Garfield minus Garfield 2
The New York Times comments on the Garfield Minus Garfield cartoons:
Jim Davis, the cartoonist who created “Garfield,” calls himself an occasional reader of the site, which he calls “fascinating.” He says he is flattered rather than peeved by the imitation.
“Some of them really work, and some of them work better,” Mr. Davis said in a telephone interview.
The article got me to thinking about why subtracting Garfield works so well. Cats are aloof, they observe. In the comic, everything is exaggerated, so Jon Arbuckle is pathetically needy, and Garfield is contemptuous.
Meanwhile, in the real world, cat’s don’t talk. This means that Jon’s conversations with Garfield are mostly in Jon’s mind. Jon is really talking to himself. Subtracting Garfield from the comic makes this clear. Jon is not only talking to himself, he’s being insulted by his imaginary friend.
June 6th, 2008 at 1:50 am
In a similar vein, check out this project to redo Hitchcock’s “Birds” with the birds removed. Is this a trend? “King Kong” with the ape removed? “Titanic” with the ship removed … well, that would be a little difficult …
http://www.24oranges.nl/2008/04/19/hitchcocks-the-birds-without-birds/
June 6th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I think “Birds Minus Birds” works for a different reason… the unknown is often more terrifying. I wonder how well these things work with an audience that is unfamiliar with the original.
I think I’ll do a sudoku without fives.