Jim Davis (cartoonist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jim Davis
Davis in 2010
Born	(1945-07-28) July 28, 1945 (age 80) 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
Signature

James Robert Davis, born on July 28, 1945, is an American cartoonist, writer, and producer. He is most famous for creating the comic strips Garfield and U.S. Acres. Garfield has been published since 1978 and is one of the most popular comic strips around the world. Davis also worked on other comics like Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, and Mr. Potato Head.

Jim Davis wrote or helped write all the Garfield TV specials for CBS. These shows were first shown between 1982 and 1991. He also produced Garfield and Friends, a TV series that aired on CBS from 1988 to 1994. Davis was the writer and executive producer for several computer-animated movies about Garfield. He was also an executive producer for the animated TV series The Garfield Show and Garfield Originals.

About Jim Davis: Early Life and Family

Davis's 1967 yearbook portrait from Ball State University

James Robert Davis was born in Marion, Indiana, on July 28, 1945. He grew up on a small farm in Fairmount, Indiana. His family raised Black Angus cows there. He lived with his father, James William Davis, his mother, Anna Catherine "Betty" Davis, and his brother, Dave.

Jim Davis's childhood on a farm is similar to the life of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle. Jon was also raised on a farm with his family. Jon is also a cartoonist, and his birthday is on July 28, just like Jim Davis.

Education and Early Work

Davis went to Ball State University to study art and business. One of his classmates there was the famous TV host David Letterman. At Ball State, he joined a college club called Theta Xi fraternity.

In 1959, while at Fairmount High School, Davis joined the school newspaper, The Breeze. He became the Art Editor. His first comic strip was featured there, inspired by school life. Davis also drew most of the pictures for his 1963 senior yearbook. He used the same characters from his comics.

Family Life and Home

Jim Davis has been married two times. His first wife was Carolyn Altekruse. She was allergic to cats, so they had a dog named Molly. They have one son together. On July 16, 2000, Davis married Jill. Jill had two children from a previous marriage.

In 2006, Davis started teaching at Ball State University in Muncie. He taught about the creative and business parts of the comic industry.

Davis lives in Albany, Indiana. There, he and his team create Garfield at his company, Paws, Inc.. He started Paws, Inc. in 1981. This company has almost 50 artists and administrators. They manage all the Garfield products, comics, and entertainment around the world.

Davis used to be the president of the FFA chapter in Fairmount, Indiana.

In December 2019, Davis announced that he would sell his hand-drawn Garfield comics. These were the original drawings made from 1978 to 2011. He started drawing comics digitally in 2011 using a special tablet. The older comics were kept safe, and Davis decided to auction them.

Jim Davis's Cartooning Career

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

Creating Gnorm Gnat

Davis then created his own comic strip called Gnorm Gnat. It appeared weekly from 1973 to 1975 in The Pendleton Times newspaper. When Davis tried to sell it to a national comic strip company, an editor told him: "Your art is good, your jokes are great, but bugs—nobody can relate to bugs!"

After this, he started studying other comic strips. He still believed that animals could be funny. He noticed in Peanuts that Snoopy was very popular. Snoopy was even more successful than Charlie Brown. Davis thought there were too many dog comics already. So, he decided to create a cat as the main character for his next comic strip.

The Birth of Garfield

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

From January 1976 to February 1978, Davis published a weekly comic strip called Jon. It appeared in The Pendleton Times. This strip featured a young man named Jon Arbuckle and his lazy, grumpy housecat, Garfield. Garfield became more and more popular with both editors and readers. Because of this, Davis renamed the strip Garfield on September 1, 1977.

Garfield began appearing in 41 newspapers on June 19, 1978. By 2008, it was in 2,580 newspapers and read by 300 million people every day.

Other Comic Strips

In March 1986, Davis started another comic strip called U.S. Acres. Outside the U.S., it was known as Orson's Farm. This strip was about barnyard animals. It was not as successful as Garfield, so it ended on May 1, 1989. Davis's assistant, Brett Koth, helped draw it during its last year.

From 2000 to 2003, Davis and Koth created a comic strip based on the Mr. Potato Head toy.

Helping Kids Learn

Jim Davis founded the Professor Garfield Foundation. This organization helps children improve their reading skills.

Influences and Mentors

Davis was inspired by other cartoonists. These included Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, and Johnny Hart's B.C. Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, became an important mentor to Davis. Davis said that Schulz helped him redesign Garfield into his modern, standing-up form. This change allowed Garfield to do more funny physical actions. They worked on TV specials for their comics in the early 1980s.

Business Ventures

From 1984 to 2001, Davis owned a fancy restaurant in Muncie called Foxfires. He closed it after the main chef left to work somewhere else.

In 2019, Davis sold his company, Paws, Inc., to a large media company called Viacom. A few months later, Viacom joined with CBS Corporation to form ViacomCBS, which is now called Paramount Global.

In 2019, Davis started auctioning off more than 11,000 hand-drawn Garfield comic strips. These were the original drawings from 1978 to 2011. He offered two daily strips for auction each week.

Awards and Recognition

Jim Davis has received many awards for his work.

See also

In Spanish: Jim Davis para niños