What Ever Happened to the Creator of Calvin and Hobbes?
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2018
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In this video:
It was on November 18, 1985, when Calvin met Hobbes. As the first appearance of this legendary comic strip shows, Calvin sets a trap for a tiger using a tuna sandwich because “tigers will do ANYTHING for a tuna fish sandwich.” Sure enough, hanging by one foot and munching on the sandwich, Calvin’s freshly caught tiger confirms this, “We’re kind of stupid that way.”
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Sources:
www.slate.com/articles/arts/cu...
www.salon.com/2013/11/13/dear...
www.cleveland.com/living/index...
www.cleveland.com/living/index...
books.google.com/books?id=50m...
www.angelfire.com/wa/HOBBES/in...
content.time.com/time/specials...
articles.latimes.com/1987-04-0...
www.npr.org/templates/story/s...
www.washingtonpost.com/news/c...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Wa...
mentalfloss.com/article/53216/...
Image Credit:
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.bigstockphoto.com/ru/imag...
www.flickr.com/photos/stacyhe...
www.flickr.com/photos/actuali...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Po...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
www.creative-commons-images.co...
www.flickr.com/photos/yusaku/...
flickr.com/21462258@N06/62721...
www.flickr.com/photos/5176451...
niffniffcastor.deviantart.com...
www.flickr.com/photos/yugen/6...
cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/03...
www.flickr.com/photos/5176451...
racheledare.deviantart.com/ar...
www.flickr.com/photos/cluefre...
Music from Jukedeck - create your own at jukedeck.com.
Speaking of comic strip creators that very suddenly disappeared from the spot light, see our video On The Far Side: czcams.com/video/9n6bOt2pqcQ/video.html&lc=Ugxe21DMPIBU0pohSnF4AaABAg
Today I Found Out whos daven?
Today I Found Out wait? How did your monitor fall out the window?
ah the far side. great comic it was. had the book beyond the far side myself up until it got lost.
Could you try a spot on Burke Breathed from Bloom County?
Thanks for this. I loved the strip and enjoyed hearing from the creator's point of view. Thank you Simon for finding such interesting topics.
The man retired before 40 with millions in the bank and now just spends his time painting and hanging out with his wife. Absolutely winning at life, right there.
The bit where he's from northern Virginia too, he obviously inherited wealth too so "paying the bills" was never an issue anyway.
I always argue about "winning at life" when people aren't actively contributing or doing something meaningful. Maybe I'm wrong though and he's now secretly an elementary school teacher. But yeah, if I had the money+time there's oodles of stuff I'd want to fund and do beyond crap like going to restaurants/hotels
That sounds amazing. I loved those comics, the man's a legend
@Calvin's World News so he possibly inherited wealth but made his own money. Fair play to him
He has a new book coming out in October!
@@CalvinsWorldNewsWhat's your source for that?
Cool. My favorite Calvin and Hobbes strip of all time was the one in which Calvin asks his dad why old photographs, etc., are only in black and white, his father replies that colors didn't exist before (whatever date- the 1850's, etc.), that everything back then was only black and white. When Calvin asks why paintings before that date contain colors, his dad replies that it's because artists were all insane.
AndyGinterBlues My favorite was the wordless comic showing Dad refuse to play in the snow, then joining Calvin
So OG
That's my favorite too! A close second would be any of Calvin's very original snowmen. I worked at a firm of patent attorneys in the mid-90's, and many of them were very like Calvin's dad. Oh, how I cried when I read that last strip.
@Mourning Star It's calss picture day! Another good one. I so miss that strip.
@AndyGinterBlues Definitely my favourite too. I was blown away to read you single out that particular strip in your comment and learn that I have at least one kindred spirit somewhere out there. That interchange between Calvin and his father was totally sublime. In fact, it inspired me to model a bit (just a little bit mind you) of my parenting style/philosophy on Calvin's father. And I hope that my daughters were a little bit better for it.
I’ve always respected Watterson for understanding that good stories need to end eventually.
Jacob, the Brits always said that about tv shows.
Pat Rutledge said it was better to say about a show "oh yes, i rem that" rather than "oh, is that old thing still on?"
I've always like how he never accepts merch deals.
@@thatswhatshesaid2777 I HATE him for that stupid bastard just can’t understand how merchandising is not inherently a bad thing.
Basically, Watterson is the previous generation's Alex Hirsch.
can you please tell that to marvel
My most remembered strip of his is Calvin walking up to his dad, who's reading the paper, and asks him "Dad, how to soldiers killing each other solve the world's problems?"
His dad sits and looks at the reader confused, and Calvin walks away saying, "I think adults just *act* like they know what they're doing."
One of the best commentaries about humans and Society, that *still* is relevant.
Calvin and Hobbes are the best. 💖
I was 100% a peacenik. Anti-war. Ant-military. Anti-government.
Then Ukraine happened. Fuck those guys. I am all for a strong military now.
Yeah, my favourite also has a man reading a newspaper, the man raises his head, looks at the reader and asks "Where did my pipe go?" Then, in the next frame, all you see is an orange cat smoking the man's pipe, absolutely hilarious
His answer to "Do you regret quitting so early?" can really be boiled down to "No, I don't want to be another Garfield"
I think he said in the 10th anniversary book somewhere that he wouldn‘t run his comic strip into the ground like a certain cartoon cat.
Best to go out on top
I actually think Garfield got funnier overtime, but then it started to go downhill around the early 2000's-ish.
Or Simpsons. That series should have ended well over a decade ago when it was still funny.
Jim Davis' expressed goal with Garfield has always been to make a boatload of money with as little effort as possible. And he's been wildly successful in that effort.
My C&H favorite:
Calvin is loudly pounding nails into the living room coffee table. His mom rushes in and screams, "What are you doing?" He looks down at the coffee table for a moment, and then back at her and asks, "Is this a trick question?"
R Dyer my favorites are the ones when Hobbes has to go in the wash.😂
Brilliant
Classic lol
That's the favorite of my brother and I. I loved calvinball too
That one is one of my favourites!
My favorite strip is the one where Calvin asks Hobbes to think of anything in the world he wanted at that moment, to which Hobbes replies "A sandwich". Calvin ridicules his wish, stating that he'd want his own continent and a billion dollars.
The final panel shows a disgruntled Calvin sitting next to Hobbes, who has made himself a sandwich, saying "I got my wish".
The strip where Calvin flatout asks his dad why he's living with his mom and not in a house with scantily clad ladies will never stop being hilarious to me XD
@Michel van der Linden(open): He must've been watching too much *THREE'S COMPANY* at such a young age...
Uhh....what was the answer to that question again?
There was no answer. If I remember right Calvin gets sent to his room.
@@robertmiller7721 yes. I dont know what the english reply to it was, but if I recall Calvin asked the question, his dad just had a zoned out "wtf" look, and the next panel calvin was grounded or something, mumbling about asking too many questions or something.
Or when he asked his mom why it cost four bucks a minute to talk to "goofy ladies in their underwear" in television commercials.
"Bad news dad, your polls are way down" :)
Camping builds character.
YES
I love this comment so much
"CALVIN, YOU DIDN'T GET DESSERT LAST NIGHT BECAUSE YOU FLOODED THE HOUSE!"
I remember this line sooo much!!! Gah
Much respect for Bill Watterson, and his integrity.
I love his books and he definitely is a man of integrity!!
I don’t respect him fucking dumbass he was to turn down that money.
I just looked up his picture, he seems to be a very happy person. Probably has all the money he'll ever need without having to do anything. Smart man with uncompromising integrity.
@@Mario87456 there are more important things than money.
@@39zack Not if it can make you rich.
I remember one of the 4 panel comics: Calvin: “What is a pronoun?” Hobbes: “ A noun that lost it’s amateur status.” Hilarious.
It is the same "pro" in the sense of "on behalf of". A pronoun stands for a noun, simples. Professional (non-amateur) comes from profess, which is "an acknowledgement on behalf of" which stands for a public declaration of what one stands for. This _in fact not actually wrong_ is what makes Hobbes so funny for me.
"...maybe I'll get a point for creativity."
*Absolutely gorgeous sunset over pure natural splendor.*
Calvin: “I’ll bet I’m missing some great TV shows. 😒”
Dope profile pic btw
Don't be sad because it's over. Be happy that it happened.
CJusticeHappen21 well said. 😃✌️
But impossible to do
Absolutely impossible.
I like that..
Well said.
My very favorite comic
Bill Watterson is a model of artistic integrity. I love that he held onto the copyright for Calvin & Hobbes and didn’t sell out. He could have become a gazillionaire if he had licensed the brand to dolls, backpacks, lunchboxes, cross-promotions; if he had optioned an animated series or feature film franchise. But C & H was a labor of love for him, and we are all the better for it.
Benjamin Green well said
He simply did not care about the money. All he wanted to do was draw and tell stories. Wise man.
He has no children, either, I noticed--so no heirs to worry about betraying his wishes regarding the strip.
@@nolanboles8492 He has a daughter and has for a while now. Her name is Violet.
@@Dane_Youssef My bad, I thought I remembered reading he had no children.
That last strip he drew is so emotional and really sums up the spirit of Calvin and Hobbes. Growing up with this strip was a privilege. Thanks, Mr. Watterson!
Did the last one end with "Let's go exploring!"?
@@PunguinYoga Yes. I remember cutting it out and sticking it inside my medicine cabinet in the bathroom so I'd see it first thing every morning...
I collected them all and loved every single cartoon.
I love the panel where Calvins mom is so upset about the raccoon that even she starts to confide in Hobbes.
Her words wer you know I'm woried when I start talking to you.
Yeah it’s really bad
I love how even with the sadness of that storyline he was able to sneak in some appropriate humor. Just got a little knot in my throat remembering the little raccoon storyline...
I have always hated the Calvin peeing sticker because it didn't fit the character. Now I know I was right.
those stickers are stupid
I don't like the sticker much myself but it does remind me of the strip where Calvin keeps peeing out his window because of the monster under his bed and parents notice plants dying outside his room 😄
Yeah they are terrible.
@@the4bidden142 yeah I remember him peeing in a comic I'm sure, I could be wrong though.
Also it's not like he did it all the time. Of course I could have seen so many of those stickers it might've just implanted a subliminal message in my brain.
@@dsandoval9396 Calvin pissing on Ford logo is funny though.
To be completely honest, if anyone read his foreword in one of the final books, he stated he wanted it pure and not commercialized and that’s that. In the spirit of purity, I don’t want to know about him, I just want to enjoy Calvin’s world, remember being like a carefree child reading it and go through the strips and immersing myself in Calvin’s experiences.
The final quote in the series couldn’t be more fitting:
“It’s a magical world Hobbes ol’ buddy....
....let’s go exploring!”
That last comic made me cry
😭
You experience Art,and don't want it quantified by somebody else's box.I concur.
Well put! Thank you.
The corporate office of the publisher is in my city. Same building my organization is in. They still sell his books. Seems wrong, with the falling out they had over merchandising.
I love his reaction to the Calvin pissing phenomenon. That guy is true Zen
What was his reaction?
@@nerdandnerdier887 he didn't try to stop it; he just took it in stride. I don't remember what his exact comment was but it's in an interview he gave about it
what a f***ing Hero. He recognized long before most people that overwrought consumerism actually undoes all the circumstantial _magic_ that made your characters so adored by millions in the first place
I thought there was actually a lawsuit about that though that he lost.
Plus, it elicits great chagrin from the target that Calvin is pissing on. Say like him pissing on a DEMOCRAT sign! Or a FORD. Or a Logo!
Calvin & Hobbes is still finding new fans. When my young daughter had a particularly disastrous attempt at learning to ride a bike, I showed her some of the cartoons of Calvin being attacked by his bike. She instantly went from sobbing to giggling and spent the rest of the afternoon with a collection of Calvin & Hobbes books.
“Do you think there’s intelligent life out there?”
“The surest sign that there is intelligent life out there, is that they have never tried to contact us.”
Lol....😂 So True! 😂😂😁
I think of that comic every time I see trash in the woods.
@Pat Mgroin I have several, including Something Under The Bed is Drooling!
@@theduckchick Homicidal psycho jungle cat! Scientific progress goes boink! It's all coming back...
@@entity-hp3xw Ah, the memories!!
Calvin's snowmen always cracked me up. What an imagination
tom r the snowmen comics are my favorites!
Snow Goons!
I connected with his little boy outlaw attitude
I remember trying to make my snowmen just like Calvin’s lol, dead snowmen with crosses as eyes didn’t sit well with my parents and neighbors
Yeah, great imagination, but who in the lower 48 gets enough snow to create a whole life-sized diorama of a crowded crime scene?
I know, "suspension of disbelief," but still...
Calvin and hobbes is basically the only thing from my childhood that hasn't been ruined by time or modern sensibilities. It's some of the only joy I can distinctly remember from a time in my life where I can generally only remember pain. Bill Watterson is on the of the people who I will always hold the utmost respect for.
Yeah. Imagine if there was a Netflix show of it. Glad some things are kept sacred because of the creators
I loved that at the end---Calvin makes peace with his long term enemy, Rosalind the baby-sitter. She all out PLAYS a game of Calvin Ball with him. They have a blast, and the beast in him is tamed. Not quelled, not dispirited ~ just satisfied and worn out from playing. Genius.
I thought I'd read every strip, but didn't recall those. Reading them was like a welcome new discovery. Thanks 😄
That's one of my favorites because Rosalind actually _gets_ Calvinball and, maybe for the first time, Calvin.
What about his relationship with Susie (classmate) and Miss Wormwood (his teacher)?
Or Moe (the bully)?
My daughter refused to learn to read - much easier to have mom and dad read to her - until I brought a Calvin and Hobbes book on our drive to school. By the end of the week she had read it three times, though I believe it took a bit longer to master the word “transmogrification.”
That is my son's favorite storyline. That and the duplicator (same box)
joanieponytail57 This is my favorite CZcams comment ever.
The fact that Watterson included words like "transmogrification" instead of talking down at kids makes him 10 times more awesome.
My elementary school had a thing where 3rd-5th graders would read to the K-2nd graders; I read some Calvin & Hobbes collection book to a kindergartener.
I too, learned how to read thanks to Calvin and Hobbes.
I always loved how he would set up a car accident with snowman
Ioved his snowmen
I remember the throwaway comic atached to that. Calvin rote something in the snow and his dad looks out the window and reads. My dad is a big HAY!
I always remember the strip with the sunset, and Calvin asking his dad "where does the sun go when it sets" and his dad tells him something like "I think somewhere in Arizona" and when Calvin asked why it didn't crush everyone who lived there, his dad holds up a quarter and goes "see? if you hold up a quarter it's about the same size!" and Calvin always looks so puzzled and confused after his dad's hilarious and ridiculous explanations of everything.
There's an entire subreddit caled r/explainlikeimcalvin where people will ask questions and responders must reply like Calvin's dad does.
Hahahaha My favorite is when Calvin asks why old pictures are black and white and his Dad says because PEOPLE weren't in color until the 50's or whatever lmfao
I was crushed when both Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side both ended in the same period. But they had great runs. Both creators are great human beings
For sure. They were and still are my 2 favorite. There was a huge hole left when they both ended. I blame my sarcastic dark sense of humor on them both lol.
I remember being very impressed with the level of artistry he would put into the color panels. Those watercolor sci fi landscapes Calvin would imagine as spaceman spiff were awesome. I respect his commitment to living a low-key life; good for him.
The alien landscapes were brilliant, as was how he would find creative ways to break out of the panel format.
And he painted all those originals by hand! Then he did line-art copies with color-wheel numbers written in to let the printers at Universal Press Syndicate know what colors to use. The shading quality at UP got better over time, so later he could do fabulously gorgeous panels.
As a kid I would use those color panels as a reference to color all the black and white ones myself with crayons. Probably ruined the resell value of the books, but it's not like I would ever sell them anyway!
"Attack of the deranged mutant killer snowgoons" is still my favorite anthology book
@Illphaqup oh I have. I have a complete box set of all the books
@@strawberrycream2974 NO WAY!? Very cool.
I remember I read a couple of books as a kid in class for our free read hour (elementary). Calvin and Hobbes and also Far Side books. I LOVED them so much in the year I'd read them a few times over.
That was my First Calvin and Hobbes book, i got it for Christmas in (I think) 1995, I still have it somewhere, it is BEATEN to hell, dog eared and bent with failing binding, but I love that book. I have the full box set as well, and I love it, but that first book will be a treasure to me.
I have some pieces of the collection, like there's "treasure everywhere" and "attack of the deranged mutant killer monster snowgoons", but my absolute favorite is "lazy Sunday book"
I loved the fact that every year around Christmas, our state weekly newspaper would publish one of the strips where Calvin had made snowmen, even if it was out of chronological sequence!
Mom: “Life could be a lot worse.”
Calvin: “Life could be a lot better to.”
I quote and paraphrase this a lot in my day to day life.
So do I …
Watterson is such an intelligent creator, a true loving artist who cares about what he created and doesnt want to see it tarnished by shills. Much respect.
think its well summed up here in this quote:
"The hard part for us avant-garde post-modern artists is deciding whether or not to embrace commercialism. Do we allow our work to be hyped and exploited by a market that’s simply hungry for the next new thing? Do we participate in a system that turns high art into low art so it’s better suited for mass consumption? Of course, when an artist goes commercial, he makes a mockery of his status as an outsider and free thinker. He buys into the crass and shallow values art should transcend. He trades the integrity of his art for riches and fame."
-Calvin/Watterson
@@rhettpeter83 classic
Fun fact : not a single photo of Bill is shown in this video, as well as no low gossip about his personal life. (except mentionning his hometown maybe)
I just love that fact : you CAN describe the full life of a great and intricate piece of work and talk about his author in lenght WITHOUT having to take a single bite at his privacy.
Glorious ^^
Well it's not like any exist. He's a very private individual.
I have seen one pic of Bill. He looks like Calvin's Dad, but has a mustache like his uncle Max.
Well he’s not exactly Brad Pitt lol
I really wanted confirmation that he had a kid ... I think he did.
@Salty Pete I think you underestimate his fame. You would hear if anything happened to him. But I bet you don't know he has a child (all grown up!).
Makes me so sad that he would secretly sign copies so fans could have something surprising, and then they would just sell them. He must have been so sad :(
I'd be pissed to learn that someone was using that to make themselves a small fortune.
@@hollandscottthomas I'd be more sad over the fact they'd prefer money over my signature. Clearly not very big fans.
I imagine some of those signed books that were sold, were sold by parents who bought the book for their 13 year old and snatched it back once they realized it was signed. Also some were sold by kids who hung on to them until they grew up and developed a nasty drug habit and sold it because it was the only thing of value they had. Reality sucks and is brutal. Bill often lived in his own reality much like Calvin and didnt understand human nature very well, just like Hobbes. So it's no surprise that he probably held on to the dim hope that true fans would somehow be the only ones to get ahold of these and they would treasure it. Reality is a bitch however, and he shouldn't have been so naive that it crushed him to find out people were selling copies that he accidentally made valuable by signing them years ago.. Once the comic blew up like it did, he should have expected crap like that to happen. Well, I'm at least happy that those are out of the hands of the people who sold them and maybe into someone else's hands who will actually appreciate it.
@@badbishop1049 Given the nature of some of his strips, I doubt very much that he held any naive ideas about what could happen to his signed books, but it still kinda sucks that it happened.
@@jakzine540 I think he held out the naive hope that most of his readers loved the strip and characters as much as he did. I dont think he wouldve mentioned how crushed he was when he found out if he hadn't of had some other idea in his head of how that was going to work out instead. I think that's what disappointed him the most.. he knew the reality but held onto his hope😔
I grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The town is featured on the back cover of, “The Essential Calvin and Hobbes.” Many of Calvin’s adventures happened in places I know well. The streams and woods Calvin played in were always very familiar. Each strip was a unique mix of commentary on popular culture, human nature, and every individual’s struggle to stand out from the masses, yet still understand and fit into the environment in which we find ourselves. Calvin & Hobbes are greatly appreciated - and missed.
Why'd the Hip song about Chagrin Falls?
7 or 8 year old me would have done anything to just VISIT Calvin's magical, beautiful world. How neat that its modeled after a real place, and even cooler that you got to grow up there.
@@jrodowens it certainly made Calvin’s outdoor adventures realistic to me. I had a crazy sled run down a path to a creek behind our house that was not as death-defying as Calvin’s toboggan run, but still made for hours of frozen fun.
Lucky you! 😊
One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting in the living room of my parents' old house, grabbing a Calvin and Hobbes book out of the tiny bookcase my dad made, and sitting down in the space between the back of the couch and the living room window, and just reading through those books. Watterson's imagination is probably what's fueled mine for years and years on, now. I am very happy he gave us all the art that he did.
Bill Watterson created the most perfect characters and choose not betrayed his creation in exchange of money. I respect that. A lot. The strips are so perfect, you can read them over and over again and never feel the same. Also, love how he never wanna be the center of the story. He let his art talk for him and in do so, he create a legacy that will live for years to come.
I love re-reading Calvin and Hobbes. I always will re-read it, and I'm also showing it to my kids if I ever have any
well said
37 year old me has the same tears in his eyes that 15 year old me did reading that very last strip. That's the impact that Calvin and Hobbes has on me.
I still find it interesting that people cry. I cannot imagine my life without those strips and the only effect is a little tug on my heartstring and regret that I can't read more. Can't begrudge anyone who does cry, but I don't know that anything has had that affect on me.
So did I. I remember the entire week before it, when we all knew it was ending. It's like looking back on when my parents died 12 years ago. I miss them equally.
same haha
I actually saved the last strip and whenever I see it, I always smile. I really miss that little trouble maker and even though I still only read specific comic strips in my newspaper, there has been no one that has come close to Calvin and Hobbes.
I was visiting the comic strip museum in France, Calvin and Hobbs has won several international awards for excellence. It was great seeing that they are viewed with such respect around the world..
Watterson did draw again. He authored a couple of strips of Pearls Before Swine, posing as a character in the strip named Libby who criticizes Stephan Pastis's artwork. Pastis challenges Libby to do better, and she draws a couple of the strips in the visual style of Calvin and Hobbes. It's fantastic and hilarious and will make you miss his work even more.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/06/06/exclusive-calvin-and-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-returns-to-the-comics-page-to-offer-a-few-pearls-gems/?noredirect=on&.d75ab60fc303
Watterson has also done a few collaborations with Berkley Breathed that have appeared on Breathed's Facebook page. I'm honestly not sure who drew what on them, but they have his signature on them and his blessing.
I remember those 3 strips. Pearls is so different from C&H, but the combination was done brilliantly. Shortly after, Working Daze did a strip with one character lamenting that he didn't get to be drawn by Watterson. The artist drawing it actually drew that one in a style surprisingly close to Watterson's.
I remember seeing those cartoons as they were published. Always was a fan of Pearls Before Swine, and seeing Bill do a cameo in realtime made me lose my shit.
30 years ago, while traveling, I saw a Hobbes-like stuffed tiger toy in an airport gift shop and knew right away that had to be my unborn boy’s first toy. Later, in school, my son drew a fairly detailed portrait of his Hobbes friend and labeled it “Hobbes is dignified”. It still adorns our refrigerator. Hobbes himself resides in a box somewhere to emerge triumphant once again when my son graces his Mom and me with a grandchild.
As an adult with children a few years ago, I also acquired a stuffed Tiger from a Boot Sale whom I promptly dubbed “Hobbes” - he spent many years on my bedroom window sill - and I occasionally even spoke to him - in true Calvin style.
You need to understand that I’d worked as a humour (and sci-fi) cartoonist at some point in my distant past in my twenties - I no longer do cartoons but retain the crazy imagination - and yes, I totally loved Calvin & Hobbes!
I inherited my stuffed tiger. It was my aunts childhood toy but when she saw how much I loved it she let me keep it. I never officially named it Hobbes but funnily enough it has a very long body with short legs.
This is so amazing
Calvin and Hobbes is my childhood back in the 90's. Went to the library to read each one collection and feverishly looking at the art. And i still remember reading the last panel and crying knowing it is the end of my childhood. I'm watching this with a tear in my eyes remembering those days. Thank you so much for making me remember the best time of my life.
Calvin and Hobbes are a huge part of my childhood. Everytime we had a book fair I would buy all the new books they had and eventually bought the anniversary from a Barnes and nobles 12 years ago. To this day my favorite one was where Calvin and Hobbes find a dead bird and have a really deep message about life and death.
I agree with Bill Watterson. A comic strip, like any other serial medium, can have only two possible fates. It can end too soon, or it can drag on too long. I'm glad Watterson went with the former.
I'm looking at you Garfield
That is the true secret to making a lasting impact. Always leave them wanting more
In this way, and in the merchandising, I think that Garfield is kinda the antithesis of Calvin and Hobbes.
Or Peanuts
Plenty of things have dragged on too long. Not just Garfield (Jim Davis is literally the opposite of Watterson. He lives for the merchandising) but the Simpsons, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Anne Rice's vampire novels, Death Note after L is out of the picture. When the quality tanks it hurts the overall work IMO.
"If humans could put rainbow's in zoos they'd do it"
yas
Is it weird that my first thought was "I'm sure that I've seen a rainbow in a zoo, it's not hard to paint one."
And then I realized the point. 😅
If we had any decency, we'd put it in a public library. A rainbow belongs to everyone, and everyone deserves at least a chance to see it.
Cool quote, but it forgets the true reasoning why zoos exist today, and that’s to preserve life nolonger found in the wild wether the endangering is natural or human influenced.
@@dylanzrim3635 ok but
your missing the entire context and the reason id attach this quote to a video about the creator of calvin and hobbes.
Bill Watterson drew Calvin and Hobbes for the next decade, giving life to six-year-old Calvin and his tiger friend Hobbes-named after the Protestant reformer John Calvin and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, a choice the cartoonist called “an inside joke for poli-sci majors” per the Los Angeles Times-until
I'm 46 and still totally love Calvin & Hobbes. Every now and then I begin re-reading all the C&H books I have. One of these days I'm going to splurge and buy the complete C&H collection in hardcover!
Man, that last strip is so damn perfect, always makes my eyes a bit wet.
Me too😢
Let’s go exploring!
A friend of mine has had it on her refrigerator since the day it was published.It always makes me smile.😊💗
Vitor Roma I have tears sniff sniff
I kind of wish I hadn't seen it. I was feeling pretty good and reliving some fond memories until that . Now I'm kind of sad. With winter coming, I want to see his snowman collection.
I grew up with C&H in the 80s and 90s. I was a senior in high school when he stopped, and while I was sad, I absolutely adored that final comic. I cut it out to keep it, but sadly it got lost a long, long time ago. Alas.
Also, side note, I remember learning the word lobotomy because it was used in a C&H strip. Suzy is telling Calvin how happy she is to go back to school and learn new things, and Calvin tells her "Your bangs do a pretty good job of covering the lobotomy scars." I had to ask my dad what that was, and the look on his face was priceless.
I’m 14. Most complex words I know are from those books. When I was four we went to my grandmas house. I was looking at all the “old stuff” when I came across C&H. It changed my life...
That's where I learned what an aneurysm is! Also defenestration. For being a little kid, Calvin sure had one hell of a vocabulary.
@Warren Higgins Well, c'mon, it's just snow!
I've used the lobotomy joke to a girl with bangs while intoxicated let's just say it's good to know your audience
What does lobotomy mean.
That last panel always makes me tear up…. “Let’s go exploring” perfectly encapsulates the character of Calvin, and leaves us knowing that his and Hobbes antics are still occurring off page until the end of time…
Not only does it sum up the comic and leave the reader in a perpetual state of indefinite adventures, it also perfectly describes the next evolution of wattersons career… where he gets to explore artistic sides of himself without any constraints… and while he doesn’t know where it’s all going to lead, the only way to find out is to start the adventure and see what happens.
It also triples as a life lesson and a last piece of advice to the readers… Calvin ignites the explorer in us all. Now that we can no longer follow along with his on the pages, it’s time for us to go out and create our own adventures, and never allow a ourselves to be put in a box.
Thank you for everything bill. You brought joy and wonder to millions.
I like it too since it means fans can create fancomics or other stuff to show some more funny adventures that may not have been made by Watterson but could have been made by him.
There are so many Calvin and Hobbes stories that still bring a tear to my eye. They perfectly capture a moment at times...and often...teach something important without hitting you over the head about it. We owe their creator a debt of gratitude for giving us this never ending gift.
The final strip still makes me cry.
It broke my heart all over again.
Why? It's a happy sledding scene.
A happy ending to something you've loved for a very long time can be a very bittersweet thing, and Calvin and Hobbes taught me and many other people to read. It was just something that was there while we grew up. We never questioned it, and we always went back until one day it just wasn't there anymore.
Let's go exploring!
And then my heart died inside.
It kicks me in the heart, but I smile. I'm in my 20s, but I never lost that love for fun, exploration, and adventure... And I never will. That final strip reminds me a lot of myself.
In a high school philosophy class, we once got assigned a project to do a write up about two pre-chosen philosophers. I cannot say how delighted I was when I got assigned Calvin and Hobbes.
Calvin sneaking out at 3 am and calling his family from a pay phone asking if they knew where he was is my favorite C&H
Ha ha ha!
During the summer, I would build blanket forts in my bedroom, and spend a week or two reading through our entire copy of The Authoritative Calvin & Hobbes Collection. The way it went through the different seasons, including Calvin leaving school for summer vacation, and having to eventually return, resonated with me so hard as a kid. One of my fondest childhood memories.
Best comic ever. And props to Mr. Watterson for sticking to his guns on merchandising. He gave up oodels of money to keep his art's message intact. And I am damn thankful for it. Calvin and Hobbs is a national treasure.
I agree with you! Although, I would've loved to have a stuffed Hobbes.
@@badkitty4922 I have a son that looks exactly like Calvin down to the hair and everything. I also wish I could buy him a Hobbes, but in the end I am glad I can't. I think I need to learn to sew so I can just make one myself!
@@lukew1383 buy him a stuffed Tiggr and make a stuffed Hobbes for yourself.
Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, and The Far Side were huge parts of my childhood and well into my teenage years.
Two Mewtwos in Too-toos dude old garfield is amazinf
Do you remember "Sherman on the mount"? I always thought It ranked with with some of the best.
I was fortunate enough to have a young son to read Calvin and Hobbes to(among other things) and we are both big fans to this day. He would pretend to be Hobbes when I came back home, pouncing on me with a KAPOOOOW! 😄
Wasn't far side made into a series.
Far side has influenced my sense of humor. I drew a silly picture once that sead unknown to history the Thanksgiving tradition saved the world. Two turkeys are talking and one seas with this development we must cancel plans for world conquest.
This is a man who quit at the height of this fame and turned down "buy your own private island and fire it into the sun" money, all for the sake of artistic integrity. It is for this reason, even more than my precious memories of his work on Calvin and Hobbes, that Bill Watterson has my eternal respect. He threw the One Ring into the Crack of Doom in real life.
I’m honored to be named after this masterpiece
"I figure that, long after the strip is forgotten, those decals are my ticket to immortality."
🤣 🤣 🤣I love this guy
I can't imagine everyone, realistically, forgetting Calvin and Hobbes. Even if the apocalypse happens tomorrow, enough copies will survive and be enjoyed by survivors.
I always loved the strip where Calvin gets stuck staring at his reflection in a puddle of water all day because it puts him into an existential crisis.
My top favorite is Calvin clymbing out the window at knight' going to a payphone across the street and calling his dad. Hello dad it is now three in the morning. Do you know where I am!
@@TheOmegazerox How about when Calvin's plaid pants and striped sweater made him walk?
@@RideAcrossTheRiver Look at you! Have you gone color blinde! I don't want to hear about it. Yes another great one. How bout when his snowman' the leafpile or his bubble bath comes to life and tries to kill him?
@@TheOmegazerox I’m thinking of a number between one and seven-hundred billion
His answer to why he quit when he did is basically “I don’t wanna be the next Garfield bruh”
I mean, fair enough
I grew up with pretty much every Calvin and Hobbes collection available. I spent hours and hours of my childhood reading through those comics, laughing at what I understood and enjoying what I didn’t. I got a stuffed tiger and called it Hobbes because of how much I loved these comics! They’re a special piece of my life, and they’ve only gotten better as I’ve grown older
So I'm from Chagrin Falls and he came to speak to us in the late 90s. We were specifically told to not bring anything for him to sign as he was not signing things anymore at that point.
Also he brought his letter from the peanuts author to show us.
He told us to do whatever makes us most happy, and to stop doing it if it stops making us happy no matter what anyone else says. He showed us some art, and early comic sketches, and a picture of his cat.
John Gault answers don’t change, but the questions we ask do.
Indignant Wellington I think it’s the other way around. More often than not we are always asking the same questions but as time progresses our answers change because we learn a little more. Such as when you ask yourself a question and say “I don’t know” right now but 20 years from now it would be an entirely different answer.
Danielle Barr Thanks for the post. Calvin and Hobbes was a joy I looked forward to. Looking at both the child and the adults behaviour was part of the pleasure. I was not a particularly pleasant child to raise but there were indeed two sides to that story. Making fun of the little shit I was sometimes capable of being helped me to see from a balanced adult look. Cheers.
Yep, he was a kook.
I find it ironic that Watterson takes pride in that letter from Charles Schulz. Peanuts is one of the most egregious examples of a comic strip running longer than it should have and being excessively merchandized.
"What good is it being cool if you can't wear a sombrero" Hobbes
This I my opinion is one of the best comics there is, it delivers messages while being a fun, goofy comic, 10/10
One of the only reasons I ever read the Sunday Comics was Calvin and Hobbes. I found a bunch of the books recently and have been taken back to many great memories in reading them. So from a long time fan, thank you Mr. Waterson for your brilliant contribution to society. Your view of the world through a 6 year olds eyes and his tiger buddy have brought more joy to the world than you’ll ever know.
I applaud his refusal to merchandise Calvin and Hobbes. +1
Those guys with the "Calvin Pissing" stickers on their trucks? Fuck those guys and the people that make that sticker.
I would like a few decals, NONE of the pissing ones though, and even then I'd put them on my glass desk.
More than likely I'd make them. There's probably a site out there that has stencils, all I would need is a sheet of adhesive paper or if I really wanted to do it right I'd cut out a stencil out of the adhesive paper and use that etching acid on my desk. Yeahhh... that sounds like an idea.
You get a F from me, respect that.
I HATE him for that stupid bastard couldn’t understand that fans of his work would love merchandise of Calvin and Hobbes.
I still would like a stuffed Hobbs to give to my niece though, I feel that at least is totally in the spirit of the comics!
Far side and Calvin and Hobbs are by far my two favorite modern comics strips. Both had a relatively short but wonderful run .
The best
Another of my favorite comics, Bloom County, had a rather short run.
Bloom County...you can go back 30 years and still see the accurate depiction of Donald Trump. The idea that he would be President was horrific back then, and now.
@@Steve17010 Bloom County was my all time favorite comic strip. It was always funny and poked fun at politicians and trends. I miss it.
Calvin and Hobbes is now like a barn treasure, like a hidden pristine corvette stingray from the seventies. If he kept writing, it would have been in the junkyard by now.
Still I miss it.
Calvin's dad: "I know; you think you'll always be six years old."
Thumbs up for Spaceman Spiff!
Steven D It's Spaceman Craig. *chhhhhhh kuhhhh*
Most definitely! And let’s all toss a mental snowball at Suzie Durkins (sp?) while we’re remembering stuff from C&H.
Sal but not too many, lest we somehow cause a second attack of the deranged mutant killer monster snowgoons.
TheComicBookJoker OMG I wish I didn’t have so much grading to finish today or I’d be reading Calvin and Hobbes right now. I’d forgotten that bit - it’s clearly been far too long!
Tracer Bullet would eat Spiff's lunch.
I respect the hell out of Bill Watterson on every level. I was sad when Calvin & Hobbes ended, but as soon as I heard his reasons for retiring I knew that he had made the absolute right decision.
Honestly, Watterson planned on quitting as early as 1993.
All I know is that I love Watterson with all of my heart for what he gave me and everyone else. The complete collection is still one of the most treasured items I possess. I wish Bill nothing but the utmost happiness in return for the happiness he gave to me.
What a thoughtful, brilliant guy. The same could be said for his output. The world is a better place for Calvin & Hobbes. ♥️💫
Retired at age of 38. That's the guy!
Meanwhile, I'm 36 and still paying student loans.
#LifeGoals
Yeah. He and I are the same age and I'm still plugging away...though I did make a career change at 40.
This seems to be a common attitude. Great to stop working. If that is the case then said person was expending their life energies in the wrong profession. I was in education until about 38. Decided I wasn’t receiving adequate compensation for my efforts. Got offered a employment in Japan at a much higher salary. After The New wore off, I grew to dislike my ‘work’. Realized I left a job that gave me a sense of satisfaction. If you want to retire, you are in the wrong profession.
There's a documentary called "Thank You Mr. Watterson" on Netflix. I reccomend it.
*Dear Mr. Watterson
I saw it. Fans expressing their gratitude. Understandable.
It's never stated where Calvin and Hobbes is set but there's winter, they always go to the lake never the ocean, and in one strip where he goes to the museum it features the stegosaurus that stands outside the Cleveland museum of natural history. It brings me joy to know the strip I loved my whole childhood (and still do) was set in my childhood home.
Lot of us are Clevelanders andknow Chagrin Falls and the Emerald Necklace well
The amazing thing about C&H is how it had such a huge impact despite a very short run.
There's what I believe is a fan made strip that portrays Calvin as an adult with a young daughter who is having trouble sleeping on a stormy night. He gets out of bed and retrieves an item out of a closet, the one thing he's sure will help his child sleep easy; Hobbes. The last panel always makes me smile, with the tiger asking the girl, "Got any tuna fish?"
I don't remember where I saw it, but someone "fanficted" Calvin, as an old man, on his deathbed. Susie hands him the toy Hobbes, which she found in the attic. As Calvin passes on, Hobbes appears to him, says "it's been a long time. Wanna go exploring?" Calvin, now his USUAL self, goes off for further adventures. In the real world, Calvin's grandson, a rather moody 6 year old child, finds the stuffed tiger; Hobbes asks him if he's got any tuna fish. A new cycle begins
It was a writing prompt on Reddit...
Frazz is what I picture Calvin being like about 25 years after that last comic. Style is almost the same too.
Then hobbes proceeds to eat her out
Mike Grossberg Dang it, who put onions in these tuna fish?
I have the full collection, best fathers day gift ever. I miss his cartoons, poignant and still funny.
Gearhead Daily I got it 2 years ago for Christmas
just ordered it, can't wait
Gearhead Daily I’ve got that too - bought it for myself for my BD a couple years ago. Wish I hadn’t watched this at work because now I just wanna go home and curl up with it!
I have the "full" collection too, www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1985/11/18.
lol..will do
I personally believe Calvin and Hobbes is the best comic strip of all time, and it owes a lot to Watterson’s foresight at quitting while he was ahead
"Those decals are my ticket to immortality" is a quote that everyone should keep in mind. This is something nearly every serious artist and writer can relate with, or at least be able to understand. We strive to reach immortality through or works, and if that means unofficial fan-merch pops up out of nowhere--all the better!
I would never part with a signed Calvin and Hobbes book. I’ll never part with my unsigned ones.
So true! When I found out a young co-worker didn’t know Calvin & Hobbes I purchased an introductory set of books for him rather than lend any of my own
Even though I'm desperately poor, I'd never sell my complete collection. It was one of the first things I salvaged after Katrina.
kevin Johnson I still have my collection. 😃✌️
Probly why people were able to sell the signed copies for so much online
I rediscover them constantly
The tyrannosaurus scared of mom is the funniest picture in the series, the tyrannosaurus running from a pissed off sabre tooth tiger is just as funny.
How did the great tyranosaur become exstinked? Know we know.
I am in middle school. My dad always read Calvin and Hobbes when he was a kid and had the full volumes on his bookshelf which sat there untouched for years. My dad and I have the same sense of humor so he gave me the enormous first volume in first grade. I finished in a little less then a week. I loved it. I read the other volumes and I could not stop giggling. I read some of the Peanuts comic strips but nothing could ever live up to the great comedy that Bill Watterson created for us. I reread the cartoons again and again, and will probably read some after this. I had always wondered why there was never a TV show or anything like that. Peanuts has a movie and holiday specials, Garfield had loads of TV shows, big nate got that new one. Why was there never a Calvin and Hobbes one? Then I realized after watching this video that it would have gotten old. Bill made the right choice to end it with Calvin and Hobbes adventuring into the forest, to probably get into some more crazy antics.
Edit: BTW my favorite one is the one when Calvin's mom makes "monkey heads" while Calvin thoroughly enjoys it while the dad acts just like Calvin would normally. Idk why, I just find that hilarious how they switched personalities.
As an avid fan of Calvin and Hobbes, I still mourn the loss of this comic. Even after all these years, my heart still breaks whenever I'm reminded of Bill Watterson's genius comic strip. 😪
I cried over that last cartoon. At the time it was the highlight of my day. In residence my wife (then girlfriend) painted a 6' dancing Calvin and Hobbes on the common room wall.
John Matthias #RelationshipGoals
The last strip was arguably one of the best endings for a comic strip. I cried myself.
If you have a sticker of Calvin peeing on something, you’ve profoundly missed the point of _Calvin & Hobbes._
Osiris Malkovich You also apparently care way too much about lead in your gasoline. Seriously why piss on unleaded?
My hope is those crass morons don't even know who Calvin is. It would be far sadder if someone who loved that comic thought "Calvin publicly urinating is exactly what he'd do." I was surprised Watterson seems OK with them, as they make angrier than almost any car stickers I see, including offensive political stuff.
I remember seeing this car stickef way earlier than ever hearing of this comic. Mostly in a football (soccer) context. Not so popular in Europe I suppose.
Watterson was never okay about them. He never properly Copyrighted C&H and never successfully Trademarked the Strip and Likeness to prevent them from being made.
Osiris Malkovich
Truer words were never spoken. I honestly don't care for those urinating Calvin stickers. They're not funny, not "hip" or "cool", and they tarnish the C&H legacy.
The "anatomically correct" snowman was my all time favorite strip. Hilarious.
I wonder how many kids reading that know what that actually meant
I Wish the "Calvin and Hobbes" creator all the best in his private life, and thank him profusely for giving us two memorable characters who are on par with Charles Schultz;s"Peanuts".
I doubt Ill ever laugh as hard as i did at when calvin was convinced his bike was trying to kill him
What about his camping trips?
Thanks for that one Simon. I'll always remember Calvin and Hobbes as a fond part of my childhood wishing I could go on even one of the adventures he did. My prize collection is the 10 year 3 volume set of all Calvin and Hobbes comics.
EclecticPkm You can! All you need is a big cardboard box..... ; )
I have pictures of me as a kid in the 80s reading his books, I still have them, still read them, still love them.
Probly why people try to sell the signed copies for so much online
I still have all of those volumes. I even look through them every once in a while.
He is a hero of mine. When I realized Mommy couldn't always make time to read the comics to me, I dedicated myself to learning how to read all on my own. Calvin & Hobbes taught me that being stubborn is stupid. Thank you, Mr. Watterson, for motivating me.
I own almost all of the books. My nephews aged 9 and 7 both love them. I started collecting them in Elementary School during the Scholastic book fairs,
"His tiger, Hobbes, who may or may not be real"?
Hobbes is real, man. He is real to Calvin, and most readers. That's the point.
Hobbes is a quantum beeing 🙃
There was the series of comics about Calvin finding an injured raccoon. He gets his mom to help, then runs off to get a shoe box and a towel, and mom talks to Hobbes.
And for that moment, mom sort of saw Hobbes the way that Calvin does. And that's why Hobbes is real.
I don't care what people say, if Hobbes is real to Calvin, he's real to us
That still doesn't really answer the question of if Hobbes is real but okay.
Personally,I'm okay with never getting a definitive answer on the topic.
I suppose no one is questioning the objective reality of the stuffed Hobbes. Now, the ACTIVITIES of that granted-to-exist Hobbes are only speculative based on P.O.V. Almost any activity is. If you tell someone you drank 12 cups of coffee before breakfast, but you don't have a witness, how do you prove it happened? Well, Calvin witnesses Hobbes's activities. And through Calvin, so do we. He doesn't TELL us about them. We WITNESS them. That's proof enough for, oh, several million of us. Rock on, Hobbes old boy. Rock on! 🐅 🐯 🐅
space man spiff was some of the best calvin and hobbs pages
My favorites were always the ones where Calvin and Hobbes are engaged in an activity that should've been thought through more fully, but they don't realize that until the last box where it's obvious that they're very much in trouble.