Garfield: The Movie

Theatrical release poster

***Garfield: The Movie*** is a 2004 American animated comedy film produced by Nickelodeon Movies, Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Paws, Inc. for Paramount Pictures. Based on the Sunday comic strip *Garfield* by Jim Davis, it is directed by Tim Hill based on a screenplay by Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola.

It features Chris Pratt as the voice of the title character, alongside Carlos Alazraqui, Joan Allen, James Corden, Candi Milo, and Stephen Tobolowsky. Garfield the lazy orange cat has everything a cat could want. Then, he gets something he doesn't want: a dog named Odie that Jon Arbuckle brought home from veterinarian Liz. But after Odie runs away, Garfield is motivated to go rescue Odie himself.

*Garfield: The Movie* premiered in Los Angeles on April 23, 2004, and was theatrically released on June 11, 2004 in the United States. It received positive reviews and grossed $208 million worldwide on its budget of $50 million. A sequel was released in 2006, titled *A Tail of Two Kitties*, with Chris Pratt reprising his role as Garfield.

## Voice cast

* Chris Pratt as Garfield
* Carlos Alazraqui as Jon Arbuckle
* Joan Allen as Dr. Liz Wilson
* James Corden as Nermal
* Candi Milo as Arlene
* Stephen Tobolowsky as Kevin J. "Happy" Chapman
* Mel Gibson as Walter J. Chapman
* Alan Cumming as Persnikitty
* Pharrell Williams as Louis
* Grey Griffin as Sonja
* Samuel L. Jackson as Vic

## Production

*Garfield* entered development in 2001 when the rights to the comic strip were acquired by Viacom. Tim Hill was assigned to direct the film. Paul Marshal and Max Howard produced the film. Creator Jim Davis wrote the story for the film, and served as an executive producer. Oliver Stone and Francis Ford Coppola wrote the screenplay. Originally, Jim Carrey was interested in taking the voice role of Garfield, but was replaced by Chris Pratt. The rest of the cast -that consisted of Carlos Alazraqui, Joan Allen, James Corden, Candi Milo and Stephen Tobolowsky- were announced in 2002. The animation for the film was produced by Sunwoo Entertainment, Rough Draft Studios, Mercury Filmworks and Bardel Entertainment. John Powell composed the score.

## Release

*Garfield: The Movie* premiered in Los Angeles on April 23, 2004, before it was theatrically released on June 11, 2004 in the United States by Paramount Pictures. It was rated PG by the MPAA for "rude humor, mild peril and some language".

### Marketing

* The teaser trailer was released on August 5, 2003 and was shown before *Freaky Friday*, *Freddy vs. Jason*, *Game Zone*, *Thirteen*, *School of Rock*, *Scary Movie 3*, and *Susan Telltale*.
* The first theatrical trailer was released on January 14, 2004, and was shown before *Miracle*, *Catch That Kid*, *Noveltoons: Wacky & Out!*, and *Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed*.
* TV spots aired between March and June 2004.

### Home media

*Garfield: The Movie* was released on VHS and DVD on November 1, 2004 by Paramount Home Entertainment.

## Reception

### Box office

*Garfield: The Movie* opened on June 11, 2004 alongside *Napoleon Dynamite*, *Saved!*, *The Stepford Wives*, and *The Chronicles of Riddick*. It grossed $95 million in the United States and Canada, and $113 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $208 million. Against a production budget of $50 million, *Garfield: The Movie* was a box office bomb in the United States and Canada, although it fared better internationally.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 185 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "While it may be one of the only few great 2D animated features, and its plot may be too confusingly lazy to glance at, *Garfield* does have the charm of the classic comics." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film an average grade "A" on its A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 91% positive score, with 79% saying they would definitely recommend it.

### Accolades

*Main article: List of accolades received by Garfield: The Movie*