How a comic book within a movie brought Garfield into the superhero genre

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2009, the world of Garfield expanded into the realm of high-stakes science fiction with Garfield's Pet Force. This animated feature blends the familiar comic strip characters with a parallel universe, where a powerful ray gun and a royal wedding on the planet Dorkon threaten the safety of Toon World.

Garfield's Pet Force, released in 2009, serves as the fifth film in the Garfield franchise and the third animated installment. Directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé and written by series creator Jim Davis, the story begins on the planet Dorkon. There, Professor Wally invents the Moscram, a ray gun powered by a Klopman crystal capable of scrambling organisms into new, controllable creatures. The plot thickens when the villainous Vetvix arrives, seeking the device to seize power, forcing the hero Garzooka to flee to the Comic World to recruit counterparts for his team.

The narrative structure is uniquely meta, as the events unfolding in the film are revealed to be part of a comic book that Nermal is reading. The characters discover that the comic pages are blank because the events have yet to occur, creating a race against time. As Vetvix zombifies the residents of Toon World using the Moscram, Garfield—initially mistaken for his superhero counterpart Garzooka—must step up. Alongside his friends Odie, Arlene, and Nermal, who are transformed into their Pet Force versions via special serums, Garfield eventually seizes control of the device to reverse the chaos.

The film was the most profitable in the franchise until 2024, with Brazil standing out as its most successful market, grossing over $2.4 million. Despite its commercial performance, critical reception was mixed; Joly Herman of Common Sense Media awarded it only one out of five stars. It remains a notable piece of franchise history as the final Garfield film distributed by 20th Century Fox, marking the end of an era before the rights shifted to Nickelodeon and later Sony Pictures for the 2024 release, The Garfield Movie.

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