Monday, 18 June 2012 –LONDON –Bulldog Licensing – UK representative for the Garfield brand – has announced that the legendary cartoon cat will soon be making his debut on leading print on demand greetings site Moonpig.
As one of the world’s most recognizable characters, Garfield needs little introduction – the cartoon strip featuring the acerbic pet cat was first introduced in 1978 and is now featured in over 2300 newspapers across the globe, holding the Guinness World Record for the most syndicated cartoon strip, whilst Garfield books have sold in excess of 135 million copies to date. Garfield has also spawned two animated television series, two feature-length live-action films, and three CGI animated movies – as well as thousands of lines of Garfield licensed merchandise. Garfield is hugely popular in the UK – the cartoon strip appears every day in the Daily Mail, the country’s second most popular newspaper with a circulation of nearly 2 million, and ‘The Garfield Show’ cartoon is one of the top-rating shows on digital channel Boomerang.
By moving into personalized greetings cards, Garfield will soon be adding his unique brand of humor and instantly recognizable appearance to the range of leading character brands on Moonpig. The agreement adds to a strong licensing program for the brand that includes, amongst others, Blues Clothing, Brand Alliance and Silverknit for apparel, Sert MST for pet products, Whitehouse for amusement plush and Smiffys for dress up.
“We are delighted with this new deal,” says Bulldog MD Rob Corney, “Garfield is one of the world’s most iconic characters – the combination of super-smart one liners and hugely appealing visuals makes the brand an absolutely perfect fit for greetings and it is great to have a major player like Moonpig on board!”
About GARFIELD
GARFIELD was born on the comics pages on June 19, 1978. The mastermind of cartoonist Jim Davis, GARFIELD is a humorous strip centered on the lives of a fat, lazy, cynical orange cat who loves lasagna, coffee, and his remote control; Jon Arbuckle, his owner; and Odie, a sweet but dumb dog. GARFIELD was introduced to the world in just 41 newspapers and is now the most widely syndicated comic strip ever, appearing in 2400 newspapers.
The success of the comic strip spawned a popular animated TV show, Garfield and Friends, which appeared on CBS-TV from 1988 to 1995, and is currently in worldwide syndication. In 2009, The Garfield Show debuted on Cartoon Network USA and now airs in 135 countries. PEOPLE magazine called the show, “One of the Year’s Best New Kids’ Shows” in 2009.
In 2004, Twentieth Century Fox invited Garfield to star in his first-ever full-length feature film, Garfield: The Movie. A sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties was released in June 2006. The movies earned over $340 million at the box office. Garfield has also starred in three CGI animated movies, all penned by Jim Davis. Fox released Garfield Gets Real (2007), Garfield’s Fun Fest (2008), and Garfield’s Pet Force (2009) on DVD and in limited theatrical release.
Garfield also entertains his fans on a popular web site, garfield.com, and engages kids in interesting and pedagogically sound activities to promote literacy at professorgarfield.org. English, Science and Life Skills are among the topics Garfield and his pals address at learninglab.org, a public service of the Virginia Department of Education.
Garfield has long been considered a “classic” or “evergreen” property because he has not only endured, but continues to be fresh and funny after over 30 years in the limelight.
Follow Garfield, along with 3.5 million other fans, on Facebook (facebook.com/Garfield) and Twitter (twitter.com/Garfield).
About Paws, Inc.
Cartoonist Jim Davis’ company, Paws, Inc., located near Albany, Indiana, was founded in 1981 to handle the creative end of the Garfield licensing business. Today, Paws is the sole owner of all copyrights and trademarks for the Garfield property, and controls not only the creative angle of the fat cat’s flourishing empire, but also the licensing, marketing, and brand management of Garfield and the Garfield characters.
About BULLDOG LICENSING LIMITED
Bulldog is one of the leading UK-based licensing agencies and represents high profile brands ranging from Gogo’s Crazy Bones through to the BBC’s Mr Bloom’s Nursery and hit UK fashion icon Monkey on behalf of top UK charity, Comic Relief. Over its five years, Bulldog has received a number of plaudits including a nomination from Kidscreen for Licensing Agency of the Year (2010), a LIMA nomination for Best Character Toy/Brand Program of the Year 2009 and a nomination from the UK Licensing Awards for Best Marketing Communications Programme.
For further information please contact:
Jane Garner & Sallie Deary
jgarner@kilog.co.uk / sdeary@kilog.co.uk
kilogrammedia
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brent pelham
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t + 44 ( 0 ) 1279 778 919
f + 44 ( 0 ) 1279 778 929
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Kim Campbell
Director of Public Relations
Paws, Inc.
765.287.2364