Hey guys! I know this is my first blog post here, but I have some important info to share with you all! In fact, it's just as twisty as a cat chasing its tail. (A CAT, not Odie.)
You might have felt a bit confused by the developments surrounding the rights to Garfield and Friends. Remember back on May 25, 2016 when 9 Story Media Group (now part of Scholastic) announced that they "acquired Garfield and Friends, the classic animated series from Mendelson/Paws Productions"? Well, I wasn't happy about it, to be honest. And when the HD "remasters" of the series came out, I knew where this was headed.
And I wasn't alone: a lots of fans like you are very frustrated with how 9 Story handled the "restoration" process. Instead of preserving the series the way we remember it, they managed to crop it from its original 4:3 aspect ratio to a 16:9 format that feels a bit like giving Garfield a diet plan -- unnecessary and DOWNRIGHT CRUEL! They just put a few episodes in some cheap TV framing device known as "Retrovision" (you call that NOSTALGIA?!). And whoever decided it was a good idea to reanimated the whole intro in Flash?!? That other intro with the different clips is TOO limited, and not very exiciting.
And it gets worse from there! The credits is just a static background with clip art of Garfield and the gang pasted on there, with Copper Black Font as the text credits. Really? That's not made in the '80s and '90s! It looks like that took artistically crafted pizza and served it cold on a paper plate. In other words, this "high-definition" remaster is nothing but a "High Dissappointment!"
But... uno momento! Here comes the unexpected twist! I did some research, and as it turns out, 9 Story Media didn't ACTUALLY buy Garfield and Friends outright! They just signed some long-term lease to distribute the program. (And no, the original versions (the 4:3 ones) aren't going away; the first two can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/@GarfieldandFriends.) Actually, Garfield and Friends is still with Paws, Inc. - which is now a subsidiary of... you guessed it... Nickelodeon! That's right -- all 121 episodes of Garfield and Friends, as well as 12 animated specials and three direct-to-video movies, are the exclusive property of Nickelodeon/Paramount Global, the owner of the fat orange cat himself since August 6, 2019!
Proof? Well, first, look at the copyright on the "remastered" credits here:
See? SEE? SEE?!? It says PAWS, Incorporated right in black and white! And take a gander at this one: https://www.instagram.com/garfield/reel/CnXCKb2MK7h/
And this! https://www.instagram.com/p/C5oMQ_yN7tH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
And look at the back of this 9 Story DVD cover!
And this channel description right there:
And here's one more piece of proof to prove it all! I emailed to Kim Campbell, a Paws employee, about this a couple of months before the sale, and this is what I got:
HA! So there you go! The cat's out of the bag!
While we do not know how long the 9 Story distribution license would last, we know know one thing - one day, full distribution for the Garfield and Friends catalog will revert back to Paramount/Nickelodeon/Paws Inc. and we'll be able to see the full series again in its original 4:3 glory! Across Pluto TV and all of Nick's O&O platforms! And the Garfield specials will air on Nick! (Although cable TV seems to be dying at this point) And maybe on CBS again! Yes! And... who knows? Maybe Paramount Home Entertainment would bring the Garfield and Friends 5-Volume set (originally released by Fox in 2004-2005) back!
So raise your forks high, folks... 'cause some day, it'll be worth every bite! 😺