Garfield merchandise explained

Garfield merchadise is the merchandise based on the "Garfield" comic strip by Jim Davis. Garfield is one of the world's most prominent and widely syndicated comic strips, and was specifically designed to be marketable.[1] Before the sale of Paws, Inc. in August 2019,[2] all the profits from merchandise went to Paws, Inc., of which Jim Davis is the CEO and founder.[3] The following is a compiled list of selected merchandise based on the franchise.

Books

Compilations

Since 1980, Ballantine Books has published compilations containing reprints of Garfield comic strips as they appeared in newspapers. These books were originally printed in black and white, but Volumes 37 and beyond, as well as reissues of earlier volumes, have been in full color. Each book collects approximately six months of comics, including the Sunday comics (which were in black and white prior to Volume 37).

The titles of these books were styled as double entendres alluding to Garfield's weight. A special edition of a compilation noted rejected book titles throughout the series. These books introduced the "Garfield format" in publishing, whereby the rectangular books are horizontally oriented to match the comic strip dimensions. Davis has recalled having to invent the format to better fit the books on the store shelves. Volumes 37 and beyond introduced a new, larger, square book in full color, showing the Sunday strips to be formatted in their original size as opposed to the smaller book size. This means that the first panel after the logo box (called the drop panel, or throwaway gag) is no longer printed in the compilation books, but are preserved still on the eBook editions.

Each of the original 36 books have been re-released in the new larger format, dubbed "Garfield Classics".

Title Comics YearsRelease Date
June 19, 1978 – January 22, 1979September 16, 1980
Garfield Gains Weight: His Second BookJanuary 23, 1979 – August 26, 1979March 25, 1981
Garfield Bigger Than Life: His Third BookAugust 27, 1979 – March 30, 1980September 8, 1981
Garfield Weighs In: His Fourth BookMarch 31, 1980 – November 2, 1980March 15, 1982
Garfield Takes the Cake: His Fifth Book November 3, 1980 – June 7, 1981June 16, 1982
Garfield Eats His Heart Out: His Sixth Book June 8, 1981 – January 10, 1982February 12, 1983
Garfield Sits Around the House: His Seventh Book January 11, 1982 – August 15, 1982March 10, 1983
Garfield Tips the Scales: His Eighth Book August 16, 1982 – March 20, 1983February 12, 1984
Garfield Loses His Feet: His Ninth BookMarch 21, 1983 – October 23, 1983September 12, 1984
Garfield Makes It Big: His 10th BookOctober 24, 1983 – May 27, 1984February 12, 1985
Garfield Rolls On: His 11th BookMay 28, 1984 – December 30, 1984September 12, 1985
Garfield Out to Lunch: His 12th BookDecember 31, 1984 – August 4, 1985February 12, 1986
Garfield Food for Thought: His 13th BookAugust 5, 1985 – March 9, 1986February 12, 1987
Garfield Swallows His Pride: His 14th BookMarch 10, 1986 – October 12, 1986September 12, 1987
Garfield Worldwide: His 15th BookOctober 13, 1986 – May 17, 1987February 12, 1988
Garfield Rounds Out: His 16th BookMay 18, 1987 – December 19, 1987September 12, 1988
Garfield Chews the Fat: His 17th BookDecember 20, 1987 – July 24, 1988February 18, 1989
Garfield Goes to Waist: His 18th BookJuly 25, 1988 – February 25, 1989February 24, 1990
Garfield Hangs Out: His 19th BookFebruary 26, 1989 – September 30, 1989October 3, 1990
Garfield Takes Up Space: His 20th BookOctober 1, 1989 – May 5, 1990February 13, 1991
Garfield Says a Mouthful: His 21st BookMay 6, 1990 – December 4, 1990September 24, 1991
Garfield By the Pound: His 22nd BookDecember 5, 1990 – July 7, 1991February 25, 1992
Garfield Keeps His Chins Up: His 23rd BookJuly 8, 1991 – February 4, 1992September 8, 1992
Garfield Takes His Licks: His 24th BookFebruary 5, 1992 – September 5, 1992February 10, 1993
Garfield Hits the Big Time: His 25th BookSeptember 6, 1992 – April 10, 1993August 24, 1993
Garfield Pulls His Weight: His 26th BookApril 11, 1993 – November 9, 1993September 20, 1994
Garfield Dishes It Out: His 27th BookNovember 10, 1993 – June 11, 1994February 14, 1995
Garfield Life in the Fat Lane: His 28th BookJune 12, 1994 – January 10, 1995September 26, 1995
Garfield Tons of Fun: His 28th BookJanuary 11, 1995 – August 12, 1995February 13, 1996
Garfield Bigger and Better: His 30th BookAugust 13, 1995 – March 12, 1996September 24, 1996
Garfield Hams It Up: His 31st BookMarch 13, 1996 – October 12, 1996March 11, 1997
Garfield Thinks Big: His 32nd BookOctober 13, 1996 – May 13, 1997October 7, 1997
Garfield Throws His Weight Around: His 33rd BookMay 14, 1997 – December 13, 1997October 6, 1998
Garfield Life to the Fullest: His 34th BookDecember 14, 1997 – July 14, 1998February 22, 1999
Garfield Feeds the Kitty: His 35th BookJuly 15, 1998 – February 13, 1999August 31, 1999
Garfield Hogs the Spotlight: His 36th BookFebruary 14, 1999 – September 11, 1999February 29, 2000
Garfield Beefs Up: His 37th BookSeptember 12, 1999 – April 8, 2000October 3, 2000
Garfield Gets Cookin': His 38th BookApril 9, 2000 – November 6, 2000October 2, 2001
Garfield Eats Crow: His 39th BookNovember 5, 2000 – June 2, 2001January 1, 2003
Garfield Survival of the Fattest: His 40th BookJune 3, 2001 – December 29, 2001February 3, 2004
Garfield Older and Wider: His 41st BookDecember 30, 2001 – July 27, 2002January 25, 2005
Garfield Pigs Out: His 42nd BookJuly 28, 2002 – February 22, 2003February 7, 2006
Garfield Blots Out The Sun: His 43rd BookFebruary 23, 2003 – September 20, 2003January 30, 2007
Garfield Goes Bananas: His 44th BookSeptember 21, 2003 – April 17, 2004August 28, 2007
Garfield Large & In Charge: His 45th BookApril 18, 2004 – November 13, 2004January 29, 2008
Garfield Spills the Beans: His 46th BookNovember 14, 2004 – June 11, 2005September 30, 2008
Garfield Gets His Just Desserts: His 47th BookJune 12, 2005 – January 7, 2006January 27, 2009
Garfield Will Eat For Food: His 48th BookJanuary 8, 2006 – August 5, 2006August 25, 2009
Garfield Weighs His Options: His 49th BookAugust 6, 2006 – March 3, 2007January 26, 2010
Garfield Potbelly of Gold: His 50th BookMarch 4, 2007 – September 29, 2007August 31, 2010
Garfield Shovels It In: His 51st BookSeptember 30, 2007 – April 26, 2008January 25, 2011
Garfield Lard of the Jungle: His 52nd BookApril 27, 2008 – November 22, 2008August 30, 2011
Garfield Brings Home The Bacon: His 53rd BookNovember 23, 2008 – June 20, 2009January 31, 2012
Garfield Gets in a Pickle: His 54th BookJune 21, 2009 – January 16, 2010September 11, 2012
Garfield Sings for His Supper: His 55th BookJanuary 17, 2010 – August 14, 2010March 12, 2013
Garfield Caution: Wide Load: His 56th BookAugust 15, 2010 – March 12, 2011September 10, 2013
Garfield Souped Up: His 57th BookMarch 13, 2011 – October 8, 2011January 28, 2014
Garfield Goes To His Happy Place: His 58th BookOctober 9, 2011 – May 5, 2012August 26, 2014
Garfield the Big Cheese: His 59th BookMay 6, 2012 – December 1, 2012January 27, 2015
Garfield Cleans His Plate: His 60th BookDecember 2, 2012 – June 29, 2013August 25, 2015
Garfield Chickens Out: His 61st BookJune 30, 2013 – January 25, 2014May 10, 2016
Garfield Listens To His Gut: His 62nd BookJanuary 26, 2014 – August 23, 2014December 20, 2016
Garfield Cooks Up Trouble: His 63rd BookAugust 24, 2014 – March 21, 2015June 13, 2017
Garfield Feeds His Face: His 64th BookMarch 22, 2015 – October 17, 2015December 12, 2017
Garfield Eats and Runs: His 65th BookOctober 18, 2015 – May 14, 2016May 15, 2018
Garfield Nutty as a Fruitcake: His 66th BookMay 15, 2016 – December 10, 2016December 11, 2018
Garfield Slurps and Burps: His 67th BookDecember 11, 2016 – July 8, 2017June 11, 2019
Garfield Belly Laughs: His 68th BookJuly 9, 2017 – February 3, 2018December 10, 2019
Garfield Easy as Pie: His 69th BookFebruary 4, 2018 – September 1, 2018July 14, 2020
Garfield Goes Hog Wild: His 70th BookSeptember 2, 2018 – March 30, 2019December 15, 2020
Garfield What Leftovers?: His 71st BookMarch 31, 2019 – October 26, 2019June 15, 2021
Garfield Livin' The Sweet Life: His 72nd BookOctober 27, 2019 – May 23, 2020December 7, 2021
Garfield Road Pizza: His 73rd BookMay 24, 2020 – December 19, 2020June 7, 2022
Garfield Home Cookin: His 74th BookDecember 20, 2020 - July 17, 2021June 6, 2023
Garfield Fully Caffeinated: His 75th BookJuly 18, 2021 – February 12, 2022December 5, 2023
Garfield Donut Disturb: His 76th BookFebruary 13, 2022 – September 10, 2022August 27, 2024
Untitled 77th BookSeptember 11, 2022 - April 8, 20232024
Untitled 78th BookApril 9, 2023 – November 4, 20232025
Untitled 79th BookNovember 5, 2023 - June 1, 20242025
Untitled 80th BookJune 2, 2024 - December 28, 20242026
Untitled 81st BookDecember 29, 2024-TBATBA

Garfield Classics

The Garfield Classics imprint has been in print since 2001, and reprints Garfield's first 36 books in a "remastered" format, with increased page size, bolder lines, and each strip in full-color format.

TitleComics YearsRelease date
June 19, 1978 – January 22, 1979May 29, 2001
Garfield Gains Weight: His Second BookJanuary 23, 1979 – September 22, 1979November 27, 2001
Garfield Bigger Than Life: His Third BookSeptember 23, 1979 – March 30, 1980February 26, 2002
Garfield Weighs In: His Fourth Book March 31, 1980 – November 2, 1980June 25, 2002
Garfield Takes the Cake: His Fifth Book November 3, 1980 – June 7, 1981June 3, 2003
Garfield Eats His Heart Out: His Sixth Book June 8, 1981 – January 10, 1982December 30, 2003
Garfield Sits Around the House: His Seventh Book January 11, 1982 – August 15, 1982December 30, 2003
Garfield Tips the Scales: His Eighth Book August 16, 1982 – March 20, 1983June 29, 2004
Garfield Loses His Feet: His Ninth BookMarch 21, 1983 – October 23, 1983August 31, 2004
Garfield Makes It Big: His 10th BookOctober 24, 1983 – May 27, 1984June 28, 2005
Garfield Rolls On: His 11th BookMay 28, 1984 – December 30, 1984July 26, 2005
Garfield Out to Lunch: His 12th BookDecember 31, 1984 – August 4, 1985April 25, 2006
Garfield Food for Thought: His 13th BookAugust 5, 1985 – March 9, 1986November 28, 2006
Garfield Swallows His Pride: His 14th BookMarch 10, 1986 – October 12, 1986April 17, 2007
Garfield World Wide: His 15th BookOctober 13, 1986 – May 17, 1987June 26, 2007
Garfield Rounds Out: His 16th BookMay 18, 1987 – December 19, 1987June 24, 2008
Garfield Chews the Fat: His 17th BookDecember 20, 1987 – July 24, 1988August 26, 2008
Garfield Goes to Waist: His 18th BookJuly 25, 1988 – February 25, 1989April 28, 2009
Garfield Hangs Out: His 19th BookFebruary 26, 1989 – September 30, 1989June 23, 2009
Garfield Takes Up Space: His 20th BookOctober 1, 1989 – May 5, 1990April 27, 2010
Garfield Says a Mouthful: His 21st BookMay 6, 1990 – December 4, 1990June 22, 2010
Garfield By the Pound: His 22nd BookDecember 5, 1990 – July 6, 1991April 26, 2011
Garfield Keeps His Chins Up: His 23rd BookJuly 7, 1991 – February 4, 1992June 28, 2011
Garfield Takes His Licks: His 24th BookFebruary 5, 1992 – September 5, 1992June 26, 2012
Garfield Hits the Big Time: His 25th BookSeptember 6, 1992 – April 10, 1993May 21, 2013
Garfield Pulls His Weight: His 26th BookApril 11, 1993 – November 9, 1993July 16, 2013
Garfield Dishes It Out: His 27th BookNovember 10, 1993 – June 11, 1994April 29, 2014
Garfield Life in the Fat Lane: His 28th BookJune 12, 1994 – January 10, 1995June 24, 2014
Garfield Tons of Fun: His 29th BookJanuary 11, 1995 – August 12, 1995March 10, 2015
Garfield Bigger and Better: His 30th BookAugust 13, 1995 – March 12, 1996June 30, 2015
Garfield Hams It Up: His 31st BookMarch 13, 1996 – October 12, 1996January 26, 2016
Garfield Thinks Big: His 32nd BookOctober 13, 1996 – May 13, 1997July 19, 2016
Garfield Throws His Weight Around: His 33rd BookMay 14, 1997 – December 13, 1997January 17, 2017
Garfield Life to the Fullest: His 34th BookDecember 14, 1997 – July 14, 1998July 18, 2017
Garfield Feeds the Kitty: His 35th BookJuly 15, 1998 – February 13, 1999January 16, 2018
Garfield Hogs the Spotlight: His 36th BookFebruary 14, 1999 – September 11, 1999July 17, 2018
New books are only available in new larger format starting with book 37#

Garfield Complete Works

Garfield Complete Works is a hardcover collection of Garfield strips, with both black and white (daily) and full-color (Sunday) comics. The first volume includes archival material and an introduction from Garfield creator Jim Davis.

TitleComics YearsRelease date
Garfield Complete Works: Volume 1: 1978 & 1979June 19, 1978 – December 31, 1979September 18, 2018
Garfield Complete Works: Volume 2: 1980 & 1981January 1, 1980 – December 31, 1981March 19, 2019

In the UK, over 60 Garfield books, mainly "Pocket Books" or paperbacks, have been published by Ravette. The format is slightly different, with the strips presented in a vertical style. In the Garfield 20th anniversary book, however, Davis said vertical stacking was the one type of comic anthology layout he wanted to avoid the most when compiling the above collections.

Additionally, adaptations of Garfield television specials have been published in comic format:

Garfield Fat Cat Three Pack

Each Fat Cat volume contains the contents of three successive compilations stacked back-to-back.

There are two types of Fat Cat books, one featuring black and white strips and one featuring full color strips.

Volumes 1 to 12 have been released in black and white, but most have since been reissued in full color.

The black and white strips were published semi-annually up to Vol. 11 (compilations 31–33) in 1999. Since then, the publication schedule has slowed: Vol. 12 (compilations 34–36) was published in 2001, followed by Vol. 13 (compilations 37–39) in 2006.

Black and white strips

Color strips

The first twelve Fat Cat volumes have been reissued in larger, colorized versions. Starting from Fat Cat Vol. 13 (2006), the larger, full-color format of the reissued volumes has also been used.

Treasury

10 Garfield Treasury compilations have been released featuring the Sunday strips in the large color format.

Garfield Treasury was released on June 12, 1984. Features comic strips from: June 25, 1978 to July 13, 1980[4]
The Second Garfield Treasury
The Third Garfield Treasury was released on October 12, 1985
The Fourth Garfield Treasury
The Fifth Garfield Treasury
The Sixth Garfield Treasury
The Seventh Garfield Treasury was released on October 19, 1993. Features comic strips from: February 3, 1991 to March 7, 1993
The Eighth Garfield Treasury was released on October 31, 1995. Features comic strips from: March 14, 1993 to April 16, 1995
The Ninth Garfield Treasury was released on November 11, 1997. Features comic strips from: April 23, 1995 to May 25, 1997
The Tenth Garfield Treasury was released on October 5, 1999. Features comic strips from: May 25, 1997 to July 25, 1999

Others

Early-reader adventure novels featuring Garfield

Garfield's Pet Force, series of early-reader novels:

  1. 1: The Outrageous Origin (1997)
  1. 2: Pie Rat's Revenge (1998)
  1. 3: K-Niner: Dog of Doom (1998)
  1. 4: Menace of the Mutanator (1999)
  1. 5: Attack of the Lethal Lizards (1999)

Garfield Extreme, a series of children's picture books.

Home video releases

VHS

DVD

Blu-Ray

Television

Specials

See main article: Garfield television specials.

Animated series

Video games

Garfield has been featured in video games, beginning with an unreleased Atari 2600 prototype in 1984. Later, an 8-bit Famicom game of Garfield was produced in Japan in 1989. A Garfield game for the Atari 5200 had begun development, but was cancelled when Atari was taken over by Jack Tramiel.[5]

Films

Theatrical films

Direct-to-video films

Crew

RoleTheatrical filmsDirect-to-video films

(2004)
(2006)		The Garfield Movie
(2024)		Garfield Gets Real
(2007)		Garfield's Fun Fest
(2008)		Garfield's Pet Force
(2009)
DirectorPeter HewittTim HillMark DindalMark A.Z. DippéMark A.Z. Dippé
Kyung Ho Lee
ProducerJohn DavisJohn Cohen
Steven P. Wegner
Andrew Kosove
Broderick Johnson
Tom Jacomb
Namit Malhotra		Jim Davis
John Davis		Jim DavisDaniel Chuba
John Davis
Ash R. Shah
WriterJoel Cohen
Alec Sokolow		Paul A. Kaplan Mark Torgove David ReynoldsJim Davis
ComposerChristophe BeckJohn DebneyKenneth Burgomaster
EditorMichael A. Stevenson
Peter Berger		Peter S. ElliotMark KeeferRob NealAaron SeelmanRob Neal
Tom Sanders
Production companiesDavis Entertainment
Paws, Inc.		Alcon Entertainment
DNEG Animation		Davis Entertainment
Paws, Inc.
The Animation Picture Company		Paws, Inc.
The Animation Picture Company
Distributor20th Century FoxSony Pictures Releasing20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Box office performance

FilmUS Release dateBox office grossBox office rankingBudget
Opening weekendNorth AmericaOther territoriesWorldwideAll time
North America		All time
Worldwide
Garfield (2004)June 11, 2004$21,727,611$75,367,693 $132,726,857$208,094,550
  1. 1,140
  1. 858
$50,000,000[11]
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties June 16, 2006$7,288,977$28,426,747$114,899,223$143,325,970
  1. 3,043
  1. 1,272
$60,000,000[12] [13]
Garfield Gets RealAugust 9, 2007$592,974$1,726,453$1,726,453[14]
Garfield's Fun FestAugust 5, 2008$28,695$3,068,511$3,068,511s[15]
Garfield's Pet ForceSeptember 11, 2009$171,280 $11,445,294$11,445,294
  1. 7,193
[16]
Total$$$$$[17]
List indicator(s)
  • A dark grey cell indicates the information is not available for the film.

Figurines and toys

Garfield toys have been produced by Danbury Mint.

Miscellaneous

Promotions

Garfield has been used in multiple promotional campaigns. In 1987 the fast food restaurant McDonald's sold Happy Meal toys, collectible mugs, and a limited edition stuffed Garfield employee. In 2019, it was found that the paint on these mugs contained lead, which exceeded the legal amount on an item intended to be used by children, in addition to high levels of cadmium.[23]

Garfield was used in promotions for the Yum! Brands properties KFC and Taco Bell. In 2000, he was used in a Kid's Meal promotion for Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, where 6 toys were sold. He was used in many promotions for, including 3 Goldfish figures, and 5 Wendy's toys, including a card game, magnet doll, wind up toy, play clock, and a pair of sunglasses. He was also featured in a successful Dairy Queen Kid's Meal promotion, which included 5 toys of Garfield and 1 toy of Odie doing various outside activities. At Kmart, 3 toys were sold in the dining area.

Commercials

References

  1. News: Shapiro . Walter . December 12, 1982 . LIVES: The Cat That Rots the Intellect . March 5, 2023 . Washington post.
  2. Web site: Putting Viacom's Purchase of Garfield in Context . August 6, 2019 . Licensing International . 29 October 2019.
  3. Web site: Cleveland . Carol . It's No Joke: Comic Strips Are Big Business . Los Angeles Times . 6 December 1989 . 29 October 2019.
  4. Web site: Garfield & Friends. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190806184349/https://garfield.com/books/garfield-treasury. August 6, 2019. garfield.com.
  5. Web site: Atari 5200 Rumor Mill . AtariProtos.com . 2021-07-22 .
  6. Web site: Frishberg . Hannah . 2021-11-01 . Garfield set to have same voice as Mario: Chris Pratt . 2022-04-01 . New York Post.
  7. Web site: Grobar . Matt . 2022-05-24 . Samuel L. Jackson Joins Chris Pratt In Alcon Entertainment's 'Garfield' . 2022-05-24 . Deadline . en-US.
  8. Web site: Chapman . Wilson . 2022-08-03 . Chris Pratt's 'Garfield' Sets Release Date for 2024 . 2022-08-08 . Variety . en-US.
  9. Web site: Davis DVD. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20070824033437/http://davisdvd.com/news/dvd.html. August 24, 2007.
  10. Web site: Entertainment, Movie & TV News. Moviefone.
  11. Web site: Garfield: The Movie .
  12. Web site: Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties .
  13. Web site: Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) - Financial Information .
  14. Web site: Garfield Gets Real .
  15. Web site: Garfield's Fun Fest .
  16. Web site: Garfield's Pet Force .
  17. Web site: Movie Franchises and Brands Index. Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. 24 August 2013.
  18. Web site: The Great Garfield Car Window Toy Craze. 27 October 2016.
  19. Web site: Maple Leaf Village Amusement Park - Niagara Falls, Canada - Retro Junk Commercial. Retro Junk.
  20. Web site: Garfield '99: A Round-Up with Teeth. Scouting.
  21. Web site: The Anatomy of a Nightmare: How Garfield Came to Kennywood. 6 June 2020.
  22. News: Garfield phones beach mystery finally solved after 35 years. BBC News. 28 March 2019.
  23. Web site: Rubin . Tamara . 1978 Garfield "It's not a pretty life but somebody has to live it" McDonald's mug: 99,300 ppm Lead (causes brain damage) + 5,833 ppm Cadmium (causes cancer). . Lead Safe Mama . 11 October 2019 . 19 January 2023.
  24. Web site: June 22, 1985 commercials with Solid Gold intro . YouTube . 20 January 2023.
  25. Web site: Cadbury Garfield chocolate commercial Australia 1989 . 5 October 2015 . reddit.com.

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