Garfield turns 25: no napping at Muncie's Paws Inc. as fat cat prepares for the big screen.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: Opener

Twenty-five years ago, Jim Davis would never have dared to dream that he was launching a multi-million-dollar enterprise.

He had just stomped the bug that starred in his not-so-successful comic strip "Gnorm Gnat." While a comic about a cat seemed like a better bet, the debut of "Garfield" on June 19, 1978, was in just 41 newspapers. "I hoped to get it to 100, and 300 was my goal," Davis recalls, because that would at least allow him to make a living as a cartoonist.

Today, a quarter-century later, his daily comic is in more than 2,500 newspapers, in more than a hundred countries. And the income it generates represents only a small percentage of the revenue at Paws Inc., Davis' 55-employee business located on a back road outside Muncie. Not only is Davis making a living at it, so are more than four dozen other people. Thanks to the fat orange cat, Davis is the most successful cartoonist in the world.

What's remarkable is how well Garfield has aged. His appearance has evolved, but "he'll always be nearly the same, as opposed to 'For Better or For Worse' or the old 'Gasoline Alley,'" Davis says, referring to strips whose characters have grown up through the years. From a business perspective, Garfield at 25 is like the fine wines his creator has collected--more and more valuable all the time.

At Paws Inc., says Davis, "the lion's share of the income is from licensing," selling Garfield's image for use on products and campaigns of all sorts. One of the latest deals unites Garfield with another fast-growing Indiana company, Ritter's Frozen Custard, a logical link given Garfield's love for treats. There's also a new Garfield Monopoly game, with the familiar real estate replaced with things valuable to Garfield, including his food dish, his cookie jar and a giant cup of coffee. And honoring his birthday are a cartoon book, "In Dog Years I'd Be Dead," and a new cookbook called "I'm In The Mood For Food."

Taking up a lot of Davis' time lately is a big-screen project, due for release in about a year. It may be one of the most ambitious Garfield projects ever, a live-action movie that Davis says is what's known in the business as a "tent-pole" release for 20th Century Fox. "This is the big summer release for Fox," he explains.

With that status comes a budget that's undisclosed but big. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Liz, the veterinarian who catches the eye of Garfield's owner, Jon Arbuckle. Jon is played by Breckin Meyer, who's been in such films as...