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Bill Watterson’s Calvin And Hobbes comic strip ran from 1985 to 1995 and defined my childhood (and possibly yours as well). We love seeing what those stories have inspired, like a Calvin and Hobbes-themed wedding, plenty of cosplay, some fantastic GIFs, and an upcoming documentary. It also inspired Ugly Americans animator Adam Brown to try his hand at animating a scene using keyframes from the comic.
Now Brown is back with an even better animated clip to help us kill time while waiting for life to shower us with meaning and happiness.
This seems to be the closest we’re going to get to an animated Calvin And Hobbes. Bill Watterson told Comics Journal he was undecided about animating it. Then, in a more recent interview with Mental Floss, he upgraded his undecided status to “I have zero interest in animating Calvin and Hobbes.” Well, that escalated quickly.
We’ll have to just settle for these 30 heartwarming seconds of Calvin and Hobbes dancing. Let’s go exploring.
(H/T: The High Definite)
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Does anyone else think Watterson is kind of a jerk? I love Calvin and Hobbes and have a tremendous respect for his writing abilities, but his firm stance on commercialism irks me.
he’s right to keep C&H pure!
Nope. You’re alone.
I think the guy animating Calvin and Hobbes after the creator said he doesn’t want it animated is the jerk.
i have wrestled with this issue as well.
I believe it is 100% his choice what he does with his creation.
but yeah, i think he’s kind of a jerk.
Just a righteous jerk.
ON THE OTHER HAND Watterson has never asked that any fan re-creations, like this animation here, to be put down.
I get the sense that Brown sort of couldn’t help himself. I mean that not literally, but creatively.
99% of cartoonists sell out faster than toilet paper after a tainted meat scandal. Don’t get pissy about that 1%.
He’s a real jerk, wanting to protect his intellectual property from being whored out to corporations so that they can make billions from stuffed animals and theme park rides and video games. He’s repeatedly said he (and his heirs) have more than enough money, so he has no need to license his characters for anything. How not being greedy makes him a jerk is beyond me.
This from the interview…
MF: I’m assuming you’ve gotten wind of people animating your strip for YouTube? Did you ever mimic cartoonists you admired before finding your own style?
Waterson: Every artist learns through imitation, but I rather doubt the aim of these things is artistic development. I assume they’re either homages or satiric riffs, and are not intended to be taken too seriously as works in their own right. Otherwise I should be talking to a copyright lawyer.
Read the full text here: [mentalfloss.com]
–brought to you by mental_floss!
He is Calvin and Hobbes why should I hate him for not handing it out to someone else to warp and disturb what made it great in the first place? If the guy who made something I love says he doesn’t see a need for it to go any further, it’s kind of backwards for me to hate him for it.
I can see where Watterson is coming from, but the kid in me is squealing in glee… At least he’s not a jackass about stuff like this, like a certain Watchmen comic creator
Alan Moore knows the score.
Brought kind of a tear to my eye.
Nice
That was glorious.
boooooo …. leave well enough alone … tampering with the strip is horrible