New Garfield Animated Series on The Way!

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New Garfield Animated Series on The Way!

Post by Daniel » February 2nd, 2007, 4:15 pm

From Toon Zone:
Writer Mark Evanier has posted a release from Paws, Inc., announcing that a new Garfield animated series is in the works . Evanier confirmed the release's statement that he will write the series, and further stated that he will be voice directing as well. There is no information at this time about when the series will debut or in which markets it will be available.
Here's what Mark wrote:
The Cat Comes Back

People sometimes ask what I'm working on. Okay, so most of them are people to whom I owe money. The point is that they ask. In a week or so here, I'll announce another project that I have in the works...something involving a comic book artist with the initials "J.K." In the meantime, the folks at Paws, Inc., makers of all things Garfield, today put out the following press-type release...

Paws, Inc. is thrilled to announce that they have entered into an agreement for Dargaud Marina S.A. (Paris, France) to produce and distribute a new fully animated half-hour television series beginning with 26 episodes for the first season.

The series will be produced in the English and French languages, and animated in CGI with 3D tools. The television programming is intended for worldwide distribution.

Mark Evanier will write the series in collaboration with French nationalist writers. Evanier wrote the highly successful Garfield and Friends series. Garfield and Friends started its first season on CBS-TV in 1988. The half-hour program was so popular, it was expanded to one hour for the second season. Garfield and Friends stayed at the top of the ratings chart for Saturday morning shows for 7 years. In fact, the show was the most popular children's program on television in 1993, with an audience that was 40% adult.

The new series will be animated and produced by Ellipsanime, under the direction of Robert Réa, Director General, and Philippe Vidal, creative director.

Paws has worked with Dargaud Editeur S.A., managed by Claude de Saint Vincent, on Garfield books, albums, journals, calendars, etc., for over 24 years.

Before anyone asks: I have no idea where or when you'll be able to see these cartoons. I haven't even written the first one yet. I will be voice directing, as well. Yes, the new voice of Garfield has been selected. No, it is not Bill Murray and no, Garfield will not look look like he does in those movies. He'll look more like he did in his other cartoon appearances. Also, no, I'm not listening to voice demos for non-recurring parts at this time. And you now know almost as much about this show as I do. I'll post more details here if and when there are any.
This is exiting news! I'm a HUGE fan of the original Tv series, and with the original writer on board, I'm sure it will be a delight! :)

And yes, different CG! :D

And lastly, I hope they find a great sound-alike for Garfield!...... Please!!

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Post by Meg » February 2nd, 2007, 5:39 pm

Ewww, CG? That's like deciding to do a 3D Charlie Brown special. Blech.

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Post by Daniel » February 2nd, 2007, 6:11 pm

Is it any surprise? Garfields been CG for two theatrical movies, so why follow that up with a new 2d cartoon? Yes, it would be nice, but again its his decision, and he was the one who wrote the original series.

I'm a little dissapointed, but willing to hold judgment, until I actually see what the show looks like.

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Post by YCougar » February 3rd, 2007, 1:20 pm

But who will voice Garfield? His voice back in the '80s was perfect...

At least it won't be Bill Murray. Not too sure about the CG... the style in which Garfield is drawn would look strange in three dimensions, I think. :\
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Post by eddievalient » February 3rd, 2007, 1:34 pm

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I am a huge Garfield fanatic (I even liked the first movie, but haven't seen the second one yet), so on the one hand this is great news for me. On the other hand....ENOUGH WITH THE CG ALREADY!!! Geez, doesn't anyone care about hand drawn animation anymore? IMO that's what's wrong with the industry right now. Everyone is so fixated on CG that they don't see that it's just not the right choice for every project. WB and Marvel understand this, that's why all their DTVs are traditional. In some cases, it just works a lot better.
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Post by Daniel » February 3rd, 2007, 3:59 pm

As the article said, YCougar, the voices have been chosen, but have yet to be revealed. (darnit)

Needless to say, the main reason why I loved the original series, was because of Garfields original Va. I don't know why, but everytime he delivered a joke, it was just priceless! :) That, is gonna be one hard task for the new guy to follow. But I'm sure, he'll be heck of a lot better than Murray!

I see what you mean, eddie. And in way, I agree with you. I'm just happy, that Garfield is at least coming back! :P

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Post by ShyViolet » February 9th, 2007, 6:24 pm

Daniel wrote:Needless to say, the main reason why I loved the original series, was because of Garfields original Va. I don't know why, but everytime he delivered a joke, it was just priceless! :) That, is gonna be one hard task for the new guy to follow. But I'm sure, he'll be heck of a lot better than Murray!
I liked the other characters too (remember, it was "Garfield and Friends")
Remember that pig guy Orson and his mean older brothers, the little chick and his brother who was still just an egg and never hatched? :P

Are they going to bring them back as well?
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Post by Daniel » February 9th, 2007, 9:48 pm

Yeah, I remember all those characters. Do you remember the rooster, the two sheep, and Wade the duck, who always wore a floaty? :lol: Good times!

I really hope they bring back U.S. Acres. A Garfield cartoon, wouldn't be the same without them. Its like Rocky and Bullwinkle, without Fractured Fairy Tales. It just wouldn't be the same.

Btw, can you picture them in CG? Its both weired and cool!

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Garfield Gets Real

Post by eddievalient » September 16th, 2007, 8:56 pm

There's a new Garfield movie coming out, but it's not a sequel to the live action ones. Garfield Gets Real is a DTV CGI film written by creator Jim Davis (who's last contribution to Garfield animation was the enjoyable but less-than-stellar Garfield Gets A Life). According to wikipedia, in the film Garfield is aware of being a comic strip character and gets tired of it, breaking free into the real world. While living a normal life as a normal housecat, he finds out that if he doesn't return, the strip will be cancelled. Thus he must find a way back. Also, the film's storyline will provide a peek into how the comic strip business works. Currently, the release date is set as Nov. 20th.

I've always been a huge Garfield nut so this is good news for fans like me. I only hope they managed to find a voice for Garfield that succeeeds the inimitable Lorenzo Music as well as Bill Murray did. My take on this is that when they decided to make the new Garfield tv series in CGI, they decided to make this film first to make sure that the world of the strip would translate to 3D. Speculation of course, but it would make total sense.
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Post by Ben » September 17th, 2007, 7:02 am

Interesting. Even from the premise this has more spark than either of the two movies.

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Post by Dacey » September 23rd, 2007, 2:12 pm

Is this for real though? It sounds like it could be fake.
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Post by Ben » September 23rd, 2007, 3:22 pm

Yep, it's for real:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1059793/


Director Mark Dippe was, like Spaz Williams, an FX whizz at ILM before moving into directing. While Spaz was famous for the Jurassic dinos, Dippe perfected the techniques for the water creatures in The Abyss, and a certain terminating killing machine for another James Cameron movie.

Frank Welker is listed as Garfield...could work.

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Post by Dacey » September 23rd, 2007, 5:52 pm

Wow. They have the cover art up and everything there.

I'm very curious to see how this is done.
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Post by Daniel » September 23rd, 2007, 8:57 pm

Not exactly how I pictured it, but the look is a lot closer to the original cartoon, so that's a major plus.

Frank Welker as Garfield, eh? If its true, than I'm happy. :)

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Post by Dacey » September 25th, 2007, 7:18 pm

The big plus-factor for me is that Jim Davis wrote it. :)
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