Chris Pratt Sounds Like Chris Pratt in Trailer for The Garfield Movie

Please Enjoy Chris Pratt’s Regular Speaking Voice in First Trailer for The Garfield Movie

From some of the same minds that brought you “Mario, except he sounds just like Chris Pratt,” comes the latest development in feature-length animated screen comedy: “Garfield, except he sounds just like Chris Pratt.” Yes, the formerly beloved Parks and Recreation-turned Guardians of the Galaxy star has scored another major voice-acting gig. And yes, he’s apparently tackled that assignment by ignoring all past instances of how that iconic character has been voiced, and simply elected to sound precisely as he always does. Or at least that appears to be the vibe, looking at the newly released first trailer for Sony’s The Garfield Movie, which is scheduled for a May 24, 2024 release.

The first half of said trailer is something of a fakeout, looking as if it will instead be leaning into preciousness and sentimentality by showing how a scared kitten version of Garfield first met the man who is ostensibly his “owner,” Jon Arbuckle. This is a side of Garfield we’ve never really seen before; a more vulnerable and less cynical one, which makes for a pleasant diversion I suppose … but it’s not really recognizably “Garfield,” is it? The character is, after all, defined by his laziness, sarcasm and generally bitter meanspiritedness toward the world. So naturally, The Garfield Movie trailer then snaps forward in time, presenting us with the newly Chris Prattified version of the character, who will apparently encounter his long-lost father according to the official synopsis:

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Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt), the world-famous, Monday-hating, lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father – scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) – Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered life into joining Vic in a hilarious, high-stakes heist.

What is this obsession not just with casting Chris Pratt in animated comedies, but in casting Chris Pratt in roles where the character already has an extremely well-defined vocal style? Mario is supposed to sound high-voiced and comically Italian, thanks to decades of consistent voiceover by the legendary Charles Martinet. Instead, they turned it into Chris Pratt. Garfield is ironically supposed to be almost the opposite–a dour, lethargic, deep and irascible tone established by voice actor Lorenzo Music and then Bill Murray. And instead, he’ll sound … just like Chris Pratt’s Mario. Pratt will now have the distinction of having a voice too dull for Mario, and simultaneously too energetic for Garfield. Really, it’s a feat of determined miscasting.

You can check out the first trailer for The Garfield Movie for yourself below.

Please Enjoy Chris Pratt’s Regular Speaking Voice in First Trailer for The Garfield Movie