‘Garfield’ Paramount+ Series Casts Lamorne Morris

Garfield‘s history on screen is extensive, evolving from hand-drawn television specials and long-running cartoons to big-budget CGI theatrical films, but the lasagna-loving orange cat is still on the prowl and is now set to return to the small screen under the Paramount+ banner. The streamer has greenlit a new 2D-animated Garfield series, with an Emmy-winning actor enlisted to follow in the pawprints of big-name performers like Bill Murray and Chris Pratt to voice the titular character – and he may just be the “purrfect” replacement.

According to Deadline, the series, tentatively titled Garfield, is being produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios and will stream on Paramount+ when it eventually releases. The show will bring the world-famous cat back for a 2D-animated adventure, inspired by Jim Davis’ original comic strip, so fans of the chonky feline can expect to see more of his signature cynicism and guilt-free gluttony. However, there will be one key difference: the character will have an all-new voice following Pratt’s recent portrayal in The Garfield Movie.

Lamorne Morris will voice Garfield in the new animated series, giving him another chance to show off his comedic chops. The actor is perhaps best known for his breakout role in the long-running Fox sitcom New Girl, in which he played Winston Bishop, one half of the iconic duo rounded out by his beloved cat, Ferguson. Beyond his time in the loft, he is also the proud owner of an Emmy for his performance as Trooper Witt Farr in the fifth season of the FX anthology series Fargo. His other credits include appearances in films such as Game Night, Bloodshot, and Saturday Night. However, he will next be seen starring opposite Nicolas Cage in Prime Video’s live-action Spider-Noir series, which has set its highly anticipated premiere for May.

While Morris is set to give Garfield a new voice, Pratt is also set to reprise his role as the iconic cat in the sequel to 2024’s The Garfield Movie. Alcon Entertainment and Sony Pictures officially announced the sequel in July last year, following the box office success of the first film, which pulled in $237 million worldwide against a $60 million budget, making it a profitable hit despite a largely negative reception from critics, resulting in a sourpuss score of 36% on the popular review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Garfield has certainly proven that he has more than nine lives by returning for multiple projects over the years, with varying degrees of success. The new Garfield series has had a lengthy timeline to reach this point, exasperated by various mergers and regime changes. It was first announced in 2019, when Viacom (now Paramount) acquired the rights to the Garfield IP from Paws Inc., but is now moving forward under the new Skydance leadership. The show will be executive produced by Dave H. Johnson (Middlemost Post) and John Trabbic III (SpongeBob SquarePants) and will coexist alongside the separate 3D CGI film franchise.

Release Date

May 24, 2024

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

Mark Dindal

Writers

David Reynolds, Mark Torgove, Paul A. Kaplan, Jim Davis

Producers

Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Craig Sost, Steven P. Wegner, John Cohen