Few People Know That Indiana Is The Birthplace Of Garfield, The Original Trending Cat Sensation
Even cartoons have an origin, and Garfield is no different. This lasagna-loving, dog-hating cat is from Muncie, Indiana. Check out how this became Garfield’s birthplace.
Learn about Jim Davis and his best cartoon. Scroll on for more details about everyone’s favorite newspaper comic.
Garfield is known as “The Most Widely Syndicated Comic Strip in the World," and its creator, Jim Davis, is actually from Indiana.
This famous cartoonist was born in Marion and grew up on a farm where there were always stray cats around. He attended Ball State University in Muncie where he studied art and business.
He originally attempted to sell a comic about a bug but the paper he was pitching to didn't like the idea, so he changed it to a more relatable cat character. Davis said it was based on a combination of all his favorite cats from his youth.
Though fans were always meant to think that this cartoon was their neighborhood cat, Garfield's birthplace actually Muncie, which is where the writer went to school and eventually started teaching.
The comic has won numerous awards and Davis has won four Emmy Awards. It has since been turned into TV shows and movies as well as games and other forms of entertainment and franchising.
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
