitchen appliance," given that no one else will go on a date with him. He was usually rejected when trying to get dates with women, perhaps because of his ridiculous pick-up lines, his loud and flashy outfits, or his habit of extolling the virtues of stamp collecting. He has resorted to many desperate measures in getting a date: begging, clapping, crying, and threats to his personal health are quite common while he is talking on the phone. His biggest crush is on Dr. Liz Wilson, Garfield and Odie's vet, who has gone out with him (unsuccessfully) a few times and as of January 2010 appears to be in a committed relationship with him. Three of Jon's very rare dating successes were in TV specials: with Owooda in Garfield in Paradise, with Mona in Garfield Gets a Life, and with Bertha (an obese woman toward whom Garfield shows affection just because of her love of food) in the 15th book (Garfield Worldwide). Bertha later (in book #42, Garfield Pigs Out) goes on a diet and loses 200 pounds. It is sometimes implied that Garfield doesn't like it when Jon goes on a date (Once, he explained that this was because "Dating leads to marriage, Marriage leads to children. And do you know what children do to cats?")
As part of a recent change to the comic strip, Jon finally got a date with another long-time crush, Ellen (who was suffering from amnesia and forgot who Jon was). During their date, he saw Liz at the same restaurant with another man. Jon told Liz about his feelings for her, and she admitted she cared for Jon also. Liz is now portrayed as Jon's girlfriend, and as of January 2010 they remain a couple.
[edit] Career
Jon's profession is never made entirely clear. In the earlier strips, he makes his living as a cartoonist, but since then readers haven't seen him at work. The TV series Garfield and Friends does show him several times as a cartoonist. The current strips aren't clear about whether Jon is still a cartoonist, as one strip suggested he now works for a flute factory (whether he was fired or not from his previous job is unclear). However in Garfield Rolls On, Jon does go to a cartoonist convention. In a recent strip, Garfield mentions that Jon holds a degree in art (implying that he is still a cartoonist), even though his dad thought of it as a waste of money.
[edit] Ability to understand Garfield
It is debatable whether or not Jon can understand Garfield's "speech." On occasion, it appears that he can, judging by his facial expressions in reaction to one of Garfield's sarcastic remarks. However, in the live action film, Garfield says to Jon, "I know you don't hear me, but can't you just listen?" However, the films are considered non-canon to the strip. All in all, his ability to understand Garfield is debatable. In the August 15 2009 comic, Jon asks Garfield if he has been harassing Mrs Feeny, Garfield responds that he has and would gladly do it again, he then breaks the fourth wall by commenting to the reader "It's a good thing he can't hear me".
[edit] Origins
The name Jon Arbuckle came from a 1950s radio commercial for Yuban coffee.
[edit] Other media
- Jon was voiced by Thom Huge in Garfield and Friends and several animated television specials. Breckin Meyer portrayed Jon in the live-action films. In Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest and Garfield's Pet Force he was voiced by Wally Wingert. Wally also provides Jon's voice for The Garfield Show.
- In both live-action films, Jon has a powerful right hook which he uses to knock out the main antagonist. This is in direct contrast to his weak strength in the original comic strips.
- In an episode of Futurama, the forehead of a giant "Jon" balloon from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade becomes a hot air balloon to raise Fry, Leela, and Bender to the surface world.
- Arbuckle: Garfield through Jon's eyes is a daily webcomic in which fans send a redrawing of a Garfield strip with Garfield's thought bubbles removed. As creator Tailsteak puts it,
The comic changes dramatically when one removes the thought bubbles.
"Garfield" changes from being a comic about a sassy, corpulent feline, and becomes a compelling picture of a lonely, pathetic, delusional man who talks to his pets. Consider that Jon, according to Garfield canon, cannot hear his cat's thoughts. This is the world as he sees it. This is his story.
- Similarly, Garfield Minus Garfield removes all the other characters completely and simply features Jon talking to himself.
- An Arbuckle Thanksgiving and An Arbuckle Christmas have taken the two holiday video specials and digitally removed Garfield and Odie, leaving Jon as the lead.
- Jon also has an account on Facebook.
[edit] References
- ^ "The Garfield Vault Strip". Garfield.com. 2006-02-28. http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2006-ga060228. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
- ^ Best week ever blog
