Garfield being a cat was once totally up in the air at the start of Jim Davis' career, and the reason why he made him a cat ...

My 7-year-old eyes fell on a “Fat Cat Three Pack” featuring Garfield, who was orange, cute and cuddly in ways that my below-the-poverty-line upbringing was rarely allowed to be.

Garfield first hit the newspapers as a three-panel strip on 19 June 1978. But if Davis had had his way, the face that launched a thousand lunchboxes and cuddly toys might never have been a cat at ...

Jim Davis hugs a stuffed version of his cartoon creation, Garfield the Cat, surrounded by others as he poses at his company, PAWS, Inc., in Albany, Ind., June 26, 2003.