New "Garfield" Animated Series Coming to Nickelodeon

[PinkieLopBun]

From what I can see of the Garfield page through Google Cache, there's practically nothing there at the moment... maybe more stuff is visible if you're in the U.S.?

Nope, that’s pretty much all there is.

For the record, garfield.com was still up when I entered it yesterday (felt like reading the birthday strip). So apparently they took it down today.

Actually, I saw people tweeting about it yesterday. Must have happened after you checked.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

*Sigh* I keep forgetting about this thread.

A lot of us on the Garfield Wiki noticed the event yesterday, with one user writing a blog post about it (including reflections and grievances). According to said user, the website "briefly went under maintenance for about 20 minutes" when checked yesterday; after a while waiting, the user found the Nick splash page. Further research confirmed that the site as we knew it was done away with.

Adding insult to injury is the apparent fact that it came without warning. A really nasty surprise for many who wanted to check the 42nd birthday strip, or play any of the Flash games (which are among the things being missed the most, the comic strips being another).

I want to say that while the site hasn't gotten a lot of updates lately (e.g. the last news update was in the spring of 2018), this still wasn't a pleasant surprise. And yes, I've commented about it on Twitter (under my new handle "Overgrown Vacuum Cleaner").

 

[Mesterius]

*Sigh* I keep forgetting about this thread.

A lot of us on the Garfield Wiki noticed the event yesterday, with one user writing a blog post about it (including reflections and grievances). According to said user, the website "briefly went under maintenance for about 20 minutes" when checked yesterday; after a while waiting, the user found the Nick splash page. Further research confirmed that the site as we knew it was done away with.

Adding insult to injury is the apparent fact that it came without warning. A really nasty surprise for many who wanted to check the 42nd birthday strip, or play any of the Flash games (which are among the things being missed the most, the comic strips being another).

I want to say that while the site hasn't gotten a lot of updates lately (e.g. the last news update was in the spring of 2018), this still wasn't a pleasant surprise. And yes, I've commented about it on Twitter (under my new handle "Overgrown Vacuum Cleaner").

Uh, actually, the last posted news update is from spring 2019. Pretty logical as Garfield was sold to Viacom shortly afterwards. But I really wonder if all the games on the site will turn up again in the future.

Oh well. It's time to play BEAN ME!

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

Uh, actually, the last posted news update is from spring 2019. Pretty logical as Garfield was sold to Viacom shortly afterwards. But I really wonder if all the games on the site will turn up again in the future.

Oh well. It's time to play BEAN ME!

After a long while, it kind of bleeds in.

I also suspect that things getting quiet may be linked to the circumstances that led to the Viacom acquisition.

The point about the dearth of recent updates (be it 2018 or 2019) was that the site already seemed low priority (comics and games not withstanding). And of course it has to do with Nickelodeon, especially given the splash page that now occupies garfield.com. But that doesn't mean no one cares about it disappearing.

And of course I remember Bean Me!

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Does this mean the entire strip archive is gone too?

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Does this mean the entire strip archive is gone too?

GoComics usually archives strips. Check there. U.S. Acres strips might've been archived there too, since Jim Davis also created said comic strip.

EDIT: Nevermind, GoComics doesn’t have U.S. Acres. Bummer.

 

[Mesterius]

GoComics usually archives strips. Check there. U.S. Acres strips might've been archived there too, since Jim Davis also created said comic strip.

From what I understand, U.S. Acres was dropped from GoComics several months ago. Wouldn't be surprised if that, too, was connected to the Viacom purchase.

Also, the final few months of the strip were never released on GoComics. They were only available in black-and-white on garfield.com.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

I kept putting off checking out the U.S. Acres comics, probably since I wanted to wait to see them all in one go (or at least manageable chunks).

I do have two of the five comic book comps that were released in America back then- Rules the Roost and Runs Amuck. And yes, I know those lack the final batch of comic strips.

 

[Red Arrow]

Yup, garfield.com now redirects to nick.com/garfield. Garfield's entire homepage, active since 1996, is completely gone. What's worse, Nickelodeon's own Garfield site is apparently only accessible to people in the U.S. I'm in Norway, and got redirected to the front page of the Norwegian nickelodeon.no immediately. (From what I can see of the Garfield page through Google Cache, there's practically nothing there at the moment... maybe more stuff is visible if you're in the U.S.?)

I got redirected to nickelodeon.nl
However, gocomics works fine in Belgium: Garfield by Jim Davis for June 21, 2020 | GoComics.com
The entire archive is available. Unfortunately, the "search" function is gone

 

[Mesterius]

I got redirected to nickelodeon.nl
However, gocomics works fine in Belgium: Garfield by Jim Davis for June 21, 2020 | GoComics.com
The entire archive is available. Unfortunately, the "search" function is gone

Also, the colors in the strips on GoComics are quite under-saturated compared with how they looked on garfield.com. I much preferred reading the strips there (even if it could be fun at times to check GoComics to see what people were saying about them).

(So... GoComics had a search function on the strips for a while, like garfield.com did? I don't think I noticed.)

 

[Mesterius]

I kept putting off checking out the U.S. Acres comics, probably since I wanted to wait to see them all in one go (or at least manageable chunks).

I do have two of the five comic book comps that were released in America back then- Rules the Roost and Runs Amuck. And yes, I know those lack the final batch of comic strips.

Well, the whole strip had been available for several years. Though they never got around to coloring the final months. Maybe it had some connection to GoComics apparently not being interested in running them.

Speaking of coloring, I really wish Paws had kept the original colors (as well as opening panels) on the Sunday strips. Same with the Garfield Sundays, where all the older strips have also been newly recolored. This is the kind of revision I don't care much for where newspaper strips are concerned.

 

[Mesterius]

So, Professor Garfield is still up, meaning that the Sheep Shot game is still officially available (and playable at least on Internet Explorer). I was just gonna look at the visuals for a few seconds, but of course, the moment the game started I was hooked again... had to make sure Garfield got enough sleep over the weekend.

After a long while, it kind of bleeds in.

I also suspect that things getting quiet may be linked to the circumstances that led to the Viacom acquisition.

The point about the dearth of recent updates (be it 2018 or 2019) was that the site already seemed low priority (comics and games not withstanding). And of course it has to do with Nickelodeon, especially given the splash page that now occupies garfield.com. But that doesn't mean no one cares about it disappearing.

And of course I remember Bean Me!

I see you edited your comment. Well, of course a lot of people care about the site disappearing. But my point is, it very much makes sense that the end of news updates came about specifically in April 2019... because at that time, negotiations with Viacom to buy Garfield were probably well underway. Big business deals like these are always worked out long in advance of telling anything to the public. And of course, the old Paws crew probably didn't see much point in maintaining the news updates once they knew that Garfield (and Paws) was going to be sold to another company.

I'm not sure in which other ways the site was low priority prior to that point, though it was probably a while since any new games had been added.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

I see you edited your comment. Well, of course a lot of people care about the site disappearing. But my point is, it very much makes sense that the end of news updates came about specifically in April 2019... because at that time, negotiations with Viacom to buy Garfield were probably well underway. Big business deals like these are always worked out long in advance of telling anything to the public. And of course, the old Paws crew probably didn't see much point in maintaining the news updates once they knew that Garfield (and Paws) was going to be sold to another company.

I'm not sure in which other ways the site was low priority prior to that point, though it was probably a while since any new games had been added.

My point there was simply that things were slowing down on that site. Saying 2018 was a mistake on my part (and I explained why I thought it was that year), but doesn't really change what I said in that post. You took a minor detail there to discuss your interpretation of what was going on. Which is fine, but you seem to be trying to tell me something I don't know/couldn't figure out.

Yes, the last news update actually happening in 2019 would be no coincidence in regards to the Viacom deal, if that's all you're trying to tell me. But even before then, I would still say the site was not bustling with activity (new comics aside) before then. I don't know what exactly the status of Paws, Inc. was pre-Viacom, but I imagine it would have compelled them (Paws) to eventually make such a deal.

 

[Moleoman]

I've noticed that Mediatoon's site has recently added Nickelodeon as major broadcaster for "The Garfield Show" and "Garfield Originals":

Garfield Originals - Mediatoon Distribution

www.mediatoon-distribution.com

The Garfield Show - Mediatoon Distribution

www.mediatoon-distribution.com

At least in case of "The Garfield Show" the Nick logo wasn't there by December 2019: The Garfield Show

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

I've noticed that Mediatoon's site has recently added Nickelodeon as major broadcaster for "The Garfield Show" and "Garfield Originals":

Garfield Originals - Mediatoon Distribution

www.mediatoon-distribution.com

The Garfield Show - Mediatoon Distribution

www.mediatoon-distribution.com

At least in case of "The Garfield Show" the Nick logo wasn't there by December 2019: The Garfield Show

Wouldn't be surprised if Nickelodeon and/or Nicktoons starts airing them here in the U.S. Especially since TGS hasn't played anywhere here since Boomerang last aired it on December 30, 2016. Not sure how Originals will start out in the U.S., but Nick-anything will not be a surprise.

 

[Red Arrow]

(So... GoComics had a search function on the strips for a while, like garfield.com did? I don't think I noticed.)

I don't know. I meant that garfield.com had a search function and GoComics currently doesn't.

 

[dragoonanime]

I really hate that Nick has control over Garfield. I am glad that another company has the rights to put Garfield and Friends on DVD.

 

[Mesterius]

I really hate that Nick has control over Garfield. I am glad that another company has the rights to put Garfield and Friends on DVD.

Yeah, great that they're releasing the show to DVD in cropped widescreen with a massacred intro sequence.

The worst part is that the HD "remastering" of Garfield and Friends was done completely under Paws' supervision. Glenn Zimmerman animated the digital cut-out remake of the "Friends Are There" intro. Frankly, it's kind of hard to believe how bad the show was treated.

Hopefully (though I'm not sure how likely it is), Viacom will treat the library of 80s and 90s cartoons better in the future.

 

[Low Spark of Lyman]

I didn't think Garfield could easily go wrong with Flash, judging by some previous projects. Then again, said projects weren't usually (if ever) remakes of sequences originally hand-drawn.

For all I wish about Garfield with Nickelodeon, I'd rather be cautious on predicting what they'll do.

 

[Mesterius]

I didn't think Garfield could easily go wrong with Flash, judging by some previous projects. Then again, said projects weren't usually (if ever) remakes of sequences originally hand-drawn.

That intro is THE worst. They should just have upscaled the original to HD if they didn't have film elements preserved.