Chris Pratt, not content with voicing the world’s favorite plumber, is now bringing his voice to the world’s most famous cat. Pratt will voice Garfield in a new animated movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Details are light on what we’re betting will be a complex character study of the long-running character. David Reynolds (Finding Nemo) is writing the script, which Mark Dindal (Chicken Little) will direct. THR notes that the two previously collaborated on The Emperor’s New Groove.
Pratt’s most recent voice casting has him bringing his voice to Nintendo’s mascot character Mario Mario, in a new movie that features a star-studded cast that includes Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Browser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. Pratt has previously brought his voice to Pixar’s Onward and The Lego Movie.
Garfield debuted a few years before Mario, in 1978, and holds the record as the most widely-syndicated comic strip in the world–that’s over 40 years of eating lasagna and avoiding Mondays. Bill Murray previously voiced the character in Garfield and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties in 2004 and 2006 respectively. Voice actor and writer Lorenzo Music voiced the character in shorts beginning in 1982, and in the long-running Garfield and Friends animated series, which went from 1988 to 1994. In a notable instance of perfect pop-culture symmetry, Music also voiced Murray’s Ghostbusters character, Peter Venkman, in the Real Ghostbusters animated series, which ran from 1986 to 1987.
