The Garfield Show

NAME: The Garfield Show

ORIGIN: In the mid 1970s, Jim Davis, inspired by the cats he had grown up with on the family farm, created a fat, lazy, stubborn, sarcastic cat, Garfield, named after his grandfather James A. Garfield Davis. On June 19, 1978, the Garfield comic strip made its debut in 41 newspapers. By 1982, Garfield had appeared in 1,000 publications. Today, more than 2,400 newspapers carry the strip and Guinness World Records has declared it the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world. An estimated 200 million people read Garfield each day. The franchise has since been extended with merchandise and online content, as well as two blockbuster feature films.

In 1984, Dargaud started publishing Garfield comic books in France. The producer Dargaud Media contacted Jim Davis almost three years ago for a new Garfield animated series for television. The result is the brand-new CGI series The Garfield Show.

DISTRIBUTOR: Mediatoon Distribution, division of Dargaud, has the worldwide rights for TV, video, new media and certain licensing rights.

TRAILER: Click here to view a clip.

PRODUCER: Dargaud Media is producing the series in its Paris studios. The series is directed by Philippe Vidal.

TV SHOW: The series consists of 52 11-minute CGI episodes, shot in HD. The target audiences is kids aged 6-plus. The series is still in production and full delivery is scheduled for Q3 2009.

DESCRIPTION: Garfield is a lazy, selfish, overweight, orange tabby cat whose main hobbies are chilling out, sleeping, watching TV and having fun…but yet he has a heart of gold and if at first he shows his usual self-centered side, thanks to his ingenuity he manages to save the day and gets even Odie out of trouble.

This new TV show offers a fresh and funny look at Garfield’s day-to-day life, blending the modern look of CGI animation and familiar humor of Garfield, Odie and Jon Arbuckle.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jim Davis

MAIN BROADCASTERS: France 3, Cartoon Network U.K. and Rede Record in Brazil.

MERCHANDISE: The Game Factory has bought the worldwide licensing rights to develop video games based on the series. In addition, there’s a publishing program for activity books, coloring books, stickers and albums. In the works for this year is a fast-food promotion in France. There is also a dedicated website with games, activities and stories at www.thegarfieldshow.com.

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: Launched successfully on Toowam (the youth programming block on France 3) last December, the series has been airing twice a week and scoring top ratings in the 4-to-10 set with a 43.1 percent share. The Garfield Show will be launching on Cartoon Network U.K. in May. Also launching the show this year are Cartoon Network Europe, Australasia, Latin America and the Middle East.

With these major territories in place, Mediatoon is now targeting other European partners, such as Italy, Spain, Germany, as well as Asia. The U.S. is also a key priority.