Garfield

''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide syndication from 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, Odie the dog, and their owner Jon Arbuckle. As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals; the comic held the Guinness World Record for being the world's most widely syndicated comic strip.

Though its setting is rarely mentioned in print, according to the television special ''Happy Birthday, Garfield, Garfield'' takes place in Davis's hometown of Muncie, Indiana. Common themes in the strip include Garfield's laziness and gluttony, as well as his interactions with the other characters.

''Garfield'' has been adapted into various forms of media. Several half-hour television specials aired on CBS between 1982 and 1991, starting with ''Here Comes Garfield'' and ending with ''Garfield Gets a Life''. Also airing on CBS from 1988 to 1994 was the animated series ''Garfield and Friends'', which additionally adapted Davis's comic strip ''U.S. Acres''. All of these featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The feature film ''Garfield: The Movie'' was released in 2004 and ''Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties'' two years later. Both were live-action featuring a computer-animated Garfield voiced by Bill Murray. Another animated TV adaptation, ''The Garfield Show'', aired on France 3 in France and Cartoon Network in the United States from 2009 to 2016. In addition, Garfield has been the subject of merchandise, video games, books, and other spin-off merchandise. The strip has also been re-published in compilations; the first of these, ''Garfield at Large'' (1980), developed what came to be known as the "Garfield format" for re-publication of newspaper comics in book form.

On August 6, 2019, New York City–based Viacom (now Paramount Skydance Corporation) announced that it would acquire Paws, Inc., including most rights to the ''Garfield'' franchise (the comics, merchandise and animated cartoons). The deal did not include the rights to the live-action ''Garfield'' films, which are still owned by The Walt Disney Company through its 20th Century Studios label, as well as ''The Garfield Movie'' (2024), released by Sony Pictures under its Columbia Pictures label. Provided by Wikipedia