Bill Watterson opens up about Calvin and Hobbs in new interview

[Moviefreak]

Mental Floss Exclusive: Our Interview with Bill Watterson! | Mental Floss

It is nice to see him step out in the public light to open up a little. I miss this strip!!

 

[JD]

You have to admire the man for keeping Calvin & Hobbes his - not matter the amount of money he could've made. C&H is amongst the greatest comic strips ever - if not the greatest.

 

[Moviefreak]

You have to admire the man for keeping Calvin & Hobbes his - not matter the amount of money he could've made. C&H is amongst the greatest comic strips ever - if not the greatest.

I would say ONE of the greatest. There were certainly some other greats.
I personally love THE PEANUTS, though you could call Mr. Schulz a merchandising/media w h o r e if you really get down to it :lol
But sell out or not, Peanuts is up there too.

 

[JD]

I would say ONE of the greatest. There were certainly some other greats.
I personally love THE PEANUTS, though you could call Mr. Schulz a merchandising/media w h o r e if you really get down to it :lol
But sell out or not, Peanuts is up there too.

I wouldn't Schulz that at all. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of his talents and properties - I think merchandising gets a bad rap... I have no prob seeing Snoopy and the gang in movies and cartoons - even in advertising. I don't think it changed the characters or his ideal of what they are.

 

[Moviefreak]

I wouldn't Schulz that at all. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of his talents and properties - I think merchandising gets a bad rap... I have no prob seeing Snoopy and the gang in movies and cartoons - even in advertising. I don't think it changed the characters or his ideal of what they are.

Agreed. These are two great strips with two opposite ends of marketing strategy and/or perspective.

And it was from the Peanuts line of toys, television specials etc... That fed my love of the strip. Schulz made sure the shows and product captured the heart and warmth of his strip. I believe it was that aggressive merchandising that elevated the strip to one of the most beloved in history. No one can fault him for that. But it does make you appreciate C&H that much more. Watterson was able to elevate his strip to that level strictly on the art and content. Both plans worked out beautifully.

 

[dbuck]

My parents went to a fund raiser at the snoopy ice arena and sat at a table next to Charles Schultz. He had already retired from Peanuts and at some point in the dinner my father said that since Peanuts was over Calvin and Hobbes was the best strip currently running. (I don't think my dad liked Peanuts all that much but was being polite). Schultz fumed, he hated Calvin and Hobbes.

I think he hated that Watterson refused to 'sell out'.

 

[Moviefreak]

My parents went to a fund raiser at the snoopy ice arena and sat at a table next to Charles Schultz. He had already retired from Peanuts and at some point in the dinner my father said that since Peanuts was over Calvin and Hobbes was the best strip currently running. (I don't think my dad liked Peanuts all that much but was being polite). Schultz fumed, he hated Calvin and Hobbes.

I think he hated that Watterson refused to 'sell out'.

I had visited Schulz at his studio about a year before he passed away.
I was going to be in CA and just on a whim sent a message asking if I could stop by.
He was extremely receptive to the offer and we made plans.
I talked with him for about 60 minutes as he sat at his drawing desk... It was amazing.
He spoke very HIGHLY of the new strips out there and didn't bash anyone. He really urged me to get into the strip "Mutts", which I did.

I don't think he hated C&H, I think it might have been the situation.
Imagine you just retired your strip because of your illness, then someone comes on your property and tells you "your strip is over and replaced". I'm sure Schulz had many personal internal battles about ending the strip and it hit him very close to home. He appreciated the new talent out there, but I bet he was just shocked that someone, polite or not, was telling him his strip was "over". I am sure he had hopes that it would live on well after his time was done. And it has.

 

[Vivek]

Though I totally understand and respect Bill Watterson's decision not to get into merchandising, I really wouldn't mind some figures/statues of the characters .

In this era of creators jumping at the chance of getting merchandising deals, there will likely be no other artist like Watterson who despite being offered lot of money refused to grant merchandising rights to maintain the artistic integrity of his creation and limiting it to the medium it was intended.

I grew up reading Peanuts much before Calvin and Hobbes and it continues to remain my top favourite along with C & H.

BTW new strips of C & H ended in 1995, about 5 years before Peanuts ended in 2000.

 

[Moviefreak]

Though I totally understand and respect Bill Watterson's decision not to get into merchandising, I really wouldn't mind some figures/statues of the characters .

In this era of creators jumping at the chance of getting merchandising deals, there will likely be no other artist like Watterson who despite being offered lot of money refused to grant merchandising rights to maintain the artistic integrity of his creation and limiting it to the medium it was intended.

I grew up reading Peanuts much before Calvin and Hobbes and it continues to remain my top favourite along with C & H.

BTW new strips of C & H ended in 1995, about 5 years before Peanuts ended in 2000.

All the more reason Mr. Schulz might have been annoyed. He was told his strip was "replaced" by a strip that had itself, been retired :lol

 

[Krel]

Merchandising has been a part of comic strips from the beginning, it is not anywhere near being a recent practice. When starting the Buck Rogers strip, deliberate effort was put into continuity of design, just for merchandising. Just look up how many toy BR Rocket Pistols, and Disintergrator pistols were sold. The amount and variety of BR merchandise sold in the 30/40/50s was phenomenal. Of course the syndicates are going to want to merchandise ANY popular strip, which "Calvin and Hobbies" was.

I miss C&Hs, but I also miss "Bloom County" just as much.
David.