Visual effects artists and animators played a big role in bringing Garfield and friends to the big screen. All images Photo Credit: Rhythm & Hues ™and © 2004 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved. Garfield and Garfield characters: ™ & © PAWS. All rights reserved.

Vfx supervisor Dan Deleeuw (left) and animation director Bill Kroyer.

Vfx supervisor Dan Deleeuw has had a hand in creating virtual characters for other films, but with Garfield, this is the first time a virtual character was also the main character of the movie. “Technology-wise we knew how to do it,” Deleeuw explains. “On a film like this [the challenge] is probably more the creative process involved... You’ve got this recognizable character that people have known for 25 years, in the comic strip, on TV, in the cartoons, in whatever toys. Trying to bring that kind of design in the character to the real world is the most challenging part of the film.”

Going into the project, Deleeuw and animation director Bill Kroyer worked with director Peter Hewitt. The stated goal of the design was: “You never wanted to feel like you could have done this with a real cat.” Staying true to the original design of Garfield, to a certain degree made the design simpler. The team could stay with the big eyes, big ears and his overall face that would never fit a real cat. His physical design contained enough mannerisms to let the audience believe that his odd-looking cat may have grown up in the real world. It was a big balancing act as to where everyone wanted Garfield’s reality to sit. Also since there is a big fan base out there for Garfield, the team didn’t want to disappoint them with the design.

The team did a lot of research on cats. Everyone that had a cat videotaped it. There are scenes where, like a real cat, Garfield jumps up in a chair and rubs himself against the back. The team tried to incorporate as many of those mannerisms as they could so that Garfield existed in the real world. Also, because every other animal in the film is a live-action animal, Garfield couldn’t be too cartoony or he’d be too far away from the reality of the other animals. “We had to invent a world that people would buy into and then believe for the next hour and a half,” explains Deleeuw.