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David Perlmutter's avatar

"That’s right, it turns out that all animals can speak; they just choose not to do so. If they do, it’s a violation of an oath they took."

This is a principle I have adopted in my own fiction. The "choice" to speak is made based on whether they can trust picked humans with that knowledge. And the "oath" has much to do with Adam's fall ("In Adam's fall, we sinned, all...").

I also have been a follower of the Garfield camp for a long time, but this particular publication (to say nothing of the film) escaped my knowledge until now. If anything, that movie would likely have been much better than the atrocious Garfield films that have since been produced...

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Retroist's avatar

I wonder if the failure to get this made any effect on Jim Davis' ambition for Garfield Projects?

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David Perlmutter's avatar

I wouldn't count that out. Aside from the animated television stuff, he didn't seem to be a part of too many later media adaptations.

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Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

I have never heard of this! I was a massive Garfield fan c. 1979-80 (I was 12-13 years old), and had a couple of plushes, posters, buttons and shoelaces. I still have my Garfield diary from back then.

Thanks so much for this interesting tidbit!

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Retroist's avatar

It was amazing how much Garfield stuff was available. This one is worth checking out even now (You can check it out of the Internet Archive if you have an account.)

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Sheila (of Ephemera)'s avatar

Oh, cool, thank you for the tip! Yes, I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of marketing product for Garfield - the only thing comparable to me back then was Star Wars.

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Michael S. Atkinson's avatar

I remember this one! I read it ages ago; my hometown library had it, but I'd forgotten about it until now! Classic.

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Retroist's avatar

My hometown library had a great Garfield section. In the summer I would go there to just sit with my D&D book for hours to take advantage of the air conditioning. Usually by hour 3 I would wander over the Garfield or other comic strip books and grab one to read.

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Gordon's avatar

Ohhhh yeah! I forgot about this!

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Retroist's avatar

I still read a lot of comic strips from the books I bought as a kid. This one had sat on a shelf for at least a decade. Now I read it at least every other year.

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Gordon's avatar

Wait I’m actually remembering Garfield’s 9 lives - the black and white one where he’s being experimented on in a lab

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Retroist's avatar

I thought that one was really interesting as well.

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Jeremiah Jones-Goldstein's avatar

I like the idea of Jim Davis still taking chances and trying different things with his tubby cat. It really shows that he didn't just rest on his laurels while the syndication and licensing money came in.

I'll still pick up Garfield books at used book stores and flea markets, I'll keep an eye out for this gem.

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