You Ever Notice...and What's the Deal...

[beatnikchick300]

Actually, after watching Season Four on DVD, I think I can kind of see why people have gotten the idea that Heffer is Ambiguously Gay: he seems to like to hug Rocko a little too much, as well as seems so emotionally moved by things Rocko does or says... such as the S.W.A.K. episode, where Heffer reads the love letter Rocko wrote to his mailwoman: Rocko only addresses the letter to his "Mailcarrier", which Heffer was actually doing at the time, so Heffer seems to think the love letter is actually for him, hugging Rocko, and saying, "I think you're special too." Then, of course, there's "Yarnbenders" where in their fairy tale, Heffer is eventually transformed into a princess named CinderHeffer, and he and Prince Rocko are later married in the end. As for Filburt as well, there's that whole, tired, "They argue like an old married couple" stigma that often gets placed on two male characters like that: Ernie and Bert, Shredder and Krang, among others.

But yeah.

I used to wonder why people assume Heterosexual Life Partners are gay, but then I realized it could be connected with the fact that people so often ship Platonic Life Partners (guy and girl best friends), if they don't get a canon relationship upgrade (on a side note, I'd like to see more PLPs minus the relationship upgrade; personally, I think kissing a close guy friend would be like kissing one of my brothers [yuck]).

 

[minor muppetz]

A lot of people criticize the Garfield comic strip for being overly-merchandised, and I think Jim Davis has admitted that he wanted the character to be marketable. But if licensing was really important to Jim Davis, shouldn't there have been more characters in the comic strip?

The main characters are Garfield, Odie, and Jon. There's also Lyman, who I think would qualify as one of the main characters during his time in the strip (then again, the first special was made when Lyman was still in the strip, and he wasn't in any specials). I think Liz would count as a main character now, after being a supporting character for many years, and Nermal would count as a major supporting character. And while Arlene and Irma appear quite a bit, I don't think either is major enough (I can't really think of many strips with Arlene, though she seems to appear in a lot of non-toy Garfield merchandise). And there's Jon's family, who only appear every once in awhile, and Jon's neighbors Herbert and Reba, whose appearances seem to be few-and-far-between and are almost never the stars of the strips they appear in. And there's also the mailman (does he have a name?). Garfield and Friends also has additional characters who either rarely or never appeared in the strip (Binky, The Buddy Bears, the U.S. Acres cast).

And yet most Garfield merchandise is just of Garfield, and sometimes Odie (I was recently reminded of a Garfield Happy Meal toy, which included four Garfield figures). I don't think I've ever seen toys of Nermal or Arlene, and I'm especially sure I've never seen any toys of Jon. What's the deal with that?

 

[Drtooth]

You see Arlene every so often... not that much. Nermal and Arlene both were Pez in the 80's. There's an obscure 90's KFC kid's meal with those two and Jon.... this was the only picture I could find:

 

[charlietheowl]

A lot of people criticize the Garfield comic strip for being overly-merchandised, and I think Jim Davis has admitted that he wanted the character to be marketable. But if licensing was really important to Jim Davis, shouldn't there have been more characters in the comic strip?

I think the merchandising actually contributes to them having a small amount of characters; Garfield is all about GARFIELD, and then there's Odie and Jon and maybe other people. There's no opportunity to worry about "is character X too obscure to get anyone to buy their merchandise" when you only have two, maybe three people, to use.

 

[Drtooth]

That, and the fact that everything is so streamlined that they pretty much manufacture the comics, rather than them being hand written. Which is a shame, since the strip really used to be pretty good. Especially when Jim worked off of sight gags.

 

[mr3urious]

That, and the fact that everything is so streamlined that they pretty much manufacture the comics, rather than them being hand written. Which is a shame, since the strip really used to be pretty good. Especially when Jim worked off of sight gags.

The strip has been in a semi-zombie state for quite a while; Jim Davis still contributes scripts and manages his company as a whole, but other people work on the writing and illustrations.

 

[minor muppetz]

All this talk about Garfield not having a lot of characters makes me think, if Bill Watterson had licensed Calvin and Hobbes, most of the toys would probably be of the title characters.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm sorry, but this bothers me... you know that Knorr Pasta Sides commercial, where that lady adds shrimp, tomatoes, and spinach to a Knorr Pasta Side?

WHY DOESN'T SHE TAKE THE TAILS OFF THE SHRIMP?!! WHAT SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?

 

[minor muppetz]

WHY DOESN'T SHE TAKE THE TAILS OFF THE SHRIMP?!! WHAT SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?

Maybe she's not a real cook. And maybe the whole crew aren't good enough cooks to notice that, either.

 

[D'Snowth]

Of course, then again, I've noticed on commercials for Joe's Crab Shack, they season the crab legs and such... while still in the shells...