Calvin & Hobbes

A presentation by :Sadhwi Srinivas

Author : Bill Watterson

Launch Date : November 18, 1985

Closing Date : December 31, 1995

Genre : Humour, Family, Politics, Satire

Broad Themes : Fantasy, Childhood

FACTS :

A note on the creator of C‘n’H :

• Bill Watterson, an American cartoonist.

• Unconventional principles

• For instance, revolted heavily against space constraints in newspapers saying it was a hindrance to the progress of cartooning as an art form.

• Against merchandising of the comic

• Presently, a recluse.

Watterson’s Inspiration :

• By his own admission, Watterson was influenced largely by Charles Schulz, the creator of another revolutionary comic strip, “Peanuts”.

• Watterson studied Schulz’s drawings endlessly as a kid, and it was an invaluable education in how comics worked.

• In his own words about Schulz,

“I've never met Charles Schulz, but long ago his work introduced me to what a comic strip could be, and made me want to be a cartoonist myself. He was a hero to me as a kid, and his influence on my work and life is long and deep.”

The Characters :

CALVIN :

• Named for a 16th century theologist.

• By Watterson’s own admission, he uses Calvin as an outlet for his own immaturity, as a way to keep himself curious about the natural world, and as a way to ridicule his own obsessions.

Honestly, at some point or the other, we all relate to Calvin.

None of us would want Calvin in our houses, but he kind of helps us sort through life.

HOBBES :

From everyone else’s point of view, Hobbes is Calvin’s stuffed tiger. But for Calvin, Hobbes is just as living as you or me!

Hobbes is good natured, intelligent and enthusiastic.

As Watterson says, “I often prefer the company of animals to people, and Hobbes is my idea of an ideal friend.”

What makes C’n’H special?

• Calvin and Hobbes ran for 10 years, from 1985 to 1995.

• In a period as short as that, the immense popularity that it managed to acquire says it all!

• Not just funny, but warm and insightful.

• The fact that Watterson chose not to indulge in merchandising for personal profit gives the comic a charm few others can claim to possess today.

• Not to mention, the unexpected, but remarkable end of the comic, as we shall later see.

• All in all, certainly the most poignant of all comics, and closest to the heart of the masses.

The Artistic Side :• In initial strips, the

drawings have a crude, flat look. In the recent strips, the drawings appear more three dimensional.

• On several occasions, Watterson drew strips with strange visual distortions such as inverted colors, or using just plain black and white!

Recurring Subject Matter :

There can be seen several repeating themes in the comic, a few involving Calvin’s real life, and many stemming from his imagination.

• Wagon and Sled

• Snowballs and Snowmen

• Christmas

• Cardboard Boxes

• G.R.O.S.S

Social Criticism :

• Watterson often used the strip to comment on American culture and society.

• He expresses frustration with public apathy, commercialism and the pandering nature of the mass media.

• Watterson’s vehicle for criticism is often Hobbes, who comments on Calvin’s antics from a cynical perspective.

Retirement :

In 1995, Watterson sent a letter to all editors whose newspapers carried his strip.

“I will be stopping Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year. This was not a recent, or an easy decision, and I leave with some sadness. My interests have shifted however, and I am eager to work at a more thoughtful pace, with fewer artistic compromises.”

* Since retiring, he has taken up painting, often drawing landscapes of the woods with his father.

The Aftermath :When it ended, his readers were, to say the least, extremely disappointed, and without much exaggeration, enraged.

So much so that the Yale daily Newspaper carried messages of mourning :

“With deep regret, we learn that Calvin will soon be no more. Bill Watterson, Calvin's muse, has announced that as of December 31 of this year Calvin will cease to grace newspaper pages around the nation. Universal Press Syndicate has announced that when Watterson retires, they will not provide the usual reruns. In other words, Calvin will disappear entirely. He will pass onto that great comic page in the sky, and the world will be worse for his passing. Yale students must contact Bill Watterson and convince him that Calvin cannot merely end.And if we prove ineffective in our quest, we will be content in the knowledge that although life is unfair, we gave a man and his tiger their day. Let us mourn his leaving.”

A couple of unique features :

• Next time you come across a Calvin and Hobbes strip, notice that the font is always made up of all capital letters!

• The very first strip shows Calvin finding his tiger, Hobbes by means of a snare, with a tuna sandwich as a bait.

• However, a later comic (August 1, 1989) seems to imply that Hobbes is, in fact, older than Calvin, and has been around his whole life.

Watterson eventually decided that it was not important to establish how Calvin and Hobbes had first met.

Favourite Quotes :• “If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.”

• “Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything's different.”

• “Talking with you is sort of the conversational equivalent of an out of body experience.”

• “We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled.”

• “Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.”

Some poignant strips :

THE FINAL STRIP

THANK YOU!!