Garfield 2004

The movie starts with some shots of Garfield’s house that show pictures of his owner Jon with Garfield when he was just a kitten and as he (Garfield) was growing up and out. We then see Garfield (Bill Murray) sleeping in Jon’s bedroom in his own little kitty bed with his stuffed bear Pooky. He then wakes up Jon (Breckin Meyer) by jumping on him, flushes the toilet so Jon will get out of the shower and fix his breakfast, and then trades his liver-flavored cat food breakfast for Jon’s tuna fish.

Later that day, Garfield is sitting next to Jon’s computer when a mouse scampers out from beneath the desk. Jon yells at Garfield to get it, but Garfield just sits there, which prompts Jon to get a broom and chase it out of the house. Garfield goes out and talks to the mouse, who’s actually a friend of Garfield’s named Louis (Nick Cannon). They talk about how Louis can’t be in the house when Jon’s home (Louis blames it on those delicious macadamia nuts). Garfield goes wandering, confuses a Doberman named Luca (Brad Garret), and later runs into Nermal (David Eigenberg). Nermal tries to talk to him, but Garfield is basically a grump. At one-point Nermal sees the milkman coming and wants to go get some, but Garfield is not in the mood.

Later, Garfield is watching a TV show starring Happy Chapman (Stephen Tobolowsky) that advertises his favorite cat food. The show ends, and we see Happy is an angry guy who is allergic to the cat he partners with, Persnikkity (Alan Cumming). Back with Garfield, we see him prancing around the feet of Jon, who has just returned from the grocery with four packages of lasagna, which Garfield eats up. Jon decides that Garfield needs to go to the vet, an old high school classmate of Jon’s named Liz Wilson (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Garfield states that Jon should just tell her how he feels since he’s been in love with her since the day they met.

At the vet, Liz tells Jon that Garfield is fine except for the need for a flea dip. Liz asks if she can talk to Jon in private. They go to her office, and she starts talking about how nice he is and wants to ask him something, and he says that he’s felt the same way for years and he is ready to have a dog, which is what Liz was going for. The dog’s name is Odie. Liz follows Jon out to the car and while Garfield freaks out about Odie, Liz invites Jon to a dog show she’s judging the next day. He accepts in a blustering manner and drives off with Garfield, who is still freaking out and shouting anti-dog messages.

Once home, Nermal asks about why Odie’s there, but Garfield asserts and goes inside to find Jon giving Odie a guided tour. That night, Garfield goes to bed and sees Odie lying on Jon’s bed. Garfield is threatened by Odie’s presence. Odie wants to play with Garfield, but Garfield keeps ignoring him. Odie & Garfield are seen by Garfield’s girlfriend Arlene (Debra Messing) and Nermal. Garfield makes up some excuse just as Liz pulls up. Jon comes out all dressed up and gets in Liz’s pickup with Odie. Garfield, panicked about being left behind, breaks his “never leave the Cul-De-Sac” rule and chases after them, climbing into the pickup.

At the dog show, Liz takes Jon to the main circle and goes to the judges table while Garfield causes massive chaos by being chased around by dogs. Odie dances to a song & wins the blue ribbon from Harry. Happy asks Jon if he’d consider throwing Odie in show business, but Jon refuses. Everybody goes home, and Garfield sneaks back inside while Liz makes a date for dinner Sunday with Jon. An angered Garfield hits a ball across Jon’s office, inadvertently trashing it in the process. Jon then forces him to sleep outside for the night as punishment. Garfield does some caterwauling on the fence while watching Odie and Jon go to sleep together. Odie comes outside to keep him company. Garfield turns around and locks him outside, though, to the disapproval of Arlene and Nermal. Odie runs away. He finds his way to some old lady’s house. She takes him in and takes care of him, posting some lost pet posters the next day. Eventually, someone sees one of the posters and comes to claim Odie and that someone is Happy Chapman.

Meanwhile, Jon is frantically trying to find Odie. Garfield, who is feeling guilty, is watching TV when Happy Chapman comes on with his new pal, Odie! He says that he and Odie are doing their last show here and that they will be leaving that night for New York City. Garfield tries to get Jon to come and see. At that moment, the doorbell rings, and it’s Liz, arriving for their date. After she confesses to having her own crush on him in high school, he says that he forgot about their date. He goes to the kitchen to grab his jacket and then comes back and tells her that Odie ran away. They go out hunting while Garfield looks at the back of his cat food box and “finds” the location of the studio based on the crude and childish drawing on the back. Garfield gets going on his own hunt, eventually hitching a bus into the city.

Once in the city, Garfield hopelessly wanders around complaining about how this doesn’t look like the back of his box and asking anyone if they know where the studio is. He gets cornered at one point by some rats, but is saved by Louis, who happens to be in with the rats. Louis takes Garfield to the studio. Louis warns Garfield to watch out for Animal Control and wishes him good luck. Garfield goes up the ventilation shaft. After getting blown about by people who thought he was a blockage in the system, he works his way up to Chapman’s office. He finds Odie and apologizes, but before he can break Odie out, Chapman comes in and straps an electroshock collar onto Odie that makes him do flips and stuff. Garfield is shocked and bolts after Chapman.

While this is going on, Liz and John have found one of the signs posted about Odie being found. They go to see the lady, but she says that Chapman already claimed him which causes them to head for the studio at the same time that Chapman is heading for the train station. Garfield grabs a food tray and start grinding down the banisters, but someone opens a door at the wrong time which makes him fall out a window and into a truck filled with lasagna. After indulging himself, he gets out and heads for Chapman and Odie but is captured by Animal Control.

At the pound, Garfield is thrown into a cage where he tells his tale to all the captured animals, a group which also includes Persnikkity, the cat whom Odie replaced. At that point a little girl comes in with her parents looking for a kitty and Persnikkity, Garfield, and three other cats are put in the box. Persnikkity gets chosen, and he makes a fuss that ends with every captured animal breaking loose, including Garfield, who once again heads for the station. Once there, he finds the right train…just as it’s pulling out of the station. While Jon and Liz, who have just arrived, try to get the girl at the customer service to stop that train, Garfield fools around with the track controls for a few minutes, almost causing a twelve-car collision, but eventually fixing it and getting the train with Odie on it back in the station. Garfield gets on, finds Odie, but just as they leave, they find Chapman blocking their exit. At the last minute, Persnikkity and the other animals Garfield has run into show up and set upon him — dogs biting, cats clawing, and rats putting the electric collar around his neck. Garfield and Odie take turns shocking him until Jon and Liz show up and Jon knocks him out with one punch.

A few days later, we’re back at Garfield’s house once more. We see Jon and Liz sitting on the couch sharing a bag of Goldfish while Garfield sits on the chair with Odie as they all watch some old romantic movie from the 1940s or 50s. Garfield says that he and Odie are good now because they both have one thing in common — they both love Garfield.