Garfield makes its return with Sony’s upcoming film The Garfield Movie, debuting in theaters Friday, May 24.  The franchise celebrates 40 years with an intergenerational impact on the culture. Even with the evolution of the nostalgic comic strip character, Garfield extends its relevance through Black culture and music, featuring classic artists like Natalie Cole, James Brown, and now Jon Batiste. Read more and celebrate Garfield’s cultural impact inside.

The beloved franchise has contributed to our communities for 40 years. Sony’s upcoming depiction of the film will connect the beloved cat to younger audiences and make for a must-see family film this Spring. The Garfield Movie stars Chris Pratt, Ving Rhames, Hannah Waddingham, Snoop Dogg and Samuel L. Jackson.

The American comic strip created by Jim Davis was originally published in 1976 as Jon. In 1978, the franchise as we know it became Garfield in a nationwide syndication. Garfield follows a cat, his human owner Jon Arbuckle and Odie the dog. Common themes in the comic 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.

Garfield quickly became a commercial success. By the beginning of 1981, less than three years after its nationwide launch, the strip was in 850 newspapers and had sold over $15 million in merchandise.

As of 2013, Garfield was syndicated in roughly 2,580 newspapers and journals and held the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.

Our beloved furry friend was originally created by Davis with the intention to come up with a “good, marketable character.” Now the world’s most syndicated comic strip has spawned an abundance of merchandise including clothing, toys, games, books, Caribbean cruises, credit cards, dolls, and DVDs of the movies and TV series. In April 2024, Motel 6 announced Garfield as their first “Chief Pet Officer” and Garfield-themed rooms for the release of Sony’s The Garfield Movie. 

Garfield underwent several stylistic changes, evolving from the style of the 1976–83 strips, to a more cartoonish look from 1984 onward. This change has mainly affected Garfield’s design, which underwent a “Darwinian evolution” in which he began walking on his hind legs, slimmed down, and received enlarged eyes.

The franchise has also made cultural movements through music. Legendary artists and music groups like Lou Rawls, The Temptations, Natalie Cole and now Jon Batiste are featured on various Garfield specials throughout time. Singer Natalie Cole shared a throwback from her experience recording the soundtrack for the 1991 Garfield special “Am I Cool or What” alongside Rawls, The Temptations, Patti Labelle, B.B. King and more.

“This week in 1991, the multi-artist album “Garfield: Am I Cool or What?” was released by GRP Records. The album featured NATALIE COLE performing the song “Long ‘Bout Midnight” as well as The Pointer Sisters, @mspattilabelle, #lourawls @bbkingofficial@thetemptations and more,” Cole’s post revealed.

Check out her post below:

Be sure to catch the must-see family film, The Garfield Movie, in theaters May 24.

Watch the trailer below: