The animated adventures of Calvin & Hobbes
Bill Watterson, the creator of the beloved comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, has become a cultural hero to a lot of us over the years, not just for his great work, but for his steadfast refusal to sell out by licensing his characters to merchandisers. In the years since the strip ended, there have been no stuffed animals, no greeting cards, no McDonald’s tie-ins, no nothing. (Except for a few bootleg t-shirts and decals.)
There also has not been an animated cartoon version, although rumours persist that Watterson has been working on one all by his lonesome in his Ohio home. In the meantime, however, a young Italian animator has risked litigation by creating his own Calvin & Hobbes short, which has now been posted on YouTube.
Though it’s in Italian (with English subtitles), it’s completely faithful to the style and tone of the strip, and it’s pretty darn cute, actually. (Though Calvin’s voice is too high, if you ask us.) Here’s hoping that Watterson will see it as a nice homage and let it remain in cyberspace. But just in case he gets cranky, you’d better take a look at it now while it’s still there…
(Thanks to the Cartoon Brew website for the link.)
