Why Calvin And Hobbes Never Became A Movie
Calvin and Hobbes never became a movie because the comic strip's creator Bill Watterson never wanted it to happen.
There have been plenty of popular newspaper comic strips that have been made into movies and TV shows, such as Garfield and Peanuts, though there’s noticeably one great comic strip that was never adapted outside of its original medium — Calvin and Hobbes. As easily one of the best newspaper comic strips, arguably the best, it’s strange that it has never been adapted as a movie. Judging by the quality of some other comic-strip-turned-movie projects, this might be seen as a good thing, but it still would have been interesting to see.
Calvin and Hobbes was created by cartoonist Bill Watterson and ran in syndication from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. The comic strip followed a young boy named Calvin and his stuffed toy tiger, who may or may not be imaginary, Hobbes. To many people, it is considered one of the last great newspaper comic strips.
As for why Calvin and Hobbes never made it to movie form, it’s likely in part due to the fact that creator Bill Watterson simply wasn’t interested. Although Watterson had expressed his admiration for animation as an art form in the past, he mentioned in an interview that he didn’t particularly relish the thought of trying to find a voice for Calvin or working with a team of animators. Watterson reiterated this in a 2013 interview with Mental Floss when he said he had “zero interest” in adapting his work to animation.
This doesn’t mean Hollywood wasn’t extremely interested in developing Calvin and Hobbes for the big or small screen. In fact, huge names put calls out to Watterson to see if they could adapt his work. These names included the likes of Jim Henson, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg.
Imagining Calvin and Hobbes in the hands of any of these creators is no doubt an enticing prospect, but those calls were never returned. Watterson wasn’t even really interested in merchandising his comic strip, so it’s not surprising that Hollywood didn’t sway him, either. Famously, there is almost no official product merchandise of the comic strip in existence.
In fact, the few pieces of Calvin and Hobbes official memorabilia include two calendars, a t-shirt, a textbook, and some stamps from the United States Postal Service. It’s estimated that Watterson has turned down roughly $300-400 million in licensing revenue. Clearly, making boatloads of money is less important to Watterson than creative integrity, so it’s not surprising that he has no interest in seeing someone attempt to translate his comic to the big screen.
Many people have found memories of Calvin and Hobbes and revere it, so it’s probably best that a movie never came to fruition. Undoubtedly, anything made now would likely have little to no input from Watterson, making the final product worse. Even if fans were interested in seeing the characters come to the big screen, it almost seems time has passed for it to happen.
Calvin and Hobbes works perfectly in the format it’s already in, and it would be incredibly tricky to adapt the comics. The most difficult part, as Watterson previously pointed out, would be giving voice to the main characters. Everyone probably has their own ideas as to what Calvin and Hobbes should sound and act like on the big screen, and it’s likely that there would be plenty of people unhappy with the attempt.
In short, a Calvin and Hobbes movie is likely to never happen, and if it did, it probably wouldn’t align with Watterson’s vision. If you’re someone who is hoping for an adaptation, it’s probably best not to count on it happening. You always have the comic strips to visit time and time again if you need your Calvin and Hobbes fix.
