Bill Murray Explains “Garfield: The Movie”

Let's start here: I'm a huge Bill Murray fan. From Stripes to Ghostbusters to Groundhog Day to Rushmore to Get Low...it's an impressive body of work. But one film choice (OK, two: "Larger Than Life"? Really?) always has had me scratching my head and asking why. Why lend his talents to "Garfield: The Movie"?

In fact, Murray himself pokes some fun at the film during his cameo in the movie "Zombieland" (Spoiler: this clip ruins one of the best scenes in the film):

Now, thanks to a Reddit "Ask Me Anything", we have a firm answer. Turns out he actually didn't know what he was signing up for:

I had a hilarious experience with Garfield. I only read a few pages of it, and I kind of wanted to do a cartoon movie, because I had looked at the screenplay and it said "Joel Cohen" on it.

And I wasn't thinking clearly, but it was spelled Cohen, not Coen.

I love the Coen brothers movies. I think that Joel Coen is a wonderful comedic mind.

So I didn't really bother to finish the script, I thought "he's great, I'll do it."

Of course, it turns out it really was "Joel Cohen" behind the film, not the Coen brothers of Fargo & Raising Arizona fame.

The full answer to the Garfield question is the longest of the Q&A. In fact, Murray says he did his best to improve the writing and editing of both the first film and the sequel. But, there's only so much even Bill Murray can do.

If you're a Bill Murray fan, many of the other answers are quite insightful as well. Check it out.