Editing Garfield (section)

{{Short description|Comic strip created by Jim Davis}}
{{About|the comic strip|the title character|Garfield (character)|the U.S. president|James A. Garfield|other uses}}
{{Pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox comic strip
|title=Garfield
|image=Garfieldand friends.png
|caption=Center: [[Garfield (character)|Garfield]] (clockwise from bottom-left: [[Nermal]], [[Odie]], [[Arlene (Garfield character)|Arlene]], and [[Pooky (Garfield character)|Pooky]])
|alt = An illustration of the characters in the comic strip ''Garfield''.
|author=[[Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis]]
|owner= [[Paws, Inc.]]<br>{{small|([[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom]]) (2019–2022)}}<br>{{small|([[Paramount Global]]) (since 2022)}}
|website=[https://www.nick.com/garfield www.nick.com/garfield]<br />[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield www.gocomics.com/garfield]
|rss=
|atom=
|status=Running/daily
|first={{Start date and age|1978|6|19}}
|syndicate=[[Universal Press Syndicate]]/[[Universal Uclick]]/[[Andrews McMeel Syndication]] (1994–present)<br />[[United Feature Syndicate]] (1978–1994)
|publisher=[[Random House]] (under [[Ballantine Books]]), occasionally [[Andrews McMeel Publishing]]
|genre=[[Gag-a-day]]<br />[[Humor comics|Humor]]
|preceded by=Jon ''(1976–1977) and ''Garfield ''(1977–1978), locally published strips in the ''Pendleton Times-Post
}}

'''''Garfield''''' is an American [[comic strip]] created by [[Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis]]. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide [[Print syndication|syndication]] from 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character [[Garfield (character)|Garfield]] the cat, [[Odie]] the dog, and their owner [[Jon Arbuckle]]. As of 2013, it was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and [[Magazine|journals]]; the comic held the [[Guinness World Record]] for being the world's most widely [[Print syndication|syndicated]] comic strip.<ref name="BW1">{{Cite news|title=Garfield Named World's Most Syndicated Comic Strip.|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Jan_22/ai_82001296|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040910215254/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Jan_22/ai_82001296|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 10, 2004|access-date=July 26, 2008|publisher=[[Business Wire]]|date=January 22, 2002}}</ref>

Though its setting is rarely mentioned in print, ''Garfield'' takes place in Davis's hometown of [[Muncie, Indiana]], according to the television special ''[[Happy Birthday, Garfield]]''. Common themes in the strip include Garfield's laziness, obsessive eating, love of coffee and lasagna, disdain of Mondays, and dieting. Garfield is also shown to manipulate people to get whatever he wants. The strip's focus is mostly on the interactions among Garfield, Jon, and Odie, but other recurring characters appear as well.

''Garfield'' has been adapted into various other forms of media. Several [[Garfield television specials|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 other 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 (2005–2019)|Viacom]] (now [[Paramount Global]]) 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,<ref>{{cite web|last=Mullin|first=Benjamin|title=Viacom, Hungry For Hits, Gobbles Garfield|url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/viacom-hungry-for-hits-gobbles-up-garfield-11565107200|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=2019-08-06|access-date=2019-08-12|df=mdy-all}}</ref> 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.<ref name="collider_com">{{cite web |last=O'Rourke |first=Ryan |date=September 16, 2022 |title=''Garfield'' Release Date Moved to Spring 2024 |url=https://collider.com/garfield-release-date-change-chris-pratt/ |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=Collider}}</ref> As of 2025, Davis continues to make comics, and a new animated series is in production for Paramount Global subsidiary [[Nickelodeon]].<ref name="Steinberg">{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/garfield-nickelodedon-licensing-rights-viacom-1203293468/|title=Viacom Acquires Comic-Strip Cat Garfield|first=Brian|last=Steinberg|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=August 6, 2019|date=August 6, 2019}}</ref>