While last year brought a documentary that focused solely on Bill Watterson and his iconic comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, this spring brings a new film that looks at the medium as a whole, and with it, we’ve got quite a treat from the aforementioned artist. Stripped explores the creation of these bite-sized works of art and its transition from newspapers to digital. Featuring interviews with the creators of Garfield, Cathy, For Better or For Worse, The Oatmeal, Penny Arcade and many more, Watterson actually offered up his first illustration in nearly two decades for the film.
“Given the movie’s title and the fact that there are few things funnier than human nudity, the idea popped into my head largely intact,” Watterson tells The Washington Post when it came to the poster art he contributed. “The film is a big valentine to comics, so I tried to do something really cartoon-y. I had thought of having it colored with off-registered printing dots like newspaper comics, but Dave asked if I’d paint it instead, and I think he made the right call.” Directed by Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder, check out the trailer and Watterson’s poster below:
STRIPPED is a love-letter to comic strips. It brings together the world’s best cartoonists to talk about the art form they love, and what happens to it as newspapers die. Over 90 interviews were conducted, including the first-ever audio interview withBill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), as well as Jim Davis (Garfield), Cathy Guisewite(Cathy), Mort Walker (Beetle Bailey), Mike & Jerry (Penny Arcade), Matt Inman (The Oatmeal), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Lynn Johnston (FBOFW), Zach Weiner (SMBC), Scott Kurtz (PvP), Scott McCloud(Understanding Comics), Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac), Jeph Jacques(Questionable Content), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Bill Amend (Foxtrot), Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant) and more. STRIPPED sits down with these creators to talk about how cartooning works, why it’s so loved, and how they’re navigating this dicey period between print and digital options…when neither path works perfectly.
Stripped hits iTunes on April 1st.
What was your favorite comic strip growing up? Do you still read them now?