Jon Arbuckle
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Q. Arbuckle is a character from the Garfield
comic strip
by Jim Davis
. He has also appeared in the animated television series Garfield and Friends
, the computer-animated The Garfield Show
, and two live-action feature film
s.
A nerd
y and clumsy man, Jon is the owner of Garfield
and Odie
. He converses with Garfield and is often the butt of his jokes. In the animated Garfield and Friends, he was frequently portrayed as being incredibly gullible when faced with unscrupulous salesmen and rather dumb in general. On The Garfield Show
, however, he's portrayed as being smarter, but still a little gullible.
). Jon tells Garfield that he is 29 years old in a December 23, 1990 strip (he makes a joke that he would be 30, but he was sick a year). However, in the episode "T3000" he is described as 23.
In the animated show Garfield and Friends, we learn that Jon has an Italian ancestor whose name was Tony Arbuccli. Some episodes of the show suggested that Jon and his pets live in Muncie, Indiana
, which is also where Jim Davis lives. Jon wears contact lenses, his eyes are green, and his favorite music style is polka
(a preference that he shares neither with Garfield nor with any other character). His personal will states that he wishes to be cremated and have his ashes spread over his accordion. He can play accordion
, guitar
and bongos, and sing, though his singing and musical skills are far from good. Jon Arbuckle's favorite color
is red
, and he likes decaffeinated coffee
, chocolate-chip cookies, and unleaded gasoline
. According to one episode of Garfield and Friends
, Some of his "fun" ways to cure boredom are buying new socks, clipping his toenails, or playing "Guess the Burp" with Garfield. Jon was raised on a farm, and occasionally visits his mother, father, and his brother, Doc Boy, who lives on the farm. Jon's brother, portrayed as an equally geeky man-child, hates being called "Doc Boy" but puts up with it. Jon also is known for referring to his home as "The Farm".
Jon acquired Odie when Lyman, an old friend of his (and Odie's original owner) moved in with him and Garfield. After a few years, Lyman disappeared from the strip, never to be heard from again. The book Twenty Years and Still Kickin, which marked Garfield's twentieth year, included parodies of how Lyman left such as, "Had lunch with Jimmy Hoffa
and then...".
Despite his somewhat timid nature, Jon is sometimes shown to be quite assertive on Garfield And Friends. For example, in "Lemon Aid", he single-handedly haggles with Mr. Swindler to get his car back for the price Swindler paid to take it. While, in "Super Market Mania", Jon scolds the crafty owner of an oversized supermarket for charging so much. He also showed a tendency to be a miser
as Garfield mentions how Jon passes out seeing the rates on a parking meter and Jon trying to perform a appendectomy on himself to save money.
Jon was voted #1 on "The Most Depressed Comic Book Characters" on the Best Week Ever blog.
, but since then readers haven't seen him at work. The TV series Garfield and Friends does show him several times as a cartoonist. In Garfield Rolls On, Jon does go to a cartoonist convention. His occupation is likely still that of a cartoonist on The Garfield Show
, as in the episode "Family Picture", he draws a sketch of a photograph that he wants to take as Liz's birthday present. In the strip from May 2, 2010 Liz tells her parents Jon is a cartoonist, thus confirming his occupation.
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
by Jim Davis
Jim Davis (cartoonist)
James Robert Davis is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic strip Garfield, which he signs as Jim Davis. He has also worked on other strips: Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, U.S. Acres and a strip about Mr...
. He has also appeared in the animated television series Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show was produced by Film Roman, in association with United Feature Syndicate and Paws, Inc., and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994, with...
, the computer-animated The Garfield Show
The Garfield Show
The Garfield Show is a CGI animated television series that premiered in France on France 3 on December 22, 2008. English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on May 5, 2009. It premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2009 at 3:00pm...
, and two live-action feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s.
A nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
y and clumsy man, Jon is the owner of Garfield
Garfield (character)
Garfield is a fictional character and the title protagonist from the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis.-Personality:Garfield is an anthropomorphic ginger cat. He loves eating , and sleeping. He is teased about being overweight. He is also selfish...
and Odie
Odie
Odie is a fictional character in the Jim Davis comic strip Garfield. He has also appeared in Garfield and Friends, The Garfield Show, two live-action feature films, and 3 CGI films....
. He converses with Garfield and is often the butt of his jokes. In the animated Garfield and Friends, he was frequently portrayed as being incredibly gullible when faced with unscrupulous salesmen and rather dumb in general. On The Garfield Show
The Garfield Show
The Garfield Show is a CGI animated television series that premiered in France on France 3 on December 22, 2008. English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on May 5, 2009. It premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2009 at 3:00pm...
, however, he's portrayed as being smarter, but still a little gullible.
Background
Jon's birthday is July 28, 1961 (the same month and day as that of Jim DavisJim Davis (cartoonist)
James Robert Davis is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic strip Garfield, which he signs as Jim Davis. He has also worked on other strips: Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, U.S. Acres and a strip about Mr...
). Jon tells Garfield that he is 29 years old in a December 23, 1990 strip (he makes a joke that he would be 30, but he was sick a year). However, in the episode "T3000" he is described as 23.
In the animated show Garfield and Friends, we learn that Jon has an Italian ancestor whose name was Tony Arbuccli. Some episodes of the show suggested that Jon and his pets live in Muncie, Indiana
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
, which is also where Jim Davis lives. Jon wears contact lenses, his eyes are green, and his favorite music style is polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
(a preference that he shares neither with Garfield nor with any other character). His personal will states that he wishes to be cremated and have his ashes spread over his accordion. He can play accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and bongos, and sing, though his singing and musical skills are far from good. Jon Arbuckle's favorite color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
is red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, and he likes decaffeinated coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, chocolate-chip cookies, and unleaded gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
. According to one episode of Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show was produced by Film Roman, in association with United Feature Syndicate and Paws, Inc., and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994, with...
, Some of his "fun" ways to cure boredom are buying new socks, clipping his toenails, or playing "Guess the Burp" with Garfield. Jon was raised on a farm, and occasionally visits his mother, father, and his brother, Doc Boy, who lives on the farm. Jon's brother, portrayed as an equally geeky man-child, hates being called "Doc Boy" but puts up with it. Jon also is known for referring to his home as "The Farm".
Jon acquired Odie when Lyman, an old friend of his (and Odie's original owner) moved in with him and Garfield. After a few years, Lyman disappeared from the strip, never to be heard from again. The book Twenty Years and Still Kickin, which marked Garfield's twentieth year, included parodies of how Lyman left such as, "Had lunch with Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
and then...".
Despite his somewhat timid nature, Jon is sometimes shown to be quite assertive on Garfield And Friends. For example, in "Lemon Aid", he single-handedly haggles with Mr. Swindler to get his car back for the price Swindler paid to take it. While, in "Super Market Mania", Jon scolds the crafty owner of an oversized supermarket for charging so much. He also showed a tendency to be a miser
Miser
A miser, cheapskate, snipe-snout, penny pincher, piker, scrooge, skinflint or tightwad is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities...
as Garfield mentions how Jon passes out seeing the rates on a parking meter and Jon trying to perform a appendectomy on himself to save money.
Jon was voted #1 on "The Most Depressed Comic Book Characters" on the Best Week Ever blog.
Dating
Since July 28 2006, Liz has fallen in love with Jon despite his geeky personality. Before then, there was a constant struggle for Jon in trying to ask Liz out on a date. Jon has tried to have dates, but either they go wrong or the girl says no.Career
In the earlier strips, he makes his living as a cartoonistCartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, but since then readers haven't seen him at work. The TV series Garfield and Friends does show him several times as a cartoonist. In Garfield Rolls On, Jon does go to a cartoonist convention. His occupation is likely still that of a cartoonist on The Garfield Show
The Garfield Show
The Garfield Show is a CGI animated television series that premiered in France on France 3 on December 22, 2008. English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on May 5, 2009. It premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2009 at 3:00pm...
, as in the episode "Family Picture", he draws a sketch of a photograph that he wants to take as Liz's birthday present. In the strip from May 2, 2010 Liz tells her parents Jon is a cartoonist, thus confirming his occupation.
Other media
- Jon was voiced by Thom Huge in Garfield and Friends and several animated television specials. Breckin MeyerBreckin Meyer-Early life:Meyer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Dorothy Ann , a travel agent and former microbiologist, and Christopher William Meyer, a management consultant. As a child of divorced parents, he lived in California, Texas, West Virginia and New Jersey. He has an older brother,...
portrayed Jon in the live-action filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s. In Garfield Gets RealGarfield Gets RealGarfield Gets Real is a 1999 CGI movie starring Garfield. It was produced by Paws, Inc. in cooperation with Davis Entertainment and The Animation Picture Company and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was written by Garfield's creator Jim Davis, who started working on the script in the fall of 1996...
, Garfield's Fun FestGarfield's Fun FestGarfield's Fun Fest is a 2008 CGI movie starring Garfield. It was produced by Paws, Inc. in cooperation with The Animation Picture Company and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was written by Garfield's creator Jim Davis as a sequel to Garfield Gets Real in 1999. The DVD...
and Garfield's Pet Force he was voiced by Wally WingertWally WingertWallace E. "Wally" Wingert is an American actor and voice artist. He is originally from Des Moines, Iowa but he currently works and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is the current announcer for the second incarnation of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the current voice of Jon Arbuckle in...
. Wally also provides Jon's voice for The Garfield ShowThe Garfield ShowThe Garfield Show is a CGI animated television series that premiered in France on France 3 on December 22, 2008. English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on May 5, 2009. It premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2009 at 3:00pm...
. - In both live-action films, Jon has a powerful right hookHook (boxing)A hook is a punch in boxing. It is performed by turning the core muscles and back, thereby swinging the arm, which is bent at an angle near or at 90 degrees, in a horizontal arc into the opponent...
which he uses to knock out the main antagonist. This is in direct contrast to his weak strength in the original comic strips. - In an episode of FuturamaFuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, the forehead of a giant "Jon" balloon from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade becomes a hot air balloon to raise Fry, Leela, and Bender to the surface world. - Arbuckle: Garfield through Jon's eyes is a daily webcomicWebcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
in which fans send a redrawing of a Garfield strip with Garfield's thought bubbles removed. As creator Tailsteak puts it,
The comic changes dramatically when one removes the thought bubbles.
"Garfield" changes from being a comic about a sassy, corpulent feline, and becomes a compelling picture of a lonely, pathetic, delusional man who talks to his pets. Consider that Jon, according to Garfield canon, cannot hear his cat's thoughts. This is the world as he sees it. This is his story.
- Similarly, Garfield Minus GarfieldGarfield Minus GarfieldGarfield Minus Garfield is a webcomic created by Dan Walsh, a technology manager from Dublin, Ireland, which received considerable attention during 2008. Each strip consists of a reprint of a past episode from the comic strip Garfield, from which all the characters except Jon Arbuckle have been...
removes all the other characters completely and simply features Jon talking to himself. Fans connected with Jon's "loneliness and desperation" and found his "crazy antics" humorous; Jim Davis himself called Walsh's strips an "inspired thing to do" and said that "some of the strips work better than the originals". - An Arbuckle Thanksgiving and An Arbuckle Christmas have taken the two holiday video specials and digitally removed Garfield and Odie, leaving Jon as the lead.