Test Your "Garfield" Knowledge 1 Quiz

Answer: 1978

Garfield's birthday, June 19th, 1978, is also the date of the tubby tabby's debut in newspapers. Although the popular cat debuted in only a few newspapers, this grew to more than 2,500 newspapers in twenty-five years, and it won a Guinness World Record for being the most widely syndicated comic strip in history.

In the first strip, Jon explained that he was a cartoonist, and he introduced Garfield (who simply said 'Feed Me.'). In the beginning, Odie wasn't yet a character. He wasn't introduced until nearly two months later.

Answer: Q

This little tidbit is found in a pre-Christmas cartoon strip where Jon gets a generic Christmas card from an insurance company. The name behind Jon's middle initial is never mentioned. Another name never mentioned is Doc Boy's actual first name. Other than Doc Boy, Jon has called his brother 'Iguana Gums'. This is revealed on one of Jon's visits to the family farm.

Answer: Stretch

Stretch the Chicken was given to Garfield by Jon for his sixth birthday, and it hasn't been see much since. After receiving the present, Garfield ended up using Stretch to smack Jon and Odie. In one strip, Garfield managed to place an apple in Stretch's beak and shoot it at Jon. Stretch was Garfield's second personal toy in the strip; the first being Pooky.

Answer: Penelope

Although Penelope was the love interest on "Garfield and Friends", Arlene also appeared in a few episodes, but only with minor roles. Penelope on the other hand never appeared in the comics. In fact, many of the characters on the show were original including Cactus Jake, Floyd, and the Buddy Bears.

Despite this, viewers could still watch their favourites such as Garfield, Jon, Odie, Liz, and Nermal.

Answer: Garfield Takes His Licks

"Garfield Takes His Licks" was book 24 in the collection of more than forty books. These books contain Garfield's strips in their chronological order starting with the very first strip in 1978. Many of these books have become best-sellers by selling millions of copies worldwide. All of the titles of Garfield's books seem to poke fun at Garfield's weight or his love for food. "Garfield Bigger and Better" is book 30, "Garfield Hogs the Spotlight" is book 36, and "Garfield Pulls his Weight" is book 26.

Answer: Flee-Line: Cat of Peril

The "Pet Force" series spawned five books about Garfield, Odie, Nermal, Arlene, and even Pooky as they travelled into an alternate dimension where they had superpowers. Here, they travelled the galaxy and fought the many evils there such as K-Niner, the Letha Lizards, Pie Rat, and the Mutanator. Jon was also in the books as the ruler of Planet Polyester, and Binky the Clown was a wizard.

The books were somewhat popular among young children, but they weren't continued after the first five.

Answer: Lyman

Lyman was introduced along with Odie early in the life of the strip, but he was removed because Jim Davis found him to be unneeded. His last appearance was on Garifeld's tenth birthday (in old photographs), but he actually disappeared after about four years in the comic. Jim Davis made a joke that Lyman was actually in Jon's basement, but he later retracted this statement, saying that Lyman actually returned to the Peace Corps.

Answer: Bill Murray

In this popular movie, Bill Murray voiced the title character. Breckin Meyer starred as Garfield's owner, Jon, and Jennifer Love Hewitt played the role of Liz, the veterinarian. Lorenzo Music passed away merely years before the filming for the movie began, but Bill Murray's voice was quite similar.

In fact, Music played the voice of Peter Venkman in the "Ghostbusters" animated series. This role was played by Murray in the actual film. Brad Garrett gave the voice of Luca in "Garfield: The Movie".

Answer: Garfield Goes Hollywood

Overall, the Garfield animated specials have done well in winning many Emmy Awards over the years. "Here Comes Garfield" was the first animated short created by the Garfield crew, and it was about Garfield and Odie's unfortunate trip to the pound. "Garfield on the Town" was next and it was about Garfield's voyage through the city where he ran into his old family. "Garfield in the Rough" is about Garfield's camping trip to the woods with Jon and Odie where they encounter a bear. "Garfield Goes Hollywood" is the most recent of these choices and it never won an award.

In this special, Garfield and Odie perform on a game show called 'Pet Search' and win a trip to the championship round in Hollywood.

Answer: While on a diet

When Jon puts Garfield on diets, he often resorts to eating the crumbs out of the toaster rather than suffering through another stalk of celery or carrot stick. On a couple of occasions, Garfield has hallucintaed about foods ranging from pizzas, to chocolate milkshakes, and even to flavour-changing donuts. After all, Garfield always says "DIET is just DIE with a T".