Paramount Plus orders a new Garfield series — a streaming bet built on an old brand’s long, delayed comeback
Paramount Plus has picked up a new original 2D-animated series centered on Garfield, with Emmy-winning actor-comedian Lamorne Morris set to voice the iconic orange cat in a project that has been described as “currently in production. ” The pickup closes a long and winding path that began after Nickelodeon’s then-parent company, Viacom, acquired rights tied to the Garfield property in 2019.
What Paramount Plus is actually buying: a 2D series with new leadership attached
The new series is tentatively titled Garfield and is being produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios. The project is inspired by Jim Davis’ original comic strip and will portray Garfield in a familiar mode: sarcastic and lackadaisical.
Dave H. Johnson and John Trabbic III serve as executive producers. Morris, known for roles including Fargo, has been announced as the voice of Garfield.
The pickup arrives under Paramount’s post Skydance-Paramount merger team led by Cindy Holland, Chair of Direct-to-Consumer at Paramount, and Jane Wiseman, Head of Originals at Paramount+.
Why this series took so long: a 2019 rights deal, corporate change, and a delayed screen path
The project’s origins trace back to 2019, when Viacom acquired the Garfield IP from owners Paws and announced development of a new animated series. The same agreement also put Viacom—described as a predecessor of Paramount—into a role managing the property’s global merchandising rights.
Since that time, Garfield has been integrated into the Paramount Products & Experiences portfolio across categories that span apparel, toys, publishing, food, and pets. The character has also appeared in Nickelodeon game franchises including All-Star Brawl and Kart Racers, where the Mondays-loathing cat was voiced by Frank Welker.
Even with those commercial integrations, the animated series itself moved slowly. It has been characterized as spending seven years in development and production and as having taken “awhile to come together. ” The new pickup now brings that lengthy road to a close.
How Garfield fits into a crowded slate: kids programming, past series, and parallel film plans
This is the first Garfield animated series since Paws’ 2009 The Garfield Show, which ran for five seasons in the U. S. with Welker voicing the title character.
The new series also arrives alongside separate Garfield projects in film. There is an Alcon/Sony 3D CGI animation feature franchise with Chris Pratt as the voice of the cat; The Garfield Movie was released in 2024, and plans for a sequel with Pratt returning have been announced and are moving forward.
Within the streamer’s broader children’s strategy, Garfield is framed as the latest new series pickup at Paramount+ and joins recently ordered animated series The Elephant & Piggie Show! and The Pigeon Show! Starring the Pigeon from Mo Willems’ Hidden Pigeon Company.
Additional animation projects tied to Nickelodeon’s production ecosystem are also in view: Paramount+ has the upcoming film The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, and the 2D series Avatar: Seven Havens was ordered by Nickelodeon a year ago, both associated with Nick Animation’s Avatar Studios banner.
On the live-action side, the streamer has ordered legal drama Discretion starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, limited series 9/12 headlined by Jeremy Strong, and Fear Not starring Anne Hathaway.
Garfield’s underlying brand footprint remains large: since the comic strip launched in 1978, it has chronicled the life of Garfield, Jon Arbuckle, and Odie, and the brand is described as counting over 200 million daily comic readers along with millions of social media followers.
For Paramount Plus, the new order positions a long-lived character as fresh programming while the company continues to build out family offerings, drawing on a rights and merchandising structure established years before the series was ready to reach viewers.
