Editing Garfield (section)

===Garfield===
'''First appearance: June 19, 1978'''
[[File:Mike Pence Garfield Speech.ogg|thumb|right|[[Mike Pence]] wishing Garfield a happy birthday during the June 19th 2003 House Session]]
{{quote box|quote=I'm not overweight, I'm undertall.|source= —''[[Garfield At Large: His First Book|Garfield At Large: his First Book]]'' (1980)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pressroom.garfield.com/garfield_bio/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030410100409/http://pressroom.garfield.com/garfield_bio/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 10, 2003|title=The Garfield PressRoom: A Brief History|publisher=Paws Inc.|access-date=July 26, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref>|width=310px}}

[[Garfield (character)|Garfield]] is an orange, fuzzy [[tabby cat]] born in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant (later revealed in the television special ''[[Garfield: His 9 Lives#The television special|Garfield: His 9 Lives]]'' to be Mama Leoni's Italian Restaurant) who immediately ate all the pasta and lasagna in sight, thus developing his love and obsession for lasagna and [[pizza]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1984/12/13|title=Garfield|date=December 13, 1984|publisher=Gocomics.com|access-date=January 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite video|people=Phil Roman (Director), [[Lorenzo Music]] (Voice)|title=Garfield: His Nine Lives [Television production]|medium=Television (Original), VHS|publisher=[[Fox Home Entertainment]]}}</ref>

Gags in the strips commonly deal with Garfield's obesity (in one strip, Jon jokes: "I wouldn't say Garfield is fat, but the last time he got on a [[Ferris wheel]], the two guys on top starved to death")<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/05/02|title=Garfield|date=May 2, 1980|publisher=Gocomics.com|access-date=January 25, 2022}}</ref> and his disdain of any form of exertion or work. He is known for saying "breathing is exercise".

Though Garfield can be very cynical, he does have a soft side for his teddy bear, Pooky, food, and sleep, and during one Christmas he says, "They say I have to get up early, be nice to people, skip breakfast… I wish it would never end." However, in the feature film ''[[Garfield Gets Real]]'' and its sequels, Garfield is better behaved, friendlier towards Jon and Odie, less self-centered, and more sympathetic.

It has been wondered by many readers if Garfield can actually be understood by the human characters around him. Sometimes, it seems like Jon can hear him. However, it is mentioned in more than one strip that Jon cannot understand Garfield.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2009/08/15|title=Garfield|date=August 15, 2009|publisher=Gocomics.com|access-date=January 25, 2022}}</ref> However, in the feature film ''[[Garfield Gets Real]]'' and its sequels, Garfield and the other animals (save for Odie) are able to talk to, and be understood by, Jon and the other humans. In the April 1 ([[April Fools' Day]]), 1997, strip drawn by the artists of ''[[Blondie (comic strip)|Blondie]]'' as part of the [[comic strip switcheroo]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/04/01|title=Garfield|date=April 1, 1997|publisher=Gocomics.com|access-date=January 25, 2022}}</ref> Garfield, still with thought balloons, can be understood by Jon.

To break the fourth wall, June 19 is celebrated within the strip as Garfield's birthday. The appearance in 1979 claimed it to be his first birthday, although in the first appearance of the strip (June 19, 1978), he was portrayed as a fully grown cat, implying that the birthday is for the strip itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1978/06/19|title=Garfield|date=June 19, 1978|publisher=Gocomics.com|access-date=January 25, 2022}}</ref>