From 1985 to 1995, cartoonist Bill Watterson paid tribute to the joys of childhood with Calvin and Hobbes, a comic strip that followed the adventures of an over imaginative little boy and his tiger friend. After nearly two decades out of print, his popular creation will finally undergo the documentary treatment in Dear Mr. Watterson.
Variety reports that independent movie distributor Gravitas Ventures acquired the domestic rights to Dear Mr. Watterson, which premiered last April at the Cleveland International Film Festival. The first feature effort from director Joel Allen Schroeder –who also wrote and produced the crowd-funded work – features commentary from some of Watterson’s famous contemporaries, including Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed, and Foxtrot’s Bill Amend. See below for a synopsis, courtesy of the film’s official website:
Calvin & Hobbes dominated the Sunday comics in thousands of newspapers for over 10 years, having a profound effect on millions of readers across the globe. When the strip’s creator, Bill Watterson, retired the strip on New Year’s Eve in 1995, devoted readers everywhere felt the void left by the departure of Calvin, Hobbes, and Watterson’s other cast of characters, and many fans would never find a satisfactory replacement.
It has now been more than a decade since the end of the Calvin & Hobbes era. Bill Watterson has kept an extremely low profile during this time, living a very private life outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Despite his quiet lifestyle, Mr. Watterson is remembered and appreciated daily by fans who still enjoy his amazing collection of work.
Mr. Watterson has inspired and influenced millions of people through Calvin & Hobbes. Newspaper readership and book sales can be tracked and recorded, but the human impact he has had and the value of his art are perhaps impossible to measure.
This film is not a quest to find Bill Watterson, or to invade his privacy. It is an exploration to discover why his ‘simple’ comic strip made such an impact on so many readers in the 80s and 90s, and why it still means so much to us today.
Gravitas Ventures, along with Submarine Deluxe, will release the film to theaters and VOD on Nov. 15th. Check out the trailer below thanks to Bleeding Cool.
Are you a fan of Calvin and Hobbes? Would you see Dear Mr. Watterson when it comes out?