2024 is coming to an end, but there’s still time in the year for some surprises - including musician and record producerSkrillexnailing why Jim Davis’Garfieldcomic has garnered such significant international appeal. Syndicated in more than 100 countries worldwide, with an audience of over 200 million,Garfieldis one of the most successful comic characters to ever exist, with Skrillex (aka Sonny John Moore) putting his finger on exactly what makes the tabby cat so iconic.
Recently,Skrillexposted on X, quipping that Jim Davis' cat was"the Larry David of childhood.“David is the award-winning comedian, performer and writer behindmega-hitsSeinfeldandCurb Your Enthusiasm, playing an exaggerated version of himself in the latter.
Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David is known for calling out everyday inconveniences and behaviors, usually with no awareness of how his comments will snowball into chaos. Within the show,Larry has been branded a ‘social assassin’ - someone rude enough to call out the small annoyances that everyone else is prepared to let go.Skrillex is right to note a similarity with Garfield, picking up on a deliberate choice on Jim Davis' behalf.
10 Hilarious Garfield Comics About Television (And Garfield’s Love/Hate, But Mostly Love, Relationship With It)
Garfield quickly established himself as a devoted TV lover, and remote hog, as these early strips show the evolution of the orange tabby’s obsession.
Garfield and Larry David Both Tackle the Minor Annoyances of Everyday Life
Skrillex Nailed What MakesGarfieldSo Successful
Beginning publication in 1978,Garfieldwas originally titledJon, and focused on the cat’s owner Jon Arbuckle. However, Davis quickly realized that Garfield was getting all the best lines, and officially retitled his comic soon after. Garfield is known for his laziness, constant hunger, and hatred of Mondays. The comic is gentle, family-friendly humor, but there’s still a focus on Garfield hassling the rest of the cast, in particularly his sometimes optimistic, sometimes morose owner.
Both Garfield andCurb’s Larry are creatures of the id - characters who make a big deal of the insults and inconveniences that their fans are forced to simply endure.This helps make each of them relatable, despite their bizarre behavior and unique lives. Indeed, it’s this factor ofGarfield’s humor that Davis claims has made him so successful around the world. Speaking toLIFE, Davis explained:
We’re made to feel guilty for overeating, not exercising, and over-sleeping. Garfield relieves our guilt by enjoying all of those things. More often than not, when someone laughs at a Garfield gag, it’s because they’re thinking, ‘Isn’t that true?!’
In the same way,Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry calls relishes behaviorthat viewers are expected to feel guilty about. In his case, it’s railing against being asked to take his shoes off in a friend’s house, old magazines in the doctor’s waiting room, fellow flyers ‘encroaching’ on his airplane seat space, and people who don’t use coasters. In short,Skrillexis exactly right -Garfieldindulges in all the things kids are made to feel guilty about, whileCurb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David does the same for adults.
Source:Skrillex, Gina McIntyre forLife
Garfield
Garfield is the central character in Jim Davis’s comic strip, which officially began in 1978 under the same name. Garfield is an orange tabby cat with a love of lasagna and a disdain for Mondays. He tends to torment his owner and dog while trying to secure more food - and quiet.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Cast
Curb Your Enthusiasm is a Comedy television show created by Larry David, the same creative mind behind the wildly popular sitcom, Seinfeld. Starring Larry David himself, along with Cheryl Hines, and Jeff Garlin, the show acts as a semi-fictionalized look at Larry’s every day life and the people he would come in contact with.
