Now Chris Pratt is voicing Garfield because of course he is

This is starting to get a bit silly.

To be fair, it's easier to imagine Garfield with Chris Pratt voice than Mario.

Honestly... if he just brings that same energy as that instagram video of him talking about being the voice of Mario, I think he nails the role of Garfield.

This makes way more sense than him voicing Mario. It's a pretty low chance I'll actually watch either movie so it doesn't really matter but hopefully he makes an effort to differentiate the voices?

Is this from the alternate universe where Bill Murray voices Mario? If so, can I live there instead?

Did... everyone else quit?
Is Chris Pratt the only one left?

Chris is cool

I despise when celebrities take roles from voice actors. Sure they can do it, but just because they have a name does not mean they should. On top of that acting is very much a different type of acting than voice acting. It just annoys me when celebrities steal roles from someone who can do such a better job just because they have a name that can sell the product better.

Chris Pratt has put himself in a position where he is the first one directors and producers think about when doing a new project. That's where you want to be in Hollywood. I don't know who Pratt's agent is, but he better never piss this person off.

Can't wait for the expose revealing Chris Pratt is blackmailing all of Hollywood

I think Fred Armisen should be the voice of Jon Arbuckle Garfield's owner. But, if I had my choice of voice actor for Garfield it would start with Peter Davidson. Pete's self deprecating razor wit hwould go perfect with a lazy orange cat. Also, with Pete, Garfield get a more 'youthful' inner-voice.

Now here are my alternative and it skews British and bring back trio of British comedy. So for Jon we want someone who can sound naïve, but maybe nerd/geek smart. Stephen Merchant who might be best know aside form his work with Ricky Gervais in the show Hello Ladies (2013-2014), so we make hims Jon Arbuckle. Thus my alternative for Garfield is, of course, Ricky Gervais. But , if they go that way then Odie is by logical extension Karl Pilkington. So we get Merchant, Gervais, and Pilkington back together after about a decade.

Think about it Garfield played by Ricky Gervais and Jon played by Merchant would be hilarious. And, Odie played by Pinkerton would be the cherry on top

If this were being made while Parks & Rec was still on the air but before Pratt starred in Guardians of the Galaxy and was deathly serious in Jurassic World, it would make a lot more sense. But even before he was announced as the voice of Mario, this has been a ludicrous idea for the last few years at least. As others have said, he must have a hell of an agent.

If you’re deadset on ignoring actual voice actors and need to give this role to an overexposed Hollywood actor, Seth Rogen would at least have made more sense. Maybe he turned it down to get method for Donkey Kong?

I actually kinda liked Pratt in the Lego Move and GOTG, doing his likeable schlub bit. Never saw Jurassic World, as it looked terrible with or without him. But at this point he's just WAAAAAY beyond overexposed.

The aforementioned schlub bit is fine, but a little goes a long way at this point. Combine that with the quality we've come to expect from the Garfield family of products and... yuck.

I'm surprised Nintendo didn't have him sign some sort of a no-compete clause that he can't do another animated movie for x months. Garfield to me seems like a role that just about any middle-aged actor could do so I wonder if the studio is intentionally trying to ride the Mario movie's presumed success.

Actually, Seth Rogen would be funny as Garfield too.

Other outside the box choices
- Jerry Seinfeld (or Larry David) as Garfield; w/ Donald Glover as Jon
- Brad Pitt as Garfield; w/ Will Ferrell as Jon

Please, no. Not the most mediocre, barely-there, safe joke, written-by-committee newspaper comic character in the world...

We're a long way from Lorenzo Music and Lou Rauls being involved with Garfield, and even those shows/movies were only SORTA funny. Seriously, Garfield is a greeting card icon at this point.

I mean, I get it: I loved those long books as a kid too. But this doesn't seem like...anything?? I mean it's fun to talk about it happening, but there's a lot of bitterness in this thread that I just don't get.

I'm not sure what all the negativity is about! I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the Bubsy film starring Chris Pratt this surely heralds.

In all seriousness this is getting absurd.

@lapsariangiraff: If you're going to make a Bubsy film you're going to hire Bobcat Goldthwait OR YOUR'RE NOT MAKING A BUBSY FILM!

Well, now I want Chris Pratt in everything.

I'm much more confused by the concept of a Garfield movie in 2021 than I am by Chris Pratt voicing the lead.

@mrgreenman: Honestly some actors dont like it either. Also they kinda have yes men all around them so most actors become forced into this triple threat of singers actors artists etc. The rock now can not only wrestle he can sing, voice act, etc. The pro voice actors really get the crap end of the stick cause they can really push as show or movie but get second fiddle for pushing the mass appeal to parents who see some Disney movie and think kiddy crap oh the rock's in it..ill watch.

Animation in other locations is more accepted so say japan, voice actors are really important and treated well and get used in movies. Not sure why US isn't like that or how it came to that. Maybe it's culture differences.

Western animation movies did almost exclusively use professional voice actors, but that all changed with Robin Williams in Aladdin. It was a huge hit in large part to his great performance and his star appeal. After that celebrities really started taking over animated films. Just a couple years later we had Tom Hanks and Tim Allen at the height of their fame in Toy Story, and pretty much every major animated film has had celebrities ever since.

@frytup: maybe my memory is failing me but wasn't there a cgi Garfield movie that came out just a couple years ago? Clearly there are producers out there trying their shot with the "cgi funny animal causing problems for dopey bachelor" formula and hoping to strike gold.

@topcyclist: It is actually worth noting that a lot of major original anime movies, like Ghibli films, use "screen actors" as well. There's definitely a bigger culture of not replacing existing VAs unless they die or retire though.

But even the most anime movie, Promare, has 3 traditional movie actors as its leads in Japanese as opposed to the dub which is all professional VAs (and I personally think is better).

@ll_exile_ll: While they didn't turn it into the trend Aladdin did, there were also the Transformers and G.I. Joe movies in the 80s. Orson Welles, Eric Idle, Robert Stack, Judd Nelson, Don Johnson, Burgess Meredith, some real wild celebrity casting in those.

Fair enough, I guess its marketing. That said, most of the time pro VA > celebrity for me. Genie for example is a difference, it all depends on how popular the actor is, will they take direction, am i afraid to give them direction, are they just perfect for the role, ie Genie. etc.

Voice actors and Screen Actors are all in the same union/guild - SAG-AFTRA. The The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, voice actors, radio personalities, etc.

When a tiny percentage of voice actors whine about other actors sealing their jobs - that holds no water even with other voice actors. The people who complain about this most are fans, just because they don't like an actor. Somehow, they think that is a wedge issue where they can safely complain about screen actors by making it seems like and economic hardship or unfair. But, If you don't like an actors - fine don't like them! But don't justify your hate by saying these actors are hurting voice actors.

Being an actor is HARD; and it hard for any actor to get jobs on average. Getting work is 30% luck, 30 talent, and 30% trends that you either fit into or not. Moreover, the actors OWN choices can be a factor too. Some actors who are up for roles turn them down and they that is the biggest hit that allows another actor's career to take off - that happens to voice actors too.