Talk:Garfield (character)

tabby cat?

I was wondering what kind of cat Garfield is. And in this article he is stated as a tabby cat, however he's never looked like any pictures on the page of tabby cat. So is there any mistake? Flora 15:23, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Never mind guys, I just confirmed he's a true tabby cat. Flora 15:25, 14 October 2006 (UTC) yup...looks like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:KittenAgiosGeorgiosCrete.jpg --64.121.37.248 20:34, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Music & Murray

Can anyone indicate wether this was done on purpose? Bill Murray played Venkman in Ghostbusters (the movie series). Lorenzo Music played Venkman (for a while) in The Real Ghostbusters (the animated series). Music also played Garfield in the animated series in the early '80s. Murray has now played Garfield in the live-action movies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.241.66.199 (talk • contribs) 23:57, 3 November 2006

Tatto

Since when did Garfield have a tatoo? Give me a date or something.Ryan Holloway — Preceding undated comment added 02:33, 8 August 2007

Can they understand the cat?

Yeah seriously, can they understand Garfield?--64.121.37.248 20:35, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Who's "they"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.230.152.143 (talk) 00:28, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

You Notice Garfield always speaks in thought bubble while jon speaks in a chatbox. Jon's face expressions change ONLY after he sees what garfield is doing or has done and/or sees the look on garfield's face.Knowledgekid87 11:41, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Not always. Sometimes Garfield's face remains the same but Jon reacts and in 21 Jan 1992 stripe Garfield is thinking something and Jon replies: "I heard that!". There are other inaccuracies: sometimes Garfield knows how to read, sometimes not. --Alex:D (talk) 01:59, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

James?

We all know his last name is Arbuckles, but when was it said that his middle name is James? Could someone link to the comic in the Vault where this is said? --Alice2 00:50, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Voice actors

I am quite sure that Garfield was not voiced by Brian Johnson, James Hetfield, and David Lee Roth in different iterations.Ian October 30, 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.108.129.113 (talk) 05:58, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

It's pretty clearly Frank Welker, this might need protection. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.73.70.113 (talk) 01:04, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Garfield and Friends.jpg

The image Image:Garfield and Friends.jpg is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check

• That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
• That this article is linked to from the image description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --23:53, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

coffee

the page makes no mention of Garfield and coffee —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sharpyshow (talk • contribs) 21:43, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Cartoon All-Stars

"Garfield was one of the cartoon characters featured in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, although he was the only character to be used without the permission of his creator." I find this phrasing problematic, as I am sure the creator of Winnie the Pooh (who died in 1956) did not give his permission, and neither did the creators of Huey, Dewey, and Louie (who died in 1968 and 1969, respectively). I'm not sure how to re-write this while keeping the same meaning, but suggest possibly "although he was used without Jim Davis' permission" instead. 93.173.171.127 (talk) 10:17, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I find the very assertion almost impossible to believe. Paws, Inc. has handled Garfield licensing since the early '80s, and that's directly controlled by Jim Davis. The thought that Garfield could appear without his approval makes virtually no sense. Powers ^T 17:54, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

World's Oldest Cat

"Garfield's age is noted as the same as the strip, even though at this point he is far older than the average or even longest noted life span of a cat. Currently, 32 Years old." This is incorrect, according to the Guiness World Records as of 2004 the oldest cat ever was 37 at death.66.41.44.102 (talk) 14:40, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Garfield Favorite Food

I think Jim Davis has been shifting Garfield favorite food from Lasagna to Pizza. Recent strips seem to support this Ztyran (talk) 13:38, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, because I think from what I can tell from a source Jim should've made Garfield's favorite food be pizza because it's easier to draw. --180.72.66.61 (talk) 06:53, 14 March 2017 (UTC)

Surname

Given that he is not assigned one on this page I am curious, has he ever been called "Garfield Arbuckle" after his owner or "Garfield Cat" after his species? Or maybe something to indicate it indirectly like him being referred to as "a member of the Arbuckle family" or something like that? 174.92.135.167 (talk) 04:14, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

Gender

There is an edit war going on currently about Garfield's gender. There's a quote from a Mental Floss piece being used to support none; there's no source cited there for male.

It seems to me there are three options:

1. List its gender as none, citing Mental Floss
2. List his gender as male, either citing a source in the infobox or with a source cited elsewhere in the article
3. Omit his gender entirely

Option 1 might entail pronoun changes throughout the article.

What I would like to see is discussion here about which option is best supported by sources and best complies with WP policy. Edit summaries are not a substitute for talk-page discussion. I would prefer to have the discussion move here naturally, but if I need to enforce it by reverting it to the last version before the edit war started and protecting the article, I'm prepared to do so. —C.Fred (talk) 15:36, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Garfield's gender has clearly been established by Jim Davis, creator of Garfield and the final authority on all issues related to Garfield canon. According to Davis, Garfield has no gender, race, or nationality. If one could locate another source where Jim Davis states, as explicitly as he states in the Mental Floss article, that Garfield's gender is male or female, then this would give rise to a serious controversy in Garfield canon. Yet no such source has been identified, and I highly doubt one will ever emerge. In fact, I consider the thought as laughable as the idea of a steam train being more efficient than a diesel train. David "The Milk" Milkberg (talk) 21:52, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Much like Otis Elevators, steam engines are an undeniable classic, representing the heart and soul that made transportation great. To say otherwise stinks of Gulanism. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1:92D6:288D:B759:DA57:82E8:909A (talk) 22:44, 25 February 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1:92D7:E28B:9885:E7FF:40E6:E8E6 (talk)

While the Mental Floss quote clearly does specify the gender as none, it also implies Garfield's pronoun is he/his, so there is no need to change pronouns throughout the article. passcod (talk) 21:59, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

There's a fourth option: to provide both genders, each appropriately referrenced: "Male[1] and/or none[2]". (Note, for 'male' I think only the 1981-07-28 strip should be cited, as it's the only one that looks at self-identification. Cat owners and even vets can be wrong about even physical sex let alone gender; one of my cat's vets always refers to her as "he" while the others say "she" so *someone's* probably wrong here.) I think providing both is best, to avoid erasing either aspect of Garfield's identity and because it's not Wikipedia's call to decide which facts are true, only to report what the sources say. Here the sources say two things, so we should report both. I suggest the above order purely due to the chronology of the sources. --Zeborah (talk) 23:25, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Considering the actual quote, "By virtue of being a cat, really, he’s not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old." I don't think it is clear that Davis is literally saying that Garfield has no gender. It looks more like he is saying that his gender is not readily apparent, like it would be for a human character. Throughout the strip characters, including Garfield himself, refer to him as male. Without something explicitly saying that Garfield has no gender, I don't think we have a strong enough source to make that assertion. Torven (talk) 05:54, 26 February 2017 (UTC)

I feel that taking the Mental Floss quotation to mean that Garfield is literally and canonically genderless is taking the quote wildly out of context: “I would like for readers in Sydney, Australia to think that Garfield lives next door,” Davis says. “Dealing with eating and sleeping, being a cat, Garfield is very universal. By virtue of being a cat, really, he’s not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old. It gives me a lot more latitude for the humor for the situations.” Clearly this is a comment explaining the philosophy of Garfield's universal appeal, and not an attestation that Garfield is (or that Jim Davis believes the character of Garfield to be) literally genderless (or ageless, or without nationality, etc.) Throughout the strip, every character (including Garfield himself!) constantly refers to Garfield unambiguously as male, and always using male pronouns. Here is but a small sample of strips I found after a cursory search on garfield.com:

1. Garfield adopts a superhero persona he names "Amoeba Man", using male pronouns and once referring to himself as "fella": https://garfield.com/comic/1983/06/20 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1983/06/21 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1983/06/23 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1983/06/24 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1983/06/25
2. Jon refers to Odie and Garfield together as boys: https://garfield.com/comic/1978/11/12 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1984/12/25 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1999/02/22 ; https://garfield.com/comic/2014/07/27
3. Jon refers to Garfield singly as a boy or a man: https://garfield.com/comic/1979/04/19 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1979/06/02 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1980/09/14 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1981/10/11 ; https://garfield.com/comic/2000/11/20 ; https://garfield.com/comic/2011/11/27
4. Jon refers to Garfield (disguised as a human) as his son: https://garfield.com/comic/1980/10/01
5. Garfield plainly refers to himself as a "boy cat" and a "bachelor": https://garfield.com/comic/1979/08/20
6. Garfield refers to himself as a "bad boy": https://garfield.com/comic/1981/07/28
7. Garfield refers to himself as a "guy": https://garfield.com/comic/1981/08/12 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1981/11/07 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1981/12/27 ; https://garfield.com/comic/1999/11/24
8. Garfield's magical talking bathroom scale (probably a proxy for Garfield himself) refers to Garfield as a "young man" and a "boy": https://garfield.com/comic/2008/01/17
9. A cat brushes off Garfield's advances and calls him, generically, "Jack": https://garfield.com/comic/1981/02/15
10. Garfield refers to himself as a renaissance man, and another cat refers to him as both a man and a boy: https://garfield.com/comic/1984/11/04
11. A cat refers to Garfield as "guy", and Garfield refers to his own "manly pose": https://garfield.com/comic/1984/12/08
12. Arlene refers to Garfield as "fella": https://garfield.com/comic/1981/10/08
13. Arlene implies Garfield's gender identity differs from her own, which is identified in the strip as "girl": https://garfield.com/comic/1983/05/25
14. Garfield thinks to himself he'd "make a lousy father": https://garfield.com/comic/1983/06/05
15. Garfield refers to himself as a "kind of guy": https://garfield.com/comic/1984/05/15
16. Arlene refers to Garfield as a "him": https://garfield.com/comic/1984/10/24
17. In a Sunday title/precomic, Jim Davis has Garfield roleplay a prince, not a princess: https://garfield.com/comic/1988/07/24
18. In a Sunday title/precomic, Jim Davis has Garfield roleplay a scoundrel that self-identifies as a "him": https://garfield.com/comic/1988/10/23
19. Garfield refers to himself as a "regular guy": https://garfield.com/comic/1993/02/23

DrCliche (talk) 07:14, 26 February 2017 (UTC)

• Bravo Wikipedia.That man from Nantucket (talk) 00:36, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Wouldn't unspecified be a better option than none? Because it seems like that's what Davis meant in his Mental Floss article. 192.222.150.54 (talk) 23:02, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

I think DrCliche has settled this. AddingInstruments (talk) 08:59, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

Garfield is male. Any other view is Fringe.19:56, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

This edit war is so ridiculous it's shown up on Heat Street and Reddit; probably more sites than that even. HalfGig talk 22:17, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

This edit war is so ridiculous it's shown up on a tedious troll journal and a site anyone can submit anything to. 82.31.7.40 (talk) 21:46, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

This is one for Lamest edit wars. 152.78.250.31 (talk) 17:00, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

He can be a neutral word — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrsmallbee (talk • contribs) 16:34, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

Forget about his gender and alleged Muslim faith ... Garfield is not married

Need we really list Arlene under the "spouse" category of the infobox? --Milowent • ^hasspoken 18:05, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Where does the Muslim bit come from? HalfGig talk 13:44, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

@HalfGig: This edit [1] - Ryk72 ^'c.s.n.s.' 14:17, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

according to this [2] looks like you could make the argument that they are married. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mjackokcajm (talk • contribs) 21:16, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

• Citing a fandom wiki,Mjackokcajm? We cannot countenance that! In any event, I checked the Infobox template and "significant other" is an option, so I've changed it from spouse to that, now that Jim Davis has confirmed that Arlene is his girlfriend, thus eliminating the question of whether a legitimate or illegitimate cat marriage ever occurred.--Milowent • ^hasspoken 15:55, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

"In the news"

Resolved: 03:09, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

The Great Garfield Gender Wikipedia War of 2017 is in the news:

• Selk, Avi; Cavna, Michael; Selk, Avi; Cavna, Michael (1 March 2017). "Garfield’s a boy … right? How a cartoon cat’s gender identity launched a Wikipedia war.". The Washington Post. 

I don't know how to put the "Wikipedia in the news" thing in this page's header, so if somebody does, please do so. ~Thx, 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:8CE:FA2E:32C2:3DF4 (talk) 21:40, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

To clarify: I'm not referring to the In the news on Wikipedia (i.e: {{itn talk}}); rather, when a Wikipedia article itself appears in a news article (as above), there is a notice on that talk page's header. 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:8CE:FA2E:32C2:3DF4 (talk) 00:45, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Done (without noticing this section before doing so). (t) Josve05a (c) 03:14, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

See my 22:17, 28 February 2017 (UTC) post above, reported this 2 days ago. HalfGig talk 12:31, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. For future reference, the template is {{press}} --[op]:2606:A000:4C0C:E200:2091:566E:356D:55EB (talk) 03:09, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

Jim Davis says Garfield is male

Jim Davis said Garfield is male: in Washington Post: "“Garfield is male,” Davis told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “He has a girlfriend, Arlene.”" HalfGig talk 12:55, 2 March 2017 (UTC)