By James White | Posted 12 Nov 2018

Though he's been in the world of live-action/CG in his two most recent movies, famous cartoon cat Garfield always seemed to work better on screen in purely animated form. A move back towards that method has been bubbling away in the development lasagna pan since 2016 and now Disney veteran Mark Dindal is aboard to direct the potential film.

Garfield's history stretches back to his comic-strip roots in 1978 before the idea exploded in the 1980s into a pop culture sensation, landing on branded merchandise of all stripes and a number of TV series and specials, including 1982's Here Comes Garfield, which features one of the most heartbreaking moments committed to cel animation.

The cat's creator, Jim Davis, is serving as an executive producer here, part of the deal Alcon Entertainment signed to nab the rights. Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgove wrote the script, but there are no details about the story just yet. We'd expect, though, for it to feature Garfield's human owner Jon Arbuckle and pooch pal/subject of occasional abuse, Odie.

Dindal directed the likes of Chicken Little and, more reassuringly, The Emperor's New Groove for the Mouse House. We don't yet know when the new film might see the inside of cinemas.

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