So why is C&H creator Bill Watterson’s decade-long syndicated strip not given the big animated treatment? Well, it’s simple. Bill doesn’t want to do it. He even turned down George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Contrasting his similarly orange cat colleague, Hobbes is the anti-Garfield when it comes to merch and crossing over into other media. While there is certainly commercial appeal, Watterson claimed in The Calvin & Hobbes 10th Anniversary Book that he didn’t license his creation out of fear that an abundance of merch would reduce the interest and value of the comic strip itself. This isn’t unfounded as Garfield’s looming presence in pop culture has become a joke itself, and that the omission of the title character in his own strips actually made them funnier.
But that doesn’t mean Watterson hates animation. Far from it. In an interview with Mental Floss, Watterson says that he is blown away by Pixar and enjoys animation greatly, but frankly, he doesn’t see any personal benefit in turning his work into an animated movie or series.
“If you’ve ever compared a film to a novel it’s based on, you know the novel gets bludgeoned. It’s inevitable because different media have different strengths and needs, and when you make a movie, the movie’s needs get served,” said Watterson. “As a comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes works exactly the way I intended it to. There’s no upside for me in adapting it.”
Others have also mentioned that Watterson was concerned about Calvin having his own, distinctive, audible voice rather than whatever was in his head. He does have a point. Right now, since he’s only been in comic strip form, Calvin sounds like whatever you want to sound like. But if I were to show you this comic panel:
DC Comics
Why A 'Calvin & Hobbes' Animated Series Isn't Happening (Ever)
Source: Pinoy Daily News
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