The movie was released in the United States on June 11, 2004. Reviews of the movie were generally very negative, although Murray's voice work received some positive notices.
The movie for the most part follows the comics. Garfield is a fat, lazy, selfish cat who hates Mondays and eats a lot. One day, his owner Jon takes him to the vet. There, they meet a homeless puppy, Odie (portrayed as a "normal" house dog). Dr. Liz Wilson tells Jon that Odie will be taken to the pound if nobody claims him, so Jon brings him home, much to Garfield's chagrin (in this film adaptation, Liz is portrayed as Jon's love interest). He torments and teases the dog. One day, Jon and Liz go out to a dog show with Odie. Odie steals the show with his dancing (accompanied by the Black Eyed Peas), which does not go unnoticed by Happy Chapman, a television host who features house pets and desperately tries to upstage his newscaster brother (played by the same person, Stephen Tobolowsky). He offers to put Odie on his show. Jon refuses. One night Odie gets lost (after Garfield lets him out) and Garfield had a lot of explaining to do to Arlene and Nermal, and Odie's kidnapped by Happy Chapman. Garfield, together with Louis, one of Jon's pesky house mice, Persnikitty, Happy Chapman's cat, and other characters, set out to rescue Odie, although Garfield is seemingly indifferent at first ("Nermal" and "Arlene" [both are briefly named in the film] resort to shaming Garfield and making him feel guilty in order to get him to help).
In the movie, Liz is portrayed as Jon's love interest, which is significantly different from her comic portrayal (until July 26, 2006), in which she essentially "hates Jon's guts", repelling Jon's advances and insisting on keeping the relationship professional (although they did date in one episode of Garfield and Friends). Jon's entire romantic life in the comics is a series of cancelled or failed dates.
Although Garfield retains his original design (rendered in CGI), all other characters are portrayed as normal animals.
Nermal is portrayed as an older gullible cat who is a playmate of Garfield. In the comic strip, he is a vain kitten that often visits Garfield to remind him of his old age, usually on or near his birthday.
In the comic strip and animated series, Garfield is portrayed as an extremely lazy cat, seen mostly sleeping or eating. In the movie, Garfield can be seen dancing, running, jumping, and making a lot of unnecessary movement that seems out of character (although this is in common with the television cartoon Garfield and Friends).
Odie in the comics wasn´t originally owned by Jon like in the film. In the comics, he was originally owned by Jon's former roommate, Lyman.
Odie in the film is a dachshund mix. In the comic strip, Odie is a beagle with a black spot on his side.
Arlene's fur was dark gray instead of pink. Nermal's colour was different too, as his fur was dark brown/white. His original colour was light grey.
Garfield mentions Jon not being able to understand what he's saying. However, in the comic and the TV show, Jon seems to be able to understand Garfield, at least occasionally.
Arlene in the film appears to be more of Garfield's friend whereas in the comic, she is his girlfriend.
Trivia
Persnikitty released all of the other animals in the pound, much like Garfield did in Here Comes Garfield.
There is a considerable amount of product placement in the film. For instance, Jon drives a green 2004 Volvo S60 (instead of his red sedan from the comics), uses an Apple Macintosh and buys pet food and supplies from Petco. There are also products from Kellogg's (Frosted Flakes and Apple Jacks) and General Mills (Cocoa Puffs) and a 12-pack of Pepsi Blue, and a commercial for Wendy's on the TV, among others. Major transportation companies, such as Amtrak and Greyhound, also appear. Also, when Jon said to Garfield, "You're going somewhere that always makes you happy", one of Garfield's guesses was Chuck E. Cheese, Olive Garden, and Wendy's. during the Dog show, a sign for Ace Hardware could be seen when Garfield was being chased by the dogs.
The movie was shot in suburban Detroit, Michigan despite the fact that in the TV special Garfield Gets a Life, in the end when John drives away with his newly found girlfriend, Mona, his license plate says "Indiana", indicating that Garfield lives somewhere in Indiana. (Jim Davis probably added that in because he is from Indiana.)
All the scenes, such as those involving dancing, utilised motion capture to render Garfield.
A dwarf wore a motion capture suit to portray Garfield when he pushed Odie off of the couch in the last scene.
The song "Old Time Rock 'n Roll" by Bob Seger was featured in the trailer, but did not appear once in the film; the use of the song in the trailer, set to Garfield's dance scenes, was an homage to Tom Cruise's classic dance number to the song in the 1983 film Risky Business.
In the scene where Garfield is changing channels on tv, we can see a clip from The Simpsons episode The Canine Mutiny.
Gone Nutty, shown on Ice Age DVD, preceded the movie and also on the Purrrfect Collector's Edition on DVD
As a joke on the fact there was another movie about a famous cat, the movie's tagline is "It ain't the Cat in the Hat."
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