The Garfield Movie Is A Near Perfect Comic Adaptation (& That's Why Its Rotten Tomatoes Score Is So Low)

Summary The Garfield Movie perfectly captured Jim Davis' signature comedy style, reflecting the essence of his beloved comic strips.

Despite low critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, the film resonated with audiences, especially children, garnering an 81% approval rating.

The film's return to full animation and nostalgic humor, reminiscent of '80s and '90s cartoons, sets it apart in a sea of modern animated movies.

Despite The Garfield Movie's low critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's a near-perfect adaptation of the original comic strips. A few weeks into its theatrical release, the 2024 Garfield movie has brought in over $100 million at the global box office but has only managed a 36% score on Rotten Tomatoes. This seems to imply that the film failed to do what it set out for and that another Garfield flop has been added to the long line of adaptations. However, it's because it perfectly captured Jim Davis' work that The Garfield Movie hasn't pleased critics.

Movie adaptations of Garfield have notoriously fallen flat, with Bill Burray's Garfield: The Movie (2004) earning a 14% critic and 38% audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes. The sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, only managed a woeful 12% critic and 43% audience scores. 2024's The Garfield Movie, which saw actor Chris Pratt step in to voice the titular tabby, performed only slightly better with critics. However, considering the type of comedy prevalent in Jim Davis' Garfield comic strips, this is no surprise.

Related Chris Pratt's Garfield Rotten Tomatoes Score Is In — Does It Beat Bill Murray's Movies? The Rotten Tomatoes score for Chris Pratt’s The Garfield Movie is now in, revealing how the film compares to the two Bill Murray movies.

The Garfield Movie Perfectly Captured Jim Davis' Comedy

The Garfield Movie's Comedy Is Remniscent of '80s & '90s Cartoons

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The Garfield Movie took a completely different approach to Davis' comics than its predecessors. Rather than the live-action movies of the early 2000s, which feature a CGI version of Garfield, the 2024 film returned to the world of full animation. The art style was deeply reminiscent of Davis' work, which added a delightful touch of nostalgia to the project. However, what stood out the most was the unique brand of comedy, which was uniquely comparable to how the original creator of Garfield structured his comics in the 1980s and 1990s.

Davis published his first Garfield comic in 1978, and they continued to be a beloved feature of newspapers everywhere for several decades. This branched out to other types of media, many of which Davis was directly involved with. CBS's 12 TV specials, which aired between 1982 and 1991, are prime examples, and each perfectly demonstrates the cartoonists' dry, sarcastic, and silly brand of comedy.

The Garfield Movie managed to duplicate Davis' brand of comedy. The structure of the 2024 film even feels like a cartoon out of the 1980s, with plenty of outrageous feats and slap-stick style misadventures to make audiences nostalgic. Even Davis agrees, stating in a Rotten Tomatoes featurette that the movie "really came together to tell the story the way it should be told." Of course, this doesn't change the fact that The Garfield Movie only managed to please 36% of critics, but this could be blamed on the nostalgic premise of the 2024 adaptation.

Jim Davis also gave his approval of Chris Pratt's voice work in The Garfield Movie, stating that it was perfect for his classic character.

The Old-Style Garfield Comedy Doesn't Align With Modern Animated Movies

The Garfield Movie Feels Far Cheesier After Growing Used To Today's Animated Movies

Image via Sony Pictures

Comedy and animation have evolved over the years, and this is evident when comparing The Garfield Movie to recent films. Movies like Kung-Fu Panda 4 and The Super Mario Bros Movie have powerful stories backed with a hip sort of comedy that is aimed both at children and adults. Disney has adopted a similar formula in recent years, so the majority of animated movies that have hit theaters in recent years have felt fairly cohesive. In contrast, The Garfield Movie feels quite silly.

These are qualities we have only recently come to expect from animated entertainment.

The plot of The Garfield Movie isn't deeply moving, and the comedy, while relatable, isn't sophisticated. However, these are qualities we have only recently come to expect from animated entertainment. It would have been far more egregious for the adaptation to force Garfield into an overly modern formula. Instead, the 2024 film introduced new technology (like take-out delivering drones) and a lot of fun action to the tabby cat's world while providing the kind of silliness that entertained children of the '80s and '90s.

Related The Garfield Movie Ending Explained The Garfield Movie establishes a new origin story for the cat with new friends and family and an ending that leaves the doors open for a sequel.

The Garfield Movie May Have A Low Rotten Tomatoes Score, But It Still Reached Its Intended Audience

The Garfield Movie Has Been Successful With Child Audiences (Which Is How It Should Be)

Image via Sony Pictures

Thanks to the 2024 movie, a new generation of kids has fallen in love with Jim Davis' creation.

The Garfield Movie may have faced harsh criticism from professionals, but its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes proves it managed to find those who could appreciate the silliness. 81% of general audiences who left a review on the site approved of what they saw, with many noting that it felt like a classic kids' movie. This was, of course, precisely the goal. Adult audiences could undoubtedly find a dose of nostalgia in The Garfield Movie, but the target audience has always been children. Thanks to the 2024 movie, a new generation of kids has fallen in love with Jim Davis' creation.