Jim Davis (cartoonist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jim Davis
Davis in 2010
Born	James Robert Davis (1945-07-28) July 28, 1945 (age 79) Marion, Indiana, U.S.
Education	Ball State University
Occupation	Cartoonist television writer television producer screenwriter film producer
Years active	1969–present
Notable work	Garfield (1978–present) U.S. Acres (1986–1989)
Parent(s)	James William Davis Anna Catherine Davis
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James "Jim" Robert Davis (born July 28, 1945) is an American cartoonist, writer, and producer. He is most famous for creating the popular comic strip Garfield. This comic, which started in 1978, is one of the most widely shared comic strips in the world. Jim Davis also created another comic strip called U.S. Acres.

Davis helped write and produce many Garfield TV specials and shows. These include Garfield and Friends and The Garfield Show. He also worked on computer-animated Garfield movies.

About Jim Davis's Early Life

Davis' yearbook photo, 1962

Jim Davis was born in Marion, Indiana, on July 28, 1945. He grew up on a farm in Fairmount, Indiana, with his parents and brother. This farm life was similar to the background of Jon Arbuckle, Garfield's owner, who also grew up on a farm.

Davis went to Ball State University. There, he studied art and business. He even had David Letterman as a fellow student! While in high school, Davis worked on his school newspaper, The Breeze. This is where his first comic drawings appeared.

Jim Davis has been married twice and has a son. Today, he lives in Albany, Indiana. There, he and his team create Garfield comics through his company, Paws, Inc.. This company, started in 1981, has about 50 artists and staff. They help manage all the Garfield comics, products, and entertainment around the world.

In 2006, Davis also became a professor at Ball State University. He taught about the creative and business side of making comics. In 2019, Jim Davis announced he would auction off his original hand-drawn Garfield comics. He explained that since 2011, he has been drawing comics digitally using a computer tablet.

Jim Davis's Cartooning Career

Before creating Garfield, Jim Davis worked for an advertising company. In 1969, he started helping with a comic strip called Tumbleweeds.

He then created his own comic strip called Gnorm Gnat. This comic ran in a local newspaper from 1973 to 1975. When he tried to sell it to bigger newspapers, an editor told him: "Your art is good, your jokes are great, but bugs—nobody can relate to bugs!"

This made Davis think about what kind of characters people loved. He noticed how popular Snoopy was in the Peanuts comic strip. Snoopy was even more popular than his owner, Charlie Brown. Davis decided that animals were funny, but there were already many dog comics. So, he chose to create a cat character for his next comic strip!

The first Jon strip, which ran in the Pendleton Times on January 8, 1976

From 1976 to 1978, Davis published a weekly comic strip called Jon. It starred a young man named Jon Arbuckle and his lazy, sarcastic housecat, Garfield. Garfield quickly became very popular with readers and editors. Because of this, Davis renamed the strip Garfield in 1977.

The Garfield comic strip officially started being published in 41 newspapers on June 19, 1978. By 2008, it was in 2,580 newspapers and read by about 300 million people every day!

In 1986, Davis launched another comic strip called U.S. Acres. Outside the U.S., it was known as Orson's Farm. This strip was about farm animals. It didn't become as successful as Garfield, so it ended in 1989. Davis also created a comic strip based on the Mr. Potato Head toy from 2000 to 2003.

Jim Davis also started the Professor Garfield Foundation. This foundation helps support children's reading skills.

Awards and Recognition

Jim Davis has won many awards for his work. Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Jim Davis para niños