Fox to Unleash Marmaduke Movie

Friday, March 06, 2009
By: Ramin Zahed

Brad Anderson’s famous Great Dane Marmaduke will be getting the big-screen treatment at 20th Century Fox. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Tom Dey has been hired to develop a feature based on the popular long-running newspaper comic strip.

The Marmaduke strip was first introduced in 1954 and revolved around the adventures of a mischievous Great Dane who lives with the Winslow family. The big pooch also appeared in several segments of the animated Heathcliff series produced by Ruby-Spears, which aired in the 1980s, as well as a cameo apearance in the Garfield and Friends show. Marmaduke was voiced by the late Paul Winchell. Fox didn’t reveal whether the project was going to be animated, live-action or a hybrid.

Marmaduke’s other friends both have animated projects in various stages of development: Fitz Roy Media is developing an animated series/movie project based on Heathcliff in conjunction with cartoonist Peter Gallagher, while French studio Mediatoon is prepping the CG-animated The Garfield Show, based on the popular Jim Davis cartoon/comic. Produced by Robert Rea and directed by Philippe Vidal the new Garfield toon is budgeted at $12.7 million and will be ready for delivery in May. The show has already been sold to the Cartoon Network in certain territories, France's France 3 and Europe's Boomerang.

Reader Comments

• Braniff :

  Monday, March 09, 2009

  I hope that the Marmaduke movie is animated and true to the spirit to the cartoon. If it\\\'s like the Garfield or Underdog movies, I\\\'m not going to watch it.

• Wiz : Graphicst : E. Graphics

  Monday, June 08, 2009

  Done in the vain of Marlow and Me this could be a fun family movie and can\'t wait to see how they are going to approach it. Even if they animate the dog like the Alvin that is also a great combination.

• Tony :

  Wednesday, October 14, 2009

  Maybe the problem with Owner-Lady\'s car lies in the fact that Marmaduke has just ripped the hood off of it.
  
  Whether this movie is animated or live action, it\'s going to be a steaming pile of crap. Marmaduke isn\'t funny. The comic is a waste of space, and the guy writing it is 130 years old. He wouldn\'t know a good joke if Marmaduke came and dropped it in his black-and-white lap.
  
  What are the odds it is animated and half the scenes aren\'t even colored or completely drawn?