Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
MANILA, Philippines — Chris Pratt is trading in Mario’s overalls and red hat for a big pan of lasagna in the newly-released trailer for “The Garfield Movie,” where the actor voices the titular orange tabby from Jim Davis’ popular comics.
The trailer begins with a young Garfield abandoned in an alley during a thunderstorm’s downpour where he catches the scent of an Italian restaurant across the street.
Inside the restaurant is a lonely Jon Arbuckle with a whole pizza in front him who notices the little cat outdoors.
After opening the window to let Garfield in and feeding him pieces of pepperoni, Garfield begins gorging down all the food in the restaurant, including pieces of lasagna — the cat’s favorite meal.
“And that’s how I adopted Jon,” goes Pratt’s voice as the adult Garfield, with Odie the dog (Harvey Guillén) popping up to blow a raspberry followed by clips of Jon trying to bathe Garfield and serving his two pets more lasagna.
“I apologize in advance. The eating you’re about to see willl not be pretty, and if you have young children, this would be a good time for them to leave the room,” Garfield teases.
Things take a turn when Garfield is reunited with his father the scruffy street cat Vic voiced by Samuel L. Jackson who enlists his son and Odie on a hilarious, high-stakes heist.
The trailer ends with Garfield and Vic similarly scratching their sides, picking their teeth, and sneakily eating food in the refrigerator as Jon discovers them.
Also in the cast with Pratt, Jackson, and Guillén are Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, Cecily Strong, Brett Goldstein, and Bowen Yang.
Veteran animator Mark Dindal, who previously helmed “The Emperor’s New Groove” and “Chicken Little” for Disney, directs with Paul A. Kaplan, Mark Torgove, and David Reynolds as screenwriters. Davis serves as an executive producer on the film.
Related: Samuel L. Jackson to join Chris Pratt in animated ‘Garfield’ movie
Pratt rose to fame via the comedy series “Parks and Recreation” and established himself as a franchise leading man through the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Star-Lord and the “Jurassic World” trilogy as Owen Grady.
He has also done animated voicework for “The Lego Movie” films, Disney-Pixar’s “Onward,” and most recently, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Guillén, who is best known for his role on “What We Do in the Shadows,” coincidentally voiced the dog Perrito in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” alongside Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek Pinault.
Interestingly, all previously mentioned animated films are from rival studios to Columbia Pictures and Sony Picture Releasing, who co-produced and is distributing, respectively.
The “Garfield” comics was previously made into two live-action films with comedian Bill Murray voicing the titular tabby. “The Garfield Movie” is currently set for a May 2024 release. — Kristofer Purnell
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Credit belongs to: www.philstar.com
