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My dying wish is for an owl/camel hybrid, which I call camowl.

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 on 06/05/2005. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 141 comments

You misspelled "Sarlacc".

Chestnuts roasted by MutantHamster @ 06/06/2005 1:07 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Jeff @ 06/06/2005 2:03 AM


Maaaaaaaaaatttttt…..why haven’t you read my http://www.platypuscomix.net/onlyme/garfpage.html">Garfield and Friends Supapage yet? Don’t make me whine louder…

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 06/06/2005 2:03 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Alex @ 06/06/2005 2:06 AM


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? =)

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 06/06/2005 2:17 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 06/06/2005 2:21 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 06/06/2005 2:27 AM


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!

Chestnuts roasted by the80sruled @ 06/06/2005 2:55 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 06/06/2005 3:10 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Mara @ 06/06/2005 3:20 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Anita @ 06/06/2005 3:58 AM


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 =(

Chestnuts roasted by kittycatgirl2k @ 06/06/2005 4:51 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by mjf7583 @ 06/06/2005 8:23 AM


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!

Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 06/06/2005 9:24 AM


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

Chestnuts roasted by Yeah! @ 06/06/2005 9:31 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Warx @ 06/06/2005 9:35 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 06/06/2005 10:00 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Kay @ 06/06/2005 10:11 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/06/2005 10:14 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by Jeff @ 06/06/2005 10:29 AM


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!

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 06/06/2005 11:01 AM


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!

Chestnuts roasted by jim. @ 06/06/2005 11:24 AM


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.

Chestnuts roasted by RAS @ 06/06/2005 11:37 AM


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!

Chestnuts roasted by Kennef @ 06/06/2005 11:51 AM


I mean "your" day. Whoops.

Chestnuts roasted by Kennef Again @ 06/06/2005 11:52 AM


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