Happy Chapman - Garfield

Background information on the film:

Garfield the movie, which came out in 2004, and it was directed by Peter Hewitt, produced by John Davis, John Kilkenny, Michele Imperato, Brian Manis and Neil Machlis. The film was made in America and was released on June 11th 2004 and made just under 200 million dollars. Although the film made a lot of money, it was received badly and has been given many bad awards such as the rotten tomato award. The film stars Bill Murray, Breckin Meyer, Mac Davis, Anne Murray, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Stephen Tobolowsky who plays the intriguing character of Happy Chapman. 

Happy Chapman's personality in the film is mainly represented through the use of mise-en-scene. The characters body langauge, shows his personality as being rather humerous for the audience ecspecialy the children who watch it. However he also has a sinister side as his face always has sarcastic overtone, this can scare children but it adds to the humour as he can change personality rapid. The use of the micro features in the film are used to show Happy Chapman's lust for success and general insanity through the use of close ups on his face to show how Happy identifies situations.

The character himself has a moral behind him as he doen't like the other charcaters in the film as none of them please him and he also thinks they are below him because he is reasonably wealthy yet he still wants more. The use of body language is used to show Happy Chapman's personality, as rather blunt but funny for children to watch. The film also indicate the importance of family and friendship, as Happy Chapman is a lonely, sour character. 

Happy Chapman also appears as funnier for young children with the way he dresses and acts. The film uses lots of colours in the form of Garfield as he is a bright orange cat contrasting with the rest of the cast to show he is different and the CGI makes the film appeal to younger veiwers and made it look more realistic. 


The film is certificate U as I think it contains no sexual references, no swearing and violence is shown as the only outcome in some cases, none of which is shown. I would agree with this certificate as the language in the film is suitable for the target audience.