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06/05/2005: Garfield’s Garfood!

As you can see, I’ve only made good on half the promise. We’ve got the blog rollin’ in the new layout, but there were just too many cross-browser bugs to put it up on the main page quite yet. (Plus, there’s the issue of redoing about a hundred images within the new format.) At least y’all can converse without pine to the left and Santa to the right — we’ll get the whole ditty up soon. Thanks to Brian for putting it together. Still have some tweaks to make here and there, but we’re getting close.

I didn’t have high hopes for this one before putting it together, but I kinda dig the way it came out. And if you’ve ever eaten a package of Garfield and Friends fruit snacks, you will too. It’s an essay on Garfield’s Garfood — a collection of candies, snacks and kitty treats branded with the fat cat, all from the late `80s/early `90s. I just picked up season 2 of Garfield and Friends on DVD, and realized how much that show used to mean to me. It was my absolute fave for a short while. If you’re around the same age as me and were also bit by the Odie bug, you should remember at least a few of the things seen in the article. Get to it. And while you’re at it, pick up the DVD sets. I know how the strip’s been received in the past few years (read: poorly), but the cartoon was great stuff. I haven’t gotten up to any of the episodes with the “oh we’re the ants” songs yet, but it’s good to know that the future holds treasure.

Also picked up Freddy Vs. Jason, the only film featuring either character that I hadn’t yet bought. It was moreover to see the infamous original ending, and after seeing the infamous original ending, I can say for sure that it’s a good thing they changed it to the dreamy Freddy/Jason lake epilogue. If you thought the film relied too heavily on the kids and not at all enough on the title characters, the original ending would’ve really pissed ya off. I hope they get around to making whatever kind of sequel they decide on — at the horror convention, Englund pretty explicitly said not to expect Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash, as Raimi/Campbell would prefer to do an all-new Evil Dead flick than throw their legacy to the wolves, so to speak. On the upside, he seemed confident that Freddy would be tangling with Michael Myers down the road, and I only hope that doesn’t mean Jason’s going to be left in the dust. I’d personally rather see each character return to their respective series for individual films closer to their original appeal, but that’s seeming less and less likely. Ah well.

Speaking of movies, it’s looking to be a way-great summer with Batman Begins and War of the Worlds being two definite must-sees. X-E’s reliable snail of a designer, Brian, saw Batsy last week and loved it. And as far as War of the Worlds goes, I’m pretty sure I’ll love it even if it’s the worst movie ever made. I’m even slightly interested in Shark Boy and Lava Girl due to the 3-D thing, which is overstated in the television ads to the point where it’d be worth seeing in theaters just to watch all the kids cry with disappointment.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 141 comments

You misspelled "Sarlacc".

Ghosted by MutantHamster @ 06/06/2005 1:07 AM EDT


The wood probably won’t be too bad once I get used to it, but right now it makes my soul hurt. I fear change like that.

Also, there are some really creepy patterns in the wood. Are the aliens and pigs in there on purpose?

Thirdly, a bit of an idea. I think it might be neat to have some kind of drop down list layout changer thing. That way I could bring the x-mas layout back and become a happy and well adjusted person again.

Ghosted by Jeff @ 06/06/2005 2:03 AM EDT


Maaaaaaaaaatttttt…..why haven’t you read my Garfield and Friends Supapage yet? Don’t make me whine louder…

Ghosted by Mars @ 06/06/2005 2:03 AM EDT


I always thought Lyman was the unsung hero of "Garfield." For one thing, he was the one to apparently abandon Odie at Jon’s place and then run off to wherever it is Binkley and Frumpy the Clown and the other comic strip characters time forgot live.

But didn’t he once appear in animated form? One of the early specials or in a "quickie" bit on the series?

One thing I like about Jim Davis is that if "Garfield and Friends" writer Mark Evanier (www.povonline.com) is right, even if Davis is squeezing every nickle out of that cat he can at least he gives a damn about the quality of the merchandise. I like to imagine he was right there sampling the fruit snacks on the factory floor.

Ghosted by Alex @ 06/06/2005 2:06 AM EDT


I didn’t see the boardwalk, but I vote for it

"another lonely seaside town/where the seasons closed it down/but if you close your eyes you can almost hear the sounds of crowds gone by"

"boardwalk dreams all boarded up/another souvenir made to be broken"

ID the song and get the right to make fun of me for loving it

Oh and welcome to IsNegative, my brother/sister in…charge? =)

Ghosted by Knegative @ 06/06/2005 2:17 AM EDT


Alex, you mean Binky the Clown. Binkley was the carrot-topped kid with the anxiety closet in Bloom County. "Frumpy the Clown" does not exist.

Ghosted by Mars @ 06/06/2005 2:21 AM EDT


Ooooooooooh, I see it. Expand your browser window you dumb mac AND AOL user.

Yeah a little creepy, but hey I’m still in love with closed down boardwalks. So emo. Speaking of which, Carnival is in town and she’s not here.

Sorry, didn’t mean to have a pity party.

Yes, I vote for the Boardwalk.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 06/06/2005 2:27 AM EDT


oh man, good memories of garfield foods. Thanks for the ride.

Also the new layout is pretty cool, the wood is awesome.

and to mars: very nice job on the garfield supapage!

Ghosted by the80sruled @ 06/06/2005 2:55 AM EDT


Does anybody else remember Garfield’s canned pasta from franko american? I think it came out in the mid 90s. It’s so strange I was just lamenting about how mead doesn’t make Garfield school supplies anymore.

Ghosted by pikachulover @ 06/06/2005 3:10 AM EDT


I enjoy the wood, though when I first saw it, I didn’t really get how it fit in with the theme of the site. My confusion has settled though, and now I like it.

Ghosted by Mara @ 06/06/2005 3:20 AM EDT


I miss Lyman so much. He needs to come backk to revamp the strip!

I used to have this massive Garfield collection growing up. It grew to around 200 Garfield items. I packed it away when my family and I moved in 2000.

Ghosted by Anita @ 06/06/2005 3:58 AM EDT


I think the wood looks pretty generic. I don’t get how it fits in with the site either, but meh. It took that long for… wood? Mmmmkay. On a Garfield note however, that used to be one of my favorite TV shows. I remember one Christmas holiday, one of the major networks (was it CBS?) went nuts and decided to do kid friendly programming in the afternoon and they played quite a few eps of Garfield and friends which thrilled me to no end. I kept thinking "this is the last one" but they kept on coming. It was the only time that ever happened though =(

Ghosted by kittycatgirl2k @ 06/06/2005 4:51 AM EDT


The kitty in your cat treats picture is cute. My cat actually heeds every call for cat treats. In fact I think ‘treats’ is one of the few words that he actually understands.

I have no idea what the deal with Lyman is, he’s kind of like Bob the Dinosaur in Dilbert or that girl with the masive hair on the Boondocks, characters who just get written out for some particular reason.

Ghosted by mjf7583 @ 06/06/2005 8:23 AM EDT


The wood background will always remind me of The House and of every Halloween-themed article and every F13 review on this site, and that’s a good thing.

I remember the Garfield pasta in a can. Wasn’t it cheese flavored or something?

I wish they’d show Garfield and Friends on Boomerang. I think I asked this before, but does anyone else get this channel? They’re tagline is, "It’s all coming back to you", and they only show old school cartoons. It’s awesome, and luckily, the MiniTraj’s love it as much as I do. The Jetsons, the Flintstones, lost Scooby Doo eps, Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Adam Ant, the Smurfs, the Snorks, the Hair Bear Bunch, the Banana Splits, Jonny Quest, Magilla Gorilla, Huckleberry Hound, Wally Gator… It just goes on and on. Whee!

Ghosted by trajeal @ 06/06/2005 9:24 AM EDT


I like the wood! But moreso I like the new stickers on the trapper keeper logo. Feels summery.

Ghosted by Yeah! @ 06/06/2005 9:31 AM EDT


I personally think that US Acres should have broken off and made its own spin-off. I look back at that now and realize how much _____er it was than the Garfiled toons. Fill in the blank if you must.

Ghosted by Warx @ 06/06/2005 9:35 AM EDT


Good call Squee and thanks for the explanation. I guess my only head scratcher now is why couldn’t they have taken care of all of that in one move? I mean, if the MST people were able to clear all the licensing issues, shouldn’t that take care of all the rights in a package deal? I guess not which is unfortunate.

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 06/06/2005 10:00 AM EDT


Hey Matt, ITA with you about the original ending though I didn’t see what was so controversial about it. It’s not like Freddy never possessed anyone before. I thought it was just kind of dumb, and I though I did like the movie, I also thought that we didn’t get to see Jason and Freddy enough so it wasn’t as scary as it could have been.

I used to watch Garfield and Friends all the time and loved it. Garfield was always one of my favorite comic and cartoon characters. I’m a hare’s breath from 30 though, so should I be embarrassed that I’m actually considering getting the DVDs? As I get older, I wonder if I should keep indulging my inner child.

Ghosted by Kay @ 06/06/2005 10:11 AM EDT


It wasn’t controversial — they didn’t use it because test audiences laughed and booed it. Plus, what’s-his-face was looking way too goofy at the moment of truth.

Ghosted by Matt @ 06/06/2005 10:14 AM EDT


It’s good to know someone else was a huge Garfield fan as a kid. In 1988 when I was in second grade, I sent a letter to Jim Davis. A few weeks later I got a reply by the man himself. He wrote it on some nifty Garfield stationary and sent me an autographed black and white card with a picture of Garfield riding on Odies back. I have no idea where they are now but my mom has a photo of me holding them up right after I got them.

Ghosted by Jeff @ 06/06/2005 10:29 AM EDT


LOVED Garfield fruit snacks….they were in my lunch at school everyday for a long time…and I also remember those rubber topped lollipops people were mentioning as well- I think I thought they were good…

I vote for the wood! Reminds me of ‘the house’ and the version I have of ‘the house’ in my life…plus, it’s homier…homeyer…homi- more like home!

Ahhh, Garfield & Friends! What an awesome show that I cannot wait to buy on DVD when I get back to Canada! So glad to hear it’s out!

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 06/06/2005 11:01 AM EDT


i’m so intrigued now – on the bubblegum, the flavors are grape and fruit. last i checked fruit comprises all manner of different flavors – so is this ‘fruit’ some sort of combination? like a fruit punch? or is it a mystery fruit? oh god this is going to kill me!

Ghosted by jim. @ 06/06/2005 11:24 AM EDT


Does anyone remember the movie Condorman? came to mind for no apparent reason over the weekend. Loved the garfield specials, always had them on tape at relatives houses and watched them instead of whining or moving.

Ghosted by RAS @ 06/06/2005 11:37 AM EDT


Pikachulover, you can still buy Garfield school supplies at Big Lots. You day has been made, I know. You are welcome.

Matt, I think the wood backround along with the Jason, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Slimer make the site too halloween looking. I blame that horror convention. But, since we’re going spooky, I would use tv static because it reminds me of the kid communicating from the tv in poltergiest…and the Spice Girls video that spoofed that movie. Hooray!

Ghosted by Kennef @ 06/06/2005 11:51 AM EDT


I mean "your" day. Whoops.

Ghosted by Kennef Again @ 06/06/2005 11:52 AM EDT


Great article Matt, however I have to ask: How the Hell can you eat that stuff?
As for the background, I see the wood briefly when the page is loading, then the grey. Right now I would vote for the wood, but if the grey could look more like static than it does (at least to me, right now it looks just slate grey) it might be cool.
Not a sermon, just a thought.
I doubt anyone else will get that joke, but it works in DC.

Ghosted by jhnnywalkr @ 06/06/2005 12:06 PM EDT


Condorman! I think I remember that one. Vaguely. Wasn’t it a 70’s Disney thing with a dude who becomes a secret agent/superhero with all these gadgets (possibly based on a comic book character he created?) Sorry my recollection is so sketchy. I remember renting it as a kid, if I’m thinking of the right movie. I think I’ll do some searching for the hell of it.

Ghosted by jhnnywalkr @ 06/06/2005 12:10 PM EDT


Boomerang is owned by Warner Bros., and Warner owns Hanna-Barbera. So it’s all Looney Tunes and H-B (and to a lesser extent, Ruby-Spears) properties.
As for MST3K, they are having a tough time on the individual copyrights. According to TV Tome, Sandy Frank yanked the ‘rights to his stuff after one too many rips from the Best Brains gang. Which means no ‘Time of the Apes’ unless we KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES.
Sandy Frank, Sandy Frank,
he’s the cause of all our pain……

Ghosted by kingklash, MST3K Info Club member #20454 @ 06/06/2005 12:16 PM EDT


Man,I used to eat those Garfield fruit snacks back when I was 5.I can’t believe I even remember that.It’s too bad they never made Calvin and Hobbes fruit snacks.

Ghosted by Suren @ 06/06/2005 12:20 PM EDT


I’d sooner blow up your house.

Ghosted by Bill Watterson @ 06/06/2005 12:21 PM EDT


"happy birthday, happy birthday, whoopty-doo whoopty-doo, may your day be pleasant, open up your presents, just for you just for you!"…gummi bears kicks garfields ass at candied confectionaries. all so called "fruit snacks" were like rocks, yet tasted like rubber.

Ghosted by retro @ 06/06/2005 12:31 PM EDT


Thanks Brian for the new blog layout. My favorite thing is the Toys r’ Us price tag on the Trapper. $16.99!!! Wow, I wonder how old that price tag is and what it went to.

I like the wood background. Makes me feel like I walked into a creepy building abandoned for the last 20 years and stumbled across someone’s old stuff… perfectly preserved of course… like that old bottle of Pepsi waiting for Matt back at the upstate house.

Ghosted by Carri @ 06/06/2005 12:56 PM EDT


The TRU sticker can actually be seen in a fairly old article — very visibly, too. Your mission: Find that article.

Ghosted by Matt @ 06/06/2005 1:08 PM EDT


Fruit snacks used to be so awesome. I remember how happy I used to be while eating my Garfield fruit snacks. Now fruit snacks are really soft and chewy and not nearly as enjoyable. Bring back the fruit wrinkles and I’m a happy camper.

Ghosted by Lizzy @ 06/06/2005 1:17 PM EDT


Time of the Apes was one of my favs! Damn! I’d love to get that on DVD. The video of it I have is, shall we say, now of lower quality, or, shall we say, played until any audio on it is barely, um, audible, or shall we just say it sucks. I vote for #3.
I joined the MSTies as well, but I seem to have misplaced my membership card. Damn damn damn dirty apes!

Ghosted by jhnnywalkr @ 06/06/2005 1:20 PM EDT


Hey Matt,
Another great article and based on one of my favorite characters. I’ve been a Garfield fan since I was little: Jim Davis being my cartooning idol and wanting to pick up a pencil and become a cartoonist because of him. So naturally I’m not doing anything like that now and I work for a movie photo archive instead. But I digress: I still love Garfield to this day and had the honor of meeting Jim Davis back in the mid 90’s when he was here on Long Island at a animation dealer (sold cels, etc.) One of the nicest guys and he autographed my "Garfield Fat Pack" the first 3 Garfield books in one. A treasure I still keep along with all the other Garfield junk I’ve collected over the years. Here’s to Jim and his fat orange cat…and for a great article? Thanks goes to Matt!! :)

Ghosted by Melissa Y. @ 06/06/2005 1:26 PM EDT


A 1991 Krang!

Mission Complete.

Ghosted by Carri @ 06/06/2005 1:30 PM EDT


Meijer (our local grocery spot)carries Garfield pretzels which are letter shaped. Not sure what that has to do with Garfield, but he’s on the package.

Ghosted by Joe in OH @ 06/06/2005 1:36 PM EDT


Lyman, according to Davis himself, was axed in ‘93. Good luck finding him.

Ghosted by !MNc99 @ 06/06/2005 2:06 PM EDT


As for MST3K, they are having a tough time on the individual copyrights. According to TV Tome, Sandy Frank yanked the ‘rights to his stuff after one too many rips from the Best Brains gang. Which means no ‘Time of the Apes’ unless we KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES.

Man, I am learning so much! Thanks XErs!

Ghosted by The Manimal @ 06/06/2005 2:18 PM EDT


I don’t think X-E could ever be TOO Halloween. If the halloween layout had been up for as long as the christmas one, well I would have been a very happy person.

So what do you say we start the Halloween countdown now, and keep it going year round.

"We can live like Jack and Sally if we want/Where you can always find me/And we’ll have Halloween on Christmas/And in the night we’ll wish this never ends/We’ll wish this never ends"

Ghosted by Knegative @ 06/06/2005 2:49 PM EDT


I’m likin’ the new layout! It looks like your standard X-E layout, which is as it should be. It’s a good change from the X-Mas layout, which was up for far too long.

Anyway, I couldn’t help but get excited at your recollection of Hot Warheads. I never see the hot variety anymore, just the sour kind. I guess people just didn’t like ‘em. I did. But then again, I also like tobacco, beer, and black licorice. Some people like beer, some people like tobacco products (but that number seems to decrease daily), but how many people do you know who happen to like black licorice. I’m sure there are ven fewer who like Hot Warheads. But I could very well be wrong here.

Ghosted by Nate @ 06/06/2005 3:01 PM EDT


I like black licorice. In fact, this article reminded me about Blackjack gum, and I’m trying to order some right now.
I also like beer. And tobacco. I fear we are not long for this world Nate.

Ghosted by jhnnywalkr @ 06/06/2005 3:15 PM EDT


Oh man…the TIME OF THE APES episode of MST3K is the best EVER! I’ve watched it more times than probably any other single episode of any television program.

"Ten hut!"
"Fliiiiing CRAP!"
"They’re gonna give him a 21-turd salute."

Ghosted by The Yeti @ 06/06/2005 4:14 PM EDT


I hate Monday!

Ghosted by Garfield @ 06/06/2005 4:27 PM EDT


Wow, Toys ‘R Us Garvey Gun tags STILL look like that. Same color, same everything, BUT… I’ll have to do some investigating as to item numbers, because that has 7, and we only go by 6 numbers – no more, no less… Oh and there’s no store number code in the top left corner. :P hehe…

Yes, I do work there – I’m not just obsessed or anything. :)

Ghosted by Ryane @ 06/06/2005 4:39 PM EDT


Does anyone remember the packages of gum that like (i’m picking a number here, I don’t remeber how many it had in it) 7 pieces, but only 5 tasted reguler and the other 2 were hot. created the fun game of who got the hot crappy gum. Remember getting it while swimming. Remember buying a lot of junk food while swimming. mmm pie.

Ghosted by RAS @ 06/06/2005 4:46 PM EDT


HEY EVERYBODY!!!

Still…haven’t….seen…Episode…III…Dying…Over…Here!!!

BTW, I dig the new blog layout. Also, it is fun to google yourself and see all of your entries on X-E!!!!!

Oh Trajeal, we go in to Wiesbaden tommorrow morning, we get to do a 3D ultrasound. They want to check the amniotic fluid (says its low) and they think the long bones are growing to slow (sigh). Hope all goes well. :)

Semper Fi,
Erik Majorwitz

Ghosted by EMajorwitz @ 06/06/2005 5:23 PM EDT


Don’t feel too mad Erik, I haven’t seen it either, and it’s playing EVERYWHERE here. I guess maybe I should feel guilty.
Try not to worry about the baby stuff either. I don’t have any kids myself, but most of my siblings do (all except my younger bros, who BETTER F-IN NOT ANYTIME SOON), and not a single one had a "normal" pregnancy. In fact I don’t think they exist.
I just went back and saw Matt’s challenge. Accepted!

Ghosted by jhnnywalkr @ 06/06/2005 5:40 PM EDT


"I’m Superman, I can fly!"
"I’m Spider-Man, I can walk up walls!"
"I’m Garfield, and I hate Mondays!"
PONK!
"Ow!"

Erik, as long as you don’t see demon horns, or Wolverine-like claws, and change her oil every 9000 miles, you’ll do ok.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 06/06/2005 5:41 PM EDT


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