Bill Watterson, creator of the iconic comic strip Calvin and Hobbes gets down to brass tacks on why he never wants to see his work adapted. An interview with the cartoonist reveals his apprehension about seeing his strip turned into an animated feature.

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip that centered around a six-year-old boy named Calvin and his stuffed tiger Hobbes. From Calvin's perspective, Hobbes isn't just a toy, but a walking, talking anthropomorphic wild creature. The strips often see the two wax poetic about philosophy and the state of the world, while also navigating the ups and downs of childhood. During its initial run, the strip was outrageously popular and continues to gain fans to this day. However, Watterson has closed that chapter of his life and refused to return to Calvin and Hobbes, and spoken out several times against merchandising or adapting it.

Bill Watterson Thinks It'd Be "Very Scary" to See Calvin and Hobbes Animated

Watterson delves into his personal feelings about adapting his famous work to the realm of animation. In an interview with feelings on Calvin and Hobbes. The conversation eventually touches on animation and Watterson's own reluctance to adapt his strip. Though Watterson says he's fond of animation, he its the idea of hearing Calvin speak is "very scary" to him. Watterson goes further on why he's apprehensive to adapt the strip saying "you change the world you’ve created when you change the medium in which it’s presented". Watterson likens it to when books are turned into movies and says "there are things books do well and things movies do well, but usually those things don’t overlap: the same with comics and animation".

Watterson has infamously rejected numerous offers to capitalize on his work. To this day he refuses to officially license Calvin and Hobbes merchandise and has been firm in his stance that he doesn't want to see the strip turned into a movie or television show. It's not the route that every cartoonist goes, but many have shown to Watterson over his refusal to do anything else with his cartoon. Still, with as many comic strips that have gone on to receive animations, Watterson's words help clarify why he'd up the opportunity to take Calvin and Hobbes to another medium.

Bill Watterson Wants to Keep Calvin and Hobbes' Spirit the Same

Things do tend to change when a comic strip is adapted into film or TV. And even when a creator is involved, it doesn't always mean that the end result will be the most faithful adaptation of the original work. Bill Watterson knows his work intimately and carefully constructed it to fit the medium of comic strips. In his eyes, turning it into an animation, even an extremely faithful one, would do a disservice to the strip because it could fundamentally change what Calvin and Hobbes is. While the world may love to one day see Calvin and Hobbes turned into an animated feature, Bill Watterson is just fine it with it remaining as a comic strip.

Source: The Comics Journal