Odie is the deuteragonist of the Garfield franchise. He is a yellow beagle dog owned by Jon Arbuckle and is supposedly Garfield's best friend.
Physical appearance
Odie generally appears as a yellow beagle who has two huge eyes with white sclera and black pupils, two long brown ears, a yellow muzzle and a big black nose. He has a very thin body with black spots around his hips, as well as short legs and four paws with two toes.
History
Odie was based on a car dealership commercial, written by Jim Davis, which featured Odie the Village Idiot. Davis liked the name Odie and decided to use it again. When Garfield was first submitted, Davis named the main dog character "Spot" before finding out that the name was already being used by another character (see the Trivia section below). Odie first appeared in the strip on August 8, 1978; the date is considered his birthday. On that date, he was brought in by Lyman, a friend and roommate to Jon, who disappeared in 1983. Odie eventually became a pet to Jon Arbuckle and has remained so ever since. There are some strips which retcon Odie as being originally owned by Jon.
In the film series, where Lyman made no appearances, Odie's "origin" story was completely different: he was adopted by Jon at a veterinarian center.
Personality
Odie is a lovable, seemingly dopey, kind, underweight, yellow-furred, brown-eared beagle, who is Garfield's best friend (and usual victim). Garfield is jealous of Odie. Although Garfield says that he is dumb, Odie can be relatively smart on occasion. He is capable of communicating articulate sentences through barks. Garfield once described him as "honest, true blue, and decent." He is constantly panting with his very large tongue. He often drools huge puddles. The meanings of his barks are not actually discernible like one would assume, and are only made obvious by Garfield.
On the other hand, he does have a bit of a mean streak (possibly to get back at Garfield's constant tricks and pranks), like a lot of characters in the strip, as shown when he teases Garfield about his age when June 19, Garfield's birthday, is approaching, via either mimicking the facial expression of an elderly individual; putting a glass of water with dentures near his bed while he sleeps, laughing at his depression about getting older, and using a walking and snapping wind-up toy denture. He once tossed a bowling ball to Garfield to help him out of the tree, although his mischievous grin after Garfield fell down suggests that it was a prank. Another example was Odie locking Garfield and Jon out of a car, just before a downpour hit. His most cunning trick by far was when, after Garfield used the "Schlocko Laundro-Mutt" to torment him, he sneaked the collar around Garfield's neck before giving him a messy chili dog, thus setting the Laundro-Mutt on the cat; later on after making amends, both Garfield and Odie got their revenge by slipping the collar on Jon and throwing mud at him so the Laundro-Mutt would perform one last wash. Odie also displayed his cunning nature when unmasking a man in a dog suit during the “Pet Search” competition.
In the comic of August 26, 2007, Garfield describes Odie's species as "purebred clown" after trying to find out what kind of dog Odie is with the help of a book. Odie is often kicked or pushed off the table by Garfield or the victim of some practical joke. Odie usually has a long, stretchy tongue and slobbers in his appearances. Recently, as of 2000, he walks on two feet, like Garfield, instead of all fours. This was demonstrated in earlier strips as well. Unlike Garfield, Odie is occasionally on four feet, as shown in the January 10, 2024 comic strip.
In the live-action films, Odie is played by dachshunds Tyler and Chloe.
Further Reading
Intelligence
Odie's intelligence varies depending on the strip, film, or episode. Sometimes he is surprisingly brilliant, other times he only has the capacity to stare into space and slobber, and still other times, he is depicted as somewhere inbetween, not quite a genius, yet not quite brainless. Animated versions of Odie tend to be somewhat smarter than his depiction in the comic strip, although still lacking in certain areas. He has shown examples of relatively quick thinking from time to time, such as in the Garfield and Friends episode "Break a Leg", in which he breaks Jon and Garfield's fall with a mattress he finds in a cabin. Seemingly enigmatically, he is shown to be unable to count past three in the same series. When he is assigned the duty of sound editor in "Sound Judgment," he fails spectacularly, possibly because he cannot read the labels on the tapes. Later versions of Odie depict him as being literate, or at least somewhat so. He has also shown remarkable skill in the field of computing and has a social media account on which he follows squirrels.
He tends to be trusting of others to a fault, sometimes to his detriment. In the episode "Hare Replacement," for example, when Garfield tells him there is a flying saucer, Odie looks for it for a solid minute, giving Garfield ample time to eat Odie's dinner. On the other hand, he is often more level-headed and down to earth than Garfield is, and is often reluctant whenever Garfield pulls him into one of his zany schemes.
- One comic strip (Oct 14, 1990) has Odie throwing Garfield through a wall using a recliner Garfield happened to be lying on.
- Another strip (April 27, 1989) shows him enjoying classical music on TV with the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, after Jon and Garfield leave the house.
- Yet another strip (September 2, 1984) has him lock Jon and Garfield out of the car on a camping trip, where he enjoys the sandwiches, radio, and potato chips, while the other two get wet from the rain.
- In the December 18, 1988 strip, Odie successfully cooks bacon and scrambled eggs for Jon.
- The January 28, 2010 strip shows him solving a Sudoku puzzle that Jon had a hard time completing.
- The May 19, 2019 strip shows Odie appearing to be tricked by Garfield trying to fake him out while throwing a stick. Garfield then says, "How gullible can you get? Poor, dumb, Odie." In reality, Odie is eating Garfield's food.
- In one comic, Garfield pretends to be a dog, in which Odie pretends to be Garfield and the proceeds to eat Garfield's food and kick Garfield.
- In the May 1, 2022 strip, Odie ties a knot in Garfield's tail while it was in a hole in the fence, preventing Garfield from getting dinner.
- In the May 15, 2022 strip, Garfield pretends to be Odie once again, in response, Odie imitates Garfield in an insulting manner.
In others, he has been seen setting decoys, writing poetry, finding a complete superhero outfit, and even finding a tank toy that has actual ammo, making Garfield briefly look bad. In yet another one, Odie tossed Garfield a bowling ball to "help" Garfield out of a tree he was stuck in. In two strips, Garfield went to see what was at the end of Odie's unusually long tongue, which turned out to be a second Odie.
Speaking
Odie is the only animal character in the Garfield series without a recurring voice bubble, as he is portrayed as a "normal" house dog. Odie can say, "What?", "Yeah", "Huh?", "Mmm-hmm", "Ta-da!", "Uh-Uh", and "Oh no!". He has occasionally been shown thinking. In The Garfield Show, he says some intelligible sentences, and short phrases. When he talks on Garfield and Friends, he speaks by moving his mouth, although other dogs do not do so. Odie speaks only in mumbles in a similar manner in Garfield Gets Real and its sequels, frequently saying complete sentences ranging from "I don't know", "My bone!" and "Right". In the Reading Ring game on the Professor Garfield site, if one manages to get the June 21, 2001 strip, while facing Dr. Stripp, having the third panel will let the player hear Odie say "Mmm hmm" angry at Jon for trying to eat Odie's squeaky hamburger toy mistaking it for a real hamburger. Also, in the January 13, 1979 comic strip, he is seen laughing at Garfield. And in the June 15, 1980 comic strip, he is seen poking Lyman saying "I'm hungry." He has been presumably been shown thinking when Garfield was using him as a ventriloquist's dummy in 1989.
Odie and Garfield
Odie is, to Garfield, a slobbering, smiling house-pet. Due to this view, Garfield sometimes underestimates Odie, allowing Odie to get the upper hand.
Garfield acknowledges this by saying short, catchy phrases that sometimes anger Odie. On numerous occasions, Garfield actually does care a great deal for Odie, most notably in Here Comes Garfield, in which Odie is briefly captured by the dogcatcher and Garfield tearfully realizes through flashbacks of him and Odie playing together how sad his life would be without him. Also, Garfield was visibly angry when a con artist alley cat in "Pros and Cons" conned Odie out of the grocery money, leaving Jon to be upset with Odie. So Garfield went to great lengths to clear Odie's name and get the money back. In another name-clearing instance, when Odie was televised as being part of a purse-snatching dog gang, Garfield refused to believe it because, in his words, "Odie is honest, true blue, and decent. And he's not even smart enough to steal." In one strip, Garfield states that Odie is made of rubber (this is supported by properties of his tongue and the fact he once squeezed Odie into a ball). Other times, Garfield tries to put the blame on Odie for some of the mishaps he has done. Garfield also enjoys kicking Odie off of the table.
Odie does manage to get occasional revenge on Garfield. Once (the February 2, 1999 strip), Jon accuses Garfield of clearing out his closet except for the T-shirt saying, "I Love Cats." While Garfield professes his innocence, he is hurled out of the house. Comically, Odie steps out to grin at Garfield, wearing a plaid shirt, indicating that he framed Garfield. Odie would also commonly do things to Garfield, but he gets his revenge. In one storyline, Garfield gets beat up by a bulldog after smacking him and has to wear a cast for nearly a week. The cast covers Garfield's entire body but his face. Odie torments Garfield throughout the duration of this time. In the final strip of the storyline, though, Garfield tells Jon that he would like to keep his cast after being asked what he would like to do with it, and strikes Odie with it. In one series, when Garfield got stuck in a tree, Odie tries to help Garfield, but at the last moment, Odie flung him into the air (although this was an accident). Just about every time Garfield's birthday is coming up, Odie will mock Garfield for his "gerascophobia" (fear of getting old) and for getting older. Odie once tricked Jon into giving Garfield an enema. On some instances in The Garfield Show, Odie's actions in a couple of episodes have led to unintentional blame towards Garfield, even though at times he did not mean to get Garfield into trouble.
Odie and Nermal
Odie and Nermal rarely interact, as the latter usually deals with Garfield. In Garfield and Friends, Odie likes Nermal. He will often stick up for Nermal when Garfield harasses him and mails him to Abu Dhabi. In The Garfield Show, Odie does not like Nermal. Garfield and Odie will often get annoyed with Nermal. One instance being when Nermal somehow got Garfield to think he had no place left in the house from his amnesia and made him leave, taking his place as the cat of the house. This made Odie very sad and grow angry with him. When Garfield came back after recovering his memories, Odie was overjoyed.
Television appearances
Garfield Specials
- Here Comes Garfield (1982)
- Garfield on the Town (1983)
- Garfield in the Rough (1984)
- Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985)
- Garfield in Paradise (1986)
- Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)
- A Garfield Christmas (1987)
- Happy Birthday, Garfield! (1988)
- Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988)
- Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989)
- Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989)
- Garfield's Feline Fantasies (1990)
- Garfield Gets a Life (1991)
Garfield and Friends
Season 1
- 1a. "Peace & Quiet"
- 1c. "Garfield Goes Hawaiian"
- 2a. "Box O' Fun"
- 2c. "School Daze"
- 3a. "Nighty Nightmare"
- 3c. "Ode to Odie"
- 4a. "Fraidy Cat"
- 4c. "Nothing To Sneeze At"
- 5a. "Garfield's Moving Experience"
- 5c. "Good Mousekeeping"
- 6a. "Identity Crisis" (in title card only)
- 7c. "Good Cat Bad Cat"
- 8a. "Cabin Fever"
- 8c. "Fair Exchange"
- 9c. "Don't Move!"
- 10a. "Magic Mutt" (as one of Merlin's transformations)
- 10c. "Monday Misery"
- 11a. "Best of Breed"
- 11c. "All About Odie"
- 12a. "Caped Avenger"
- 12b. "Shy Fly Guy" (as a snow sculpture)
- 12c. "Green Thumbs Down"
- 13a. "Forget Me Not"
Season 2
- 14a. "Pest of a Guest"
- 14c. "Fat & Furry"
- 15a. "Rip Van Kitty"
- 15c. "The Big Catnap"
- 17a. "The Sludge Monster"
- 17c. "Heatwave Holiday"
- 18a. "One Good Fern Deserves Another"
- 18c. "The Black Book"
- 19a. "The Legend of the Lake" (prehistoric)
- 20a. "Binky Gets Cancelled!"
- 20c. "Cutie and the Beast"
- 21a. "The Lasagna Zone"
- 21c. "Yojumbo"
- 22a. "Pros and Cons"
- 23a. "Polecat Flats" (cameo)
- 23c. "Brain Boy"
- 24a. "Maine Course"
- 24c. "Attack of the Mutant Guppies" (in title card only)
- 25a. "Robodie"
- 25c. "Video Victim"
- 26a. "The Curse of Klopman"
- 26c. "Rainy Day Dreams"
- 27a. "Basket Brawl"
- 27c. "Cactus Jake Rides Again"
- 28c. "Mini-Mall Matters"
- 29a. "Attention-Getting Garfield"
- 29c. "It Must Be True!"
- 30a. "Arrivaderci, Odie!"
- 30c. "Feeling Feline"
- 31a. "The Bear Facts"
- 31c. "The Big Talker"
- 32a. "Cactus Makes Perfect"
- 32c. "Crime and Nourishment"
- 33a. "T.V. of Tomorrow"
- 34a. "Invasion of the Big Robots" (mentioned)
- 34c. "Housebreak Hotel"
- 35a. "First Class Feline"
- 35c. "How to Be Funny!"
- 36a. "Mystic Manor"
- 36b. "Flop Goes the Weasel" (cameo)
- 36c. "The Legend of Long Jon"
- 37c. "Beach Blanket Bonzo"
- 38a. "Lemon Aid"
- 38c. "Video Airlines"
- 39c. "Mummy Dearest"
Season 3
- 40a. "Skyway Robbery"
- 40c. "Close Encounters of the Garfield Kind"
- 41a. "Astrocat"
- 42c. "Break a Leg"
- 43a. "Twice Told Tale"
- 43c. "Wedding Bell Blues"
- 44a. "Clean Sweep"
- 44c. "How the West was Lost"
- 45c. "Flat Tired"
- 46a. "Return of the Buddy Bears"
- 46c. "Reigning Cats and Dogs"
- 47a. "Fit for a King"
- 47c. "Dessert in the Desert"
- 48a. "Hound of the Arbuckles"
- 49a. "Odielocks and the Three Cats"
- 49b. "Quack to the Future"
- 50a. "Count Lasagna"
- 51a. "The Feline Felon"
- 52a. "D.J. Jon"
- 53a. "Wonderful World"
- 53c. "The Garfield Workout"
- 54a. "All Things Fat and Small"
- 54c. "Hare Replacement"
- 55a. "Stick to It"
- 55c. "For Cats Only"
- 56a. "Mistakes Will Happen"
- 56c. "The Wise Man"
- 57a. "Star Struck"
- 57c. "Dirty Business"
Season 4
- 58a. "Moo Cow Mutt"
- 58c. "Angel Puss"
- 59a. "Supermarket Mania"
- 59c. "Trial & Error"
- 60c. "Jukebox Jon"
- 61a. "Squeak Previews"
- 61c. "A Tall Tale"
- 62a. "Frankenstein Feline"
- 62c. "Fill-in Feline"
- 63a. "Polar Pussycat"
- 63c. "Remote Possibilities"
- 64a. "Night of the Living Laundromat"
- 64c. "Cash and Carry"
- 65a. "Speed Trap"
- 65c. "Castaway Cat"
- 66a. "Mind Over Matter"
- 66c. "The Multiple-Choice Cartoon"
- 67a. "Galactic Gamesman Garfield"
- 67c. "The Thing That Stayed Forever"
- 68a. "Bouncing Baby Blues"
- 68b. "The Ugly Duckling" (cameo)
- 68c. "Learning Lessons"
- 69a. "Robodie II"
- 69c. "Annoying Things"
- 70a. "Guaranteed Trouble"
- 70c. "A Jarring Experience" (mentioned)
- 71a. "The Idol of Id"
- 71c. "Mama Manicotti"
- 72c. "Rolling Romance"
- 73a. "The Automated, Animated Adventure"
- 73c. "Truckin' Odie"
Season 5
- 74a. "Home Away From Home"
- 74c. "Odie the Amazing"
- 75a. "Taste Makes Waist"
- 75c. "Day of Doom"
- 76a. "Home Sweet Swindler"
- 76c. "The Great Inventor" (Odious Maximus)
- 77a. "Country Cousin"
- 77c. "The Carnival Curse"
- 78a. "The First Annual Garfield Watchers Test"
- 78c. "The Record Breaker"
- 79a. "Renewed Terror"
- 79c. "Tooth or Dare"
- 80a. "The Kitty Council"
- 80b. "The Bo Show" (mentioned)
- 80c. "Bad Neighbor Policy" (dream cameo)
- 81a. "Canvas Back Cat"
- 81c. "The Creature That Lived In The Refrigerator, Behind the Mayonnaise, Next to the Ketchup and to the Left of the Cole Slaw"
- 82a. "Dummy Of Danger"
- 82c. "Jumping Jon"
- 83c. "Dream Date"
- 84a. "The Worst Pizza in the History of Mankind"
- 84c. "The Garfield Opera"
- 85a. "Airborne Odie"
- 85c. "Bride and Broom"
- 86a. "The Cartoon Cat Conspiracy"
- 86c. "The Picnic Panic"
- 87a. "Sound Judgment"
- 87c. "The Perils of Penelope" (mentioned)
- 88a. "Ghost of a Chance"
- 88c. "Revenge of the Living Lunch!"
- 89a. "Super Sonic Seymour"
- 89c. "The Garfield Rap"
Season 6
- 90a. "A Vacation From His Senses"
- 90c. "Dread Giveaway"
- 91a. "The Wright Stuff"
- 91c. "Safe at Home"
- 92c. "Kitten and the Council"
- 93a. "Next Door Nuisance"
- 93c. "Bigfeetz"
- 94a. "Canine Conspiracy"
- 94c. "The Genuine Article"
- 95a. "The Best Policy"
- 95c. "Fishy Feline"
- 96c. "Sweet Tweet Treat"
- 97a. "The Floyd Story"
- 99a. "Date of Disaster"
- 99c. "The Longest Doze"
- 100a. "Stairway to Stardom"
- 100c. "The Life and Times of the Lasagna Kid"
- 101a. "Magic, Monsters, and Manicotti"
- 101c. "Unreal Estate"
- 102a. "Lost and Foundling"
- 104a. "Knights and Daze"
- 104c. "Jailbird Jon"
- 105a. "The Third Penelope Episode"
- 105c. "Garfield's Garbage Can and Tin Pan Alley Revue"
Season 7
- 107a. "A Matter of Conscience"
- 107c. "Top Ten"
- 108a. "Change of Mind"
- 108c. "The Perfect Match"
- 109c. "Half-Baked Alaska"
- 110c. "The Beast From Beyond"
- 111c. "Another Ant Episode"
- 112c. "The Fairy Dogmother"
- 113a. "The Stand Up Mouse"
- 113c. "Happy Garfield Day"
- 114a. "Sit on It"
- 114b. "Kiddie Korner"
- 114c. "Brainwave Broadcast"
- 115a. "Suburban Jungle"
- 115c. "The Feline Philosopher"
- 116a. "Thoroughly Mixed-Up Mouse"
- 117a. "The Jelly Roger"
- 117c. "Dogmother 2"
- 118c. "Clash of the Titans"
- 119a. "Canned Laughter"
- 119b. "The Man Who Hated Cats"
- 120. The Horror Hostess
- 120a. "The Horror Hostess Part 1"
- 120c. "The Horror Hostess Part 2"
- 121a. "Arbuckle the Invincible"
- 121c. "The Ocean Blue"
The Garfield Show
Odie appears in all episodes of The Garfield Show except "It's a Cheese World", "Meet Max Mouse" and "Black Cat Blues".
Trivia
- Odie was going to be named Spot until Jim Davis found out this name was being used for another character. This was shown in the original Jon comics and referenced in the August 15th 1978 strip, when Lyman swats Odie for what he "did on the floor". Garfield looks on in amusement and says "They should have named him Spot".
- In his earliest appearances, Odie had black ears. They were recolored to brown on September 27, 1979, supposedly to avoid confusion with Snoopy from Peanuts ("Hint: The pooch works for 'peanuts', but doesn't work cheap").
- In animated media, Odie's appearance is usually announced by the sound of the cavalry's bugling.
- Despite being established as a primary character, Odie has been absent for as long as three months in the comic strip. Jim Davis admitted in 30 Years of Laughs and Lasagna that Odie is very hard to write for because he has no dialogue and has less personality compared to Garfield or Jon.
- He once had dialogue on June 15, 1980.
- Odie is the only character to have had the same voice actor in animated form since 1982. The only animated adaption of Garfield where he is not voiced by Gregg Berger is the The Garfield Movie, where he's voiced by Harvey Guillén instead.
- Odie has 1705 appearances in the comics as of the 31st of December 2016, the 3rd most.
- From 1978 to late 1981, Odie had three toes on each paw, which was soon revised to two toes. Some strips show him with four toes.
- Odie’s nose is able to pop on and off.
- In some episode of The Garfield Show, Drusilla and Minerva's girl outfit for him resembles Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz.