Chris Pratt Is The New Voice Of ‘Garfield’
by Erik Amaya
Chris Pratt joins the ranks of Lorenzo Music and Bill Murray as the voice of the second orange cat to emerge from comic strips for a new Garfield feature film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project will be spearheaded by Alcon Entertainment, with Chicken Little director Mark Dindal at the helm and Finding Nemo‘s David Reynolds providing the script. Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson serves as producers alongside John Cohen and Steven P. Wegner. Sony will release the film outside of China. Bridget McMeel and Craig Sost are executive producers along with Garfield creator Jim Davis.
While plot details are unknown, it’s safe to assume Davis’s character will continue to befuddle his human, Jon Arbuckle, and try as best he can to mitigate the presence of Jon’s dog, Odie. It is unclear if other characters from the comic strip will appear, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility. Curiously, comics’ other orange cat, Heathcliff, is also setting his sights on a feature project.
The character was voiced by Music — a writer and actor also known as the voice of Carlton the Doorman on Rhoda — on the Garfield and Friends animated series from 1988-94 and in various projects from 1982 until his passing in 2001. He would also voice Peter Venkman on The Real Ghostbusters, a character originated by Murray, who would in turn voice Garfield in the two live-action films in 2004 and 2006. Pratt, for his part, seems to be diving into voice acting with both feet, claiming both Garfield and Nintendo’s beloved Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated film.
No release date for the film has been announced, but considering the way animated films are announced, 2023 is not a bad guess.
