[ HOME ] A complete and original tribute to the Bill Watterson comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes

"There's an inverse relationship between how good something is for you and how much fun it is." Merchandising

In a rare stand of artistic integrity, Bill Watterson is notable for his very strong views that there be no Calvin and Hobbes merchandise. It is estimated that by taking this position and with a comic strip as popular as Calvin and Hobbes, Watterson has forgone millions of dollars a year in additional income. Watterson attempted to explain the 'controversy' over his decision in a 2005 press release: Actually, I wasn't against all merchandising when I started the strip, but each product I considered seemed to violate the spirit of the strip, contradict its message, and take me away from the work I loved. If my syndicate had let it go at that, the decision would have taken maybe 30 seconds of my life. What is interesting is that he doesn't dwell on his anti-merchandise view, but more expresses his amazement that people (his publisher and fans) are still trying to get him to authorise Calvin and Hobbes merchandise. Unsatisfied Demand = Black Market With such a huge fan base, and pent up demand by fans eager to own Calvin and Hobbes branded products, it is of little surprise that bootleg items started appearing in Sunday markets and on the Internet. Virtually all Calvin and Hobbes branded merchandise that you can find are unauthorised - this includes T-shirts, bumper stickers (in particular the one showing Calvin urinating on a logo), posters, stuffed toys and so on. In an attempt to stop this trade in unauthorised merchandise, lawsuits were issued against the sticker makers and others alleging copyright and trademark violations. However, these threats were either ignored or the sticker makers replaced Calvin with a more generic looking (but still recognisable) image of a boy. Watterson wryly commented "I clearly miscalculated how popular it would be to show Calvin urinating on a Ford logo." Besides the comic books, there are only three authorised Calvin and Hobbes merchandise. There are two 16-month calendars covering 1988-1989 and 1989-1990, and a children's textbook. Occassionally these items come up for sale on eBay and similar auction sites and when they do, they have often sold for US$1000+. Calvin and Hobbes : The Movie At one point, Watterson did ponder animating Calvin and Hobbes, and has expressed admiration for the art form. In a 1989 interview in The Comics Journal, Watterson states: If you look at the old cartoons by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, you'll see that there are a lot of things single drawings just can't do. Animators can get away with incredible distortion and exaggeration [...] because the animator can control the length of time you see something. The bizarre exaggeration barely has time to register, and the viewer doesn’t ponder the incredible license he's witnessed. In a comic strip, you just show the highlights of action — you can't show the buildup and release... or at least not without slowing down the pace of everything to the point where it's like looking at individual frames of a movie, in which case you've probably lost the effect you were trying to achieve. In a comic strip, you can suggest motion and time, but it's very crude compared to what an animator can do. I have a real awe for good animation. After this he was asked if it was "a little scary to think of hearing Calvin's voice." He responded that it was "very scary," and although he loved the visual possibilities animation had, the thought of casting voice actors to play his characters was something he felt uncomfortable doing. Plus, he wasn't sure he wanted to work with an animation team, as he'd done all previous work by himself. Ultimately, Calvin and Hobbes was never made into an animated series.

[ HOME ]	Cool Calvin & Hobbes Collection Cool Calvin & Hobbes Collection, a fan site about the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, was created in 1995 and was my first website. It received a lot of updates until 1999 when I 'retired' so that I could focus on other things. In 2006, I couldn't stand some of the tacky design choices I had originally made in 1995 and so re-designed the site and updated some of the content. Hopefully Cool Calvin & Hobbes Collection will be good for another 10 years or more!	Have a look at ...	You should read ... The Calvin and Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book (Sep, 1989)
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