Marvel and Jurassic World star Chris Pratt lends his voice to Garfield in the new animated film adventure and spoke to Moviepilot about cat properties, dubbing and missed franchise opportunities.
The voracious cult cat starts his first fully animated cinema adventure today, May 9, 2024: Garfield – An Extra Portion of Adventure confronts the lazy house cat and Monday hater with his father – who drags him into a large-scale milk robbery. In the original version, Garfield is voiced by Hollywood star Chris Pratt, who spoke to Moviepilot about his love of cats
Marvel star Chris Pratt talks about Garfield, voice acrobatics and Jurassic World 4 in an interview
Actor Chris Pratt achieved worldwide fame as raptor trainer Owen Grady in the Jurassic World films and Starlord from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The star can already look back on voice roles in The Lego Movie and The Super Mario Bros. film, but still has a special relationship with the orange cat called Garfield.
Chris Pratt spoke to Moviepilot about his similarities with Garfield, screams in the dubbing business and which pet he is compared to. The star also reveals which film franchise wasn’t interested in him and demonstrates his good German skills in an interview as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son-in-law
(Chris Pratt in Garfield interview)
Moviepilot: You were born shortly after the first Garfield comic was published. Do you remember your first encounter with the character?
Chris Pratt: [surprisingly in German] Of course! I was five years old! [laughs, switches to English] I was born in 1979, but Garfield came out in ’78. I remember my cousin wearing a Garfield T-shirt before I could even read. I also saw the comic strips in the newspaper, which I would open to find out about upcoming movies.
Do you have anything in common with the character Garfield?
I don’t hate lasagna, but I’m not as obsessed with it as Garfield. I do love pizza though! There have been times in my life when I’ve felt lazy, gluttonous, aloof and spoiled. Especially now as an actor! If you were to shake my hand, it would feel like a guy who hasn’t worked a day in his life. As much as it shames me, Garfield and I have that in common. [laughs]
How do you prepare to voice a cat? Did you give your voice a certain timbre?
Director [Mark Dindal] specifically wanted to hear my voice in the movie. He said it had a certain lazy, sarcastic tone and saw a similarity in Garfield to my character [Andy Dwyer] in Parks and Recreation.
Unlike my other animated characters like [briefly raises his voice] “Emmet from The Lego Movie” or Super Mario with his Italian twist, this time I was able to hone in on the similarities instead of the differences. That took the pressure off and I didn’t have to recreate something that someone had created before me. So I did something that only I could do: Talk with my voice. [laughs]
But in the first half of the movie, where Garfield is spoiled, lazy and aloof, I put this very specific inflection in my speech that a person has just before they yawn. Something happens to your voice.
Listen to Chris Pratt’s Garfield voice in the English trailer:
In one scene, Garfield is thrown from one tree to the next and reacts with a variety of screams: How do you record something like that in a dubbing studio – with specific instructions or improvised?
I let out a gigantic onslaught of screams loosely based on a rough animation that was not yet the final version of the movie. So I was yelling and making loud thudding noises like ‘Aaaah’, ‘Ushh’ and ‘Huaaa’. You usually save recordings like that until the end of the studio session so that you don’t ruin your voice beforehand. That’s when they pulled out the most useful ones for the animation.
Although sounds are fun, I prefer dialog. Because there’s a certain spirit of discovery in it. You can only deliver a limited number of screams and yelps, but when I’m speaking I’m constantly trying to outdo what’s written. For example, with colloquial alternatives or with something even funnier, more quick-witted or more imaginative. So I first do five runs with the text that’s there and then start playing with it. Director Mark Dindal gave me a lot of freedom to experiment, and a lot of it made it into the movie.
How much time do you need as an animated film voice actor to record a main character like Garfield?
I was in the studio for a total of 15 to 20 days – but spread over one and a half to two years. With Garfield, they already had a good idea of where they wanted to go. So after the initial sessions, I only had to come back a couple of times for subsequent scenes and improvements. But I’ve also had animated film cases where the first act was finished, they were still working on the second part and the third act had to be developed while production was already underway. That was much more efficient here.
(Garfield with father and dog Odie)
After Garfield, the Lego films, Pixar’s Onward and Super Mario, are there any other animated characters you’d like to voice?
I’ve always loved He-Man. As a child, I often watched his animated series Masters of the Universe. And I loved G.I. Joe. They could both be turned into great animated movies. Or live action! But G.I. Joe is already available as a live-action movie. I remember auditioning for it and not even getting a call back. But maybe they’ll make another one and I’ll get a chance to play Destro or Snake Eyes.
Now, after Garfield, out with the hard truths: Are you more of a cat or dog person in real life?
I think people look at me and think Golden Retriever. But if it came down to owning a pet, I would prefer a cat. They don’t need as much care and are more independent. They cuddle when they want to. You have to fight hard to get their affection – and I like that challenge. Dogs are easy: give them something to eat and they love you.
