It’s a cold and rainy night. Garfield cowers from the weather in a small wooden crate as somber music accompanies each hair-raising thunder crash. Dogs bark. Horns honk. Police sirens wail in the distance. Garfield whimpers. His head falls into his paws…and then he smells pizza from across the street. He braves oncoming traffic dodging each mammoth-sized vehicle (when compared to his kitten size) until he reaches the window where a lonely man sits with a whole pizza to himself. The man glares longingly at a nearby family enjoying spaghetti and meatballs together.
Then Garfield comes up to the window next to the lonely fella’s table. The man lets him in, and he begins to share his cheesy meal. After he’s given one piece of pepperoni, Garfield swallows the entire pizza in one big gulp — cheeks struggling to keep in all the saucy splendor. And then begins the cat’s gluttonous rampage — spaghetti, meatballs, cookies, more pizza, cake, breadsticks…and of course: a meat-lovers, family-sized tray of lasagna. If it’s a sweet or savory carb, it’s going down the hatch. Everything is just peachy as Garfield explains that such is the tale of how he adopted Jon. However, Garfield isn’t the only pet in the house…there’s also the cute pup Odie — who rolls his eyes disapprovingly in response to the cat’s shenanigans.
Life is pretty smooth sailing for the cat and dog— sans some uncomfortable baths and follow-up blow-drying — until Garfield and Odie wind up on a little adventure. They meet Vic, who Garfield tells Odie is his “father” with some very forceful air quotes. Before Garfield knows it, he’s getting flung from trains, sent flying into trees, and winding up spread-eagled on windshields. What’s the journey? What’s the adventure? A heist! The movie premieres in theaters on May 24, 2024. Yet, while you wait, let’s break down the all-star ensemble voicing the cast of cuddly characters.
Garfield: Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt, who recently voiced Mario in The Super Mario Bros. movie, lends his voice acting talents to yet another iconic animated character. Pratt isn’t new to the voice acting domain, as he also voiced Rex Dangerfest in The Lego Movie 2.
Vic: Samuel L. Jackson
Who better to voice a wise-cracking not-so-fatherly father figure than the funny and sauve Samuel J. Jackson? Jackson notably worked as a voice actor on 2004’s The Incredibles, where he coined the now-beloved line “Where is my super suit?!” as Frozone.
Jon: Nicholas Hoult
As for the lonely man Garfield takes under his wing, Nicholas Hoult steps up to the bat to play the sweet and generous guardian…who should maybe put his pets on a cleaner diet. Hoult previously voiced Fiver in Watership Down and Ace in Underdogs.
Odie: Harvey Guillén
Odie, who doesn’t have much to say and communicates solely in barks, is voiced by Guillen. Guillen voiced Perrito in Puss and Boots and recently starred in Blue Beetle.
The voice cast also includes Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein of Ted Lasso, Ving Rhames of Pulp Fiction and Mission Impossible, Cecily Strong of Schmigadoon! and SNL, and Luke Cinque-White of The Crown and Adult Material. Mark Dindal known for his work on Chicken Little and The Emperor’s New Groove directs with a screenplay by Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove, and David Reynolds.
The Garfield Movie premieres on May 24, 2024.
