Bulldog Licensing signs Garfield license program

The UK-based licensing agency Bulldog Licensing has confirmed it is to handle the UK license program for the popular Garfield brand.

The brand’s current licensee roster includes companies ranging from the Blues Clothing, Silverknit and Brand Alliance (clothing), Whitehouse (plush), Smiffys (dress-up/novelty) and Sert MST (pet products).

This addition comes a month after the licensing agency secured a trio of licensing deals for the popular BBC cat and dog cartoon Roobarb and Custard with companies including Fred and Ginger (pet accessories), Fatspanner (pub entertainment machines) and Diablo Skinz (mobile phone, tablet and laptop skins).

Garfield first originated in a 1978 comic, and now holds the Guinness World Record for the most syndicated cartoon strip, featuring in more than 2,300 newspapers worldwide.

The brand has sold in excess of 135 million Garfield books, and has grown into two animated television series, two feature-length live action films, three CG animated movies and a huge range of licensed merchandise. The highly-rated animated series The Garfield Show is currently showing on digital channel Boomerang in the UK.