On Furry Animal Movies

This, from earlier in the week, seems an obvious move:

Alcon Entertainment has secured exclusive rights to produce animated theatrical motion pictures based on the comic strip “Garfield.”

Alcon co-founders and co-chief executive officers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove made the announcement Monday. The company acquired the rights from Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield comic series and brand who will also serve as an executive producer.

Alcon said its goal is to build a franchise of fully CG-animated Garfield feature films. Alcon has a long-standing output deal through Warner Bros. ...

John Cohen, producer of “Despicable Me” and the recently released “The Angry Birds Movie,” and Steven P. Wegner brought the project to Alcon. Cohen and Wegner will produce along with Alcon principals Kosove and Johnson. Bridget McMeel from Amuse will executive produce with Davis. ...

We can only imagine the wind up and pitch in somebody's big studio office:

Pitchman: This is a can't miss franchise. It's a fuzzy animal movie ... one part Zootopia, one part The Jungle Book ... and it's got the cat that everybody knows and already loves! Garfield! He's already been in hit t.v. shows. Movies. And the comic strip is still huge!

Alcon Exec: The Peanuts strip was huge. But the Peanuts movie? Could have done better.

Pitchman: This is different. Little kids are hit and miss. But animals! Animals always hit box office home runs. Just look at the Disney movie with the fox and rabbit, Zoowhatsit

AE: Topia

Pitchman: Yeah, that. ...

SO to summarize: Garfield is a well-known, pre-sold property. Garfield is about cartoon animals. Animation is (sort of) bullet-proof right now. And executive awareness is high regarding the commercial possibilities of cartoons with animals in the year 2016.

Why wouldn't a studio pick up a franchise like this? Makes complete sense.