Behind the scenes of The Garfield Movie (2024)

By Lili Trottier

2025-02-04

Rediscover the timeless world of Jim Davis with Garfield, the greedy, lovable, and irresistibly lazy feline who has become a true comic strip icon. This time, the iconic orange cat returns to our screens in The Garfield Movie (2024).

In collaboration with Alcon Entertainment, Prime Focus Studios, and Sony, and under the direction of director Mark Dindal and executive producer Jim Davis, DNEG Animation is proud to offer a new perspective on Garfield, while paying homage to the original work.

Let's take a look behind the scenes of The Garfield Movie with Guillaume Chartier, Director of Animation at DNEG Animation.

A perilous and amusing adventure for the king of naps and lasagna

Garfield and his companion, Odie the dog, find themselves thrust out of their comfortable daily lives when they cross paths with Vic, a scruffy street cat who is none other than Garfield's father. Together, they embark on a wild adventure to pull off a daring and zany burglary.

“With The Garfield Movie, staying true to the original character was everything, and I feel like we achieved that with this film. We wanted to commit to what makes him so likeable, even when that means he isn’t always the most well behaved but that is Garfield and I think we stayed true to that.” – Shelley Smith, Animation Producer.

In broad terms, what was your creative process, from concept to final rendering?

Garfield's creative process began with extensive research into Jim Davis' original works. DNEG Animation's goal was to combine new creativity while retaining the classic style of Davis' characters.

“That was the guiding light for all our decisions,” says Guillaume Chartier.

After gaining a thorough understanding of what sets Davis' work apart, the design team adapted the material for 3D animation. Then, based on the script and director Mark Dindal's favorite references, the creative team developed a unique animation style: a foundation based on physicality, but enriched with great freedom to accentuate a more fluid and exaggerated style, reminiscent of old American cartoons.

What were the main challenges in creating The Garfield Movie?

What makes the film's visual production particularly interesting is the way Jim Davis' exaggerated cartoon styles and DNEG Animation's more realistic animations, often intertwined in the same shot, flow seamlessly to support the narrative.

“We didn’t want to change the characters. Following Mark’s lead, the goal was to help reintroduce Garfield to a new audience. Not reinvent but reimagine him, so that a new generation of people could connect to the Garfield I know and love. My wish for this film was that they’d feel the same excitement I did in the 80s reading the comic books or the comic strips in newspapers.” – Jason Boose, Animation Director

One of the main challenges was therefore the character design. To respect the integrity of the original work, the team had to play with distorted proportions and poses or deliberately exaggerated expressions, while maintaining realistic animation. For example, these expressions are reflected when Garfield snores, yawns, or gulps down a bite, causing his mouth to stretch to fill the entire height of his face.

“To overcome this kind of problem, it took a lot of work and collaboration between the design, animation, and rigging teams to come up with new technical solutions to these artistic challenges,” emphasizes Guillaume Chartier.

Did the artistic vision of the project lead to innovation?

A major artistic innovation was achieved in terms of rigging and grooming, with the aim of perfecting the appearance and design of many characters.

For example, the character of Roland, characterized by a large Shar-Pei dog, whose appearance is imposing and intimidating with its loose skin falling in folds, presented particular challenges in terms of rigging deformations.

To overcome this challenge, the team used Ziva software, a suite of tools for creating digital characters and creatures.

“Fortunately, the team thought to test a software called Ziva, normally used more for visual effects, to help simulate the complex deformations of all these large folds,” explains Guillaume Chartier.

A second innovation lies in the development of Garfield's arms. The shoulder attachment was designed to allow fluid movement covering different parts of the body in order to achieve certain more caricatured poses, faithful to Jim Davis' comic strips.

“We developed a removable arm with a geometry separate from that of the body. This created other challenges, particularly in terms of grooming, but the end result was well worth it,” shares the animation director at DNEG Animation.

Any advice for a student who dreams of working on a project like Garfield?

For those who wish to work on large-scale projects such as Garfield one day, Guillaume advises you to push your limits:

“Be demanding with yourself in your learning and your work, push yourself to take on new challenges and improve your skills, but at the same time cultivate a spirit of satisfaction and personal fulfillment in your daily work.”

Want to become an entertainment director? Here's what you need to know!

Do you dream of becoming an animation director? DNEG Animation shares the key responsibilities, skills, and qualities needed to excel in this profession.

The role of an entertainment director

The animation director plays an essential role in the creation of an animated film. This person supervises the animation team and ensures the artistic consistency of the project.

It is a position that requires a good balance between creativity and management: you need to understand the vision of the project while coordinating a creative team to deliver everything on time.

The necessary skills and qualities

To excel in this profession, you will need to master the art of animation. This means knowing how to bring characters to life while respecting the director's vision.

But that's not all! You also need to be able to work in a team, give clear feedback to animators, and collaborate with other departments such as rigging and modeling. Being an excellent communicator is essential to guiding your team toward a high-quality end result.

Finally, in-depth knowledge of animation technologies and excellent problem-solving skills are essential.

Ready to take on the challenge?

If you are passionate about animation, this job may be for you! But be patient: it usually takes about ten years of experience in feature film animation and supervision to get this position. With a lot of hard work, you will have all the skills you need to shine in your future role.

Guillaume Chartier's career path

Guillaume Chartier is Director of Animation at DNEG Animation in Montreal, with over 15 years of experience in the animation industry. After graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree from Sheridan College in 2008, Guillaume began his career as an intern at Pixar. Over the next 13 years, he honed his skills, rising from animator to animation supervisor, and contributed to iconic films such as Toy Story 4, Coco, Finding Dory, Inside Out, and Turning Red. In 2021, Guillaume joined DNEG Animation as animation supervisor, where he worked on Sony's The Garfield Movie. Recently promoted to animation director, he brings to his work a deep passion for storytelling and technical excellence. He remains a key creative figure at DNEG Animation.

Discover Cuillaume Chartier's career path