Garfield is the original grumpy cat! He's a cuddly, orange ball of sarcasm that's been loved by people all over the world for decades! But what do you really know about Garfield and his friends? Let's find out with these 15 fun Garfield facts! Discover who created Garfield, what he's called in Sweden and why he keeps trying to post Nermal abroad! And if you liked this, check out more fun facts here! What about these crazy fun facts? Or if you're interested in more cartoon trivia, how about these 15 Inside Out facts? And for something completely different, we've got these swashbuckling pirate facts!

1. Garfield Was Created by Jim Davis

Cartoonist Jim Davis created Garfield all the way back in 1978, for his local comic strip. In his first appearances, he looks quite different - he's much bigger and a bit more realistic looking. He also originally walked on all fours. Garfield never speaks - he only thinks, and his thought bubbles are what we see in the comic books.

2. He's Named After a President

Well, actually, he's named after Jim Davis' grandfather, James A Garfield Davis, but HE was named after the President, James Garfield. Garfield (the president) was famously assassinated only 6 months into his term. So far, Garfield the cat has been luckier!

3. In Sweden, he's not called Garfield

Garfield is called Garfield all over the world...except, for some reason, in the Nordic region of Europe. In Sweden, he's called Gustaf. In Norway, he's called Pusur (which basically means 'grouchy cat'), and in Finland he's called Karvinen! Why? Apparently Nordic people prefer it!

4. He Was Born in a Restaurant

Garfield was famously born in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni's Italian restaurant. This is probably why he likes lasagne so much! At birth, he apparently weighed a healthy 5 pounds 6 ounces. He was given to a pet shop because he kept eating all the pasta.

5. He Hates Mondays

Well, who doesn't? Garfield famously hates Mondays, although you'd think that, as a cat, they wouldn't bother him more than any other day of the week! Lots of theories have been floated about this, including that he hates Mondays because that's when Jon has to go to work, or that the restaurant he was born in would be closed on a Monday. What's your theory?

6. He Loves Lasagne

If you know anything about Garfield you know that he LOVES lasagne! He even dreams in it! In fact, Garfield loves it so much he once asked for 20 POUNDS of lasagne for Christmas! It's important to say right that real cats do NOT love lasagne, and under no circumstances should you try to feed it to them.

7. Odie Was Based on an Advert

Everyone loves Odie, Garfield's enthusiastic dog companion. He was originally named 'Spot', which we can all agree is not the most exciting name. Then Jim Davis saw a car advert with a character called Odie in it. He liked the name, and chose it for his character!

8. Garfield Makes a Lot of Money

Garfield is one very rich cat! Or at least, he would be if he was real. Apart from the Garfield cartoons, he's appeared in hundreds of different things over the years, including films, TV shows, comic books and songs! Garfield is apparently worth a whopping $800 million! Think how much lasagne you could buy with that!

9. He's From Muncie, Indiana

Garfield and Jon live in Muncie, Indiana, in the USA. Indiana is also the home state of creator Jim Davis, but it doesn't actually come up much in the stories. Jim Davis wanted readers everywhere to feel like they could live next door to a cat like Garfield. A fun fact about Muncie? It was founded to help establish a jam jar company!

10. He's Been Played by Some Very Famous People

Garfield has been voiced by several different actors over the years, the most famous probably being Bill Murray, who Jim Davis felt was a perfect fit for the role. In the 2024 movie, he's played by Chris Pratt, who has also voiced famous characters like Super Mario!

11. There Are Lots of Versions of Garfield

Garfield started out in a comic strip, but since then he's been featured in all sorts of things, including TV shows and films! There's even a Garfield float for the Thanksgiving day Parade in New York city!

12. June 19th is National Garfield Day in the USA

If you love Garfield so much you want to celebrate him, good news! In the USA, June 19th (his birthday)! Celebrate by painting yourself orange, reading Garfield comics and, of course, eating lots of lasagne. Bonus points if you're also hanging out with your cat!

13. He's a Ginger Tabby

Garfield's colour and markings means that he's a ginger tabby (a tabby being a cat with striped markings). This makes sense, because ginger cats are usually (but not always) male! If you want your own Garfield, there are plenty of different types of tabby to choose from! (Although please don't feed them lasagne).

14. He Can Write! But He Can't Read

Garfield is shown in several drawings to be able to write in English - pretty clever, even for a cat like Garfield. However, he doesn't seem to be able to read English too - which is a bit weird! Oh well, he's a cat, writing is impressive enough!

15. His Main Nemesis is Nermal

Nermal is another cat in the Garfield franchise, who looks very similar to Garfield, except he's grey. Nermal first appeared in 1979, and has been in the Garfield universe ever since. His favourite hobbies are annoying Garfield by claiming to be the cutest kitten in the world. In an attempt to get rid of his annoying nemesis, Garfield often tries to post Nermal to Abu Dhabi, usually without success.